Among the 12 players set to compete for Japan in the upcoming fourth round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Wellington, Mafileo Piei has something particularly special to play for.
When the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit North East Japan on 11 March 2011, the 25-year-old Tongan-born player was in the coastal city of Kamaishi, where more than 1,000 have since been reported dead or missing.
Six months previously Piei had joined a local club, the Kamaishi Seawaves, and on that day he was visiting to discuss his contract just as the earthquake struck.
While running away from rising water after the earthquake, he saw a small child washed away and dived into the water to save him with the help of his fellow Tongan player, Lata Lui.
Following the disaster, he, along with most of other foreign players at the Seawaves, decided to remain in the city to help their Japanese teammates and support the local community.
“I never thought of quitting the club or leaving the city of Kamaishi,” he said.
“I knew it was going to be a tough road, but I wanted to go along it with people in Kamaishi.”
Extra strength
The club quickly formed a volunteering force, players going out into the community to help carry relief supplies, and visiting evacuation centres to give rugby lessons to children before resuming rugby activities in May.
“We just did what we could,” said Piei.
His inclusion in the Japan Sevens squad is his first in three years, since he badly injured his shoulder during the 2009 USA Sevens in San DIego.
Now, though, he is eager to regain his regular spot in the squad, although his thoughts go far beyond his personal ambitions.
“I feel strong support from the people in Kamaishi. The experiences of the disaster and following volunteer activities have definitely given me an extra strength.”
Japan face pool matches at this weekend's Hertz Sevens against Samoa, Scotland and hosts New Zealand.
The city of Kamaishi is located 210 kilometres north of Sendai, the closest major city to the epicentre of the earthquake, on the coast line of the Pacific ocean.
