It was evident from his first game on the UAE soil that Luke Masirewa was a bit special. Lightning pace, wiry, elusive, deadly.
It soon transpired the 22-year-old New Zealand talent had an impressive past – Masirewa played rugby sevens for the All Blacks in 2013. He had dreams of playing at the 2016 Olympics for Sir Gordon Tietjens but was overlooked, somehow ending up 9,000 miles away from his Waikato home in Qatar after speaking to friend Brook Tremayne when they caught up in the summer.
Tremayne advised him to come back west with him and Masirewa impressed in a 24-5 defeat to Dubai Exiles at The Sevens in the West Asia Premiership opener earlier this year in September. He’s back at the same venue this weekend, with Doha. But the physical specimen could soon be back on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series circuit with the All Blacks.
Doha coach Alex Natera was contacted by interim All Blacks coaches Scott Waldrom and Tomasi Cama who asked him to release Masirewa for the New Zealand National Rugby Sevens Tournament in January.
“I’m not too sure if I’ll be involved in this series or even the next but I’m trying my best to train and get fit,” Masirewa told Sport360. “Hopefully I get the chance to play in the series and show what I can do on the big stage. It’s always good when a coach notices a player, no matter what team he plays for.
“It’s nothing official yet but the coaches indicated they wanted me to go back to New Zealand and play in the national tournament. We’ll see how far it goes but it’s a big opportunity to try and get my foot in the door.”
Masirewa was 19 when he last played in the World Series. He featured for the legendary Tietjens in Port Elizabeth, Wellington, Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Masirewa has immense respect for the 60-year-old, now in charge of Samoa after stepping down from a position he held since 1994 following a disappointing Olympics.
“Tjity (Tietjens), he’s a pretty hard man, very straight forward when it comes to coaching,” admitted Masirewa. “He’ll be missed by New Zealand and it’s a shame the way he went out. After the Olympics that’s the way they’re going to remember him.
“They’re not going to remember however many World Series he won before that, they’ll remember his last tournament. He’s bounced back though. He’s a class coach and I’ll look forward to seeing what he does with Samoa. No doubt they’ll be a team to look out for this season.”
