Coach Seremaia Bai (left) and Jonacani Vuetivavalagi

Opportunity comes only once in a lifetime, and one must be ready to take it with both hands.

This is the motto that Jonacani Vuetivavalagi lives by, and now he is off to New Zealand to take up a rugby contract with Southland club, Pirates Old Boys.

Having played under the guidance of Eastern Saints coach and former national rep, Seremaia Bai, Vuetivavalagi says he is eager to develop his rugby further in the Land of the Long White Clouds.

“The club was formed by ex-highlanders such as Isaac Te Tamaki, Crusaders Jay Thompson so it’s a good club, I’m feeling good to go back to New Zealand and earn a name for the family and the team.”

This is his second stint with the Pirates, thanks to the network of his former coach, Bai, who says the opportunity comes with returns for his Eastern Saints club.

“We got our network in New Zealand that he managed to get an opportunity and he managed to come, most of our young players they then come in and coach our younger group, which is our kids clubs.”

Vuetivavalagi, who hails from Levuka, Ovalau now plans to work even harder in his second opportunity with the Pirates club and pave himself a successful path in the sport that he loves.