Ratu Seru Rabeni (27 December 1978 – 15 March 2016) was a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He played as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. At both club and international level, his physicality and heavy tackles earned him the nickname "Rambo".

Career

Early career

Rabeni was born and raised in Bua, Fiji, and played rugby union since his early schooldays at

Ratu Kadavulevu School Ratu Kadavulevu School is a school in Lodoni, Fiji. It has some 900 students and is one of the largest boarding schools in the country. Its students are multiracial, but predominantly Indigenous Fijians. The school was founded in 1924 as the Pr ...

. He first played provincial rugby for Lautoka in 1998–99 while studying at

Lautoka Teachers College Lautoka () is the second largest city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing region, the city has come to be known as the Sugar ...

, before moving on to the capital's club Suva in 2000. Rabeni made his Sevens debut in Dubai in 1998, playing in two

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...

tournaments. He played at both U21 and U23 level for Fiji before making his test debut in May 2000 against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in Tokyo during the Epson Cup tournament. An ankle injury saw him miss the remainder of the tournament. In 2001, Rabeni took up a three-year degree course at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and the following year played 7 games for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

in the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

before gaining a

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

contract with Highlanders for whom he played a dozen games over the 2003 and 2004 season.

Europe

Rabeni signed for English club

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

shortly after being named in the Pacific Islanders squad. Rabeni scored 12 tries in 39 appearances, but suffered from knee injuries throughout his time at Welford Road, leading to him missing a season. He was also banned for 14 weeks for gouging Saracens player Andy Kyriacou in April 2008. In his time at Leicester he helped them win the Premiership in 2007, starting in the final. In 2009 he was signed up by fellow Guinness Premiership team Gloucester on a 3-year deal. However, in August the deal fell through when he failed a medical. After this move fell through, he signed for newcomers

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

. In 2010 he signed for French newcomers in

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

Stade Rochelais Stade Rochelais (), commonly called La Rochelle, is a French rugby union club who compete in the Top 14. They were founded in 1898 and play at Stade Marcel-Deflandre (capacity 16,000). They wear yellow and black. They are based in La Rochelle ...

. Rabeni's final professional rugby signing wa
Stade Montois
for the 2012–13 season when they were promoted to the Top 14.

International

Rabeni toured New Zealand with

in 2002, and the same year played

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. He appeared for Fiji Sevens in the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in Manchester. In 2003 he toured with the national side to South America, scoring a try in the 41–16 victory over

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in Santiago. In 2004, he played in all three games for the newly formed

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, scoring a try against in Albany and 2 conversions against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in Gosford. Rabeni played for the Pacific Islanders numerous times and was one of a few players to go on every tour, in 2004, 2006 and 2008. He scored 3 tries and 2 conversions. Rabeni started all four of

's pool games in the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, playing at centre in the games against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

the USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in Brisbane,

in Townsville and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in Sydney. Rabeni represented

in the 2007 World Cup in France playing in all 4 Pool B games and the quarterfinals. He demonstrated his tackling ability against Australia, injuring two of their players. He was also instrumental in the Pool B decider helping Fiji beat Wales 38–34 and reach the quarterfinals for the 2nd time since 1987. He ended the cup with only one try, against Japan in their opening game.

Coaching career

During the summer 2013, Rabeni moved to the United States to become an Assistant Coach for the

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

team of

Lindenwood University Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri. Founded in 1827 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Missis ...

Saint Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

. In September 2014, Rabeni then moved to Hong Kong to be with his life partner, Susan Macdonald, and daughter, Ayami Rabeni, where he was focusing on completing his Masters in Sports Marketing & Business Management (distance learning with UCLan, UK) that led to the Head Coach position of the Discovery Bay Pirates focusing on youth (U13s to U19s) and was set as a player coach for the Pirates Championship team. He was to work alongside Craig Hammond of Hong Kong Scottish where he would have likewise played for this premiership team.

Hong Kong National League

In 2014–2015 season, Rabeni was Head Coach/Player for Hong Kong's largest rugby club ''DB Pirates'' 1st and 2nd XV. His last professional appearance in March 2015 was with the Hong Kong Scottish Exiles in the HK Rugby 10s reaching the Cup Semi Finals. For the 2015–16 season, DB Pirates set-up a Chief Rugby Officer position for Rabeni sponsored by HKRFU with comments in the HK rugby community that he was on track to become HK's next National Coach. Rabeni visited Fiji in June 2015 to try and qualify for the World Cup one last time. Unfortunately, he was delayed in returning to Hong Kong to take up the HKRFU position due to ongoing financial issues with his own transport business in Fiji. His tragic and unexpected passing coincided with the week he planned to return to Hong Kong where he had lined up corporate speaking events for the 2016 HK Rugby 7s.

Death

In the morning of 15 March 2016, Rabeni suddenly died while having breakfast at his home in

Nausori Nausori () is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 57,866 at the 2017 census. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers outside of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corrido ...

, Fiji. The cause of death was heart failure (suspected viral cardiomyopathy). Rabeni developed flu symptoms and shortness of breath from December 2015, but brushed off his symptoms as just flu.

References

External links