Va'aiga Tuigamala & Joeli Vidiri
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@rancid-schnitzel said in Va'aiga Tuigamala:
Dammit really? He'd be barely in his 50s. Remember him absolutely destroying it for the Colts in 89. Scored 4 if I think. Recall the joke that Grizz was only selecting Wright because he couldn't pronounce Inga's name!
He was an absolute beast in 92-93 and I was gutted when he went to League.
Fark me, with Jonah, Jerry and now Inga, the Heaven First XV is looking bloody strong these days.
Not to mention Lauaki off the bench.
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Interview from 2020 -
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From NZ Herald.
For some reason I can't post the link.
Tuigamala's cause of death has not yet been confirmed - he was about to launch a new video series in which he talks openly about his health struggles, including being diagnosed last year with type 2 diabetes.
"The reality was, I was facing an early graveyard," Tuigamala says in a preview video of the series, Project ODICE (obesity diabetes intervention champion evangelist). "And when I say early grave, my father died at the age of 48 from a stroke. He wasn't obese, but he had a stroke and died and left 15 children to my mum to look after.
"I suppose for me, I just don't want to be another statistic. Hence the reason ODICE was born. The reality is unfortunately I've been diagnosed with type two diabetes recently. I'm obese as you can see. High blood pressure, I had a stroke about nine years ago. I've really - in rugby terms - just dropped the ball."
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Loved watching him play, that huge smile.
RIP Big man.
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Shit news, RIP Inga.
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The guy showed the world a new blueprint for the wing.
Pre-Inga wingers were like Terry Wright. Fast skinny blokes that didn't expect much contact in a game.
Suddenly we woke up to the realisation that there are fast big guys around too and if they got to run in space watch out.RIP Inga the Winga!
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Only saw Inga just after New Year , he was with his wife at Countdown Glendene , he was telling me about a show he was doing with Eroni Clark and couple of other lads he had played with , he had such a booming personality with the greatest of smiles ,we shared a couple of laughs a real good bugger.
A Kelston Boys High School ,Ponsonby ,Auckland ,All Black and Wigan Rugby League legend
E aroha nui atu ana ki te Tuigamala Whānau i tēnei wa pōuri.🙏🏼❤️ -
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great player
by all accounts a great bloke too.
i watched a lot of Wigan in the mid-90s too so Inga had a place in my heart from there as much as Black
52 is no age. (and far too close to me for my liking)
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@mariner4life said in Va'aiga Tuigamala:
great player
by all accounts a great bloke too.
i watched a lot of Wigan in the mid-90s too so Inga had a place in my heart from there as much as Black
52 is no age. (and far too close to me for my liking)
Sounds like he had let himself go physically. A shame Ted didn't rope him into that Match Fit TV show
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@canefan said in Va'aiga Tuigamala:
@mariner4life said in Va'aiga Tuigamala:
great player
by all accounts a great bloke too.
i watched a lot of Wigan in the mid-90s too so Inga had a place in my heart from there as much as Black
52 is no age. (and far too close to me for my liking)
Sounds like he had let himself go physically. A shame Ted didn't rope him into that Match Fit TV show
He'd dropped 30kgs plus as of December (https://www.facebook.com/brownbuttabean/posts/444364063725615) so he was back on the right track as of late.
Any of the recent All Blacks we've lost all hit hard, but there's something particularly sad about losing Inga. As has been mentioned, he was the first antithesis to Terry Wright that I can remember watching play the game. A bit scary to remember how long ago the 1991 RWC is now.
An absolutely top bloke too. Jason Robinson was one of the first to tweet the news, and had this to say in 2015: Jason Robinson thanks Inga Tuigamala for saving him
