The Scottish-Fijian rising star who once slept at the train station to chase a rugby dream is now aiming to stop Leinster’s Champions Cup hopes.
Edinburgh and Leinster are set to meet in the Champions Cup round of 16 on Sunday afternoon. Leinster, the Irish team, are clear favourites to move forward in the tournament. Leo Cullen’s team has a strong history, having won the European trophy four times already. This season, they’re hoping to win it for a fifth time.
People expect Leinster to beat Edinburgh, but in sports, nothing is certain. Edinburgh will be doing everything they can to pull off a surprise. One player to watch is Malelili Satala, a Scottish-Fijian winger, who will start for Edinburgh on Sunday.
A win against Leinster would be special for Satala, who has had an interesting journey. The 21-year-old has worked very hard to become a professional rugby player. He got his first chance playing for Leicester Tigers in the Premiership, but it wasn’t easy.
When he was 17, Satala lived in Stoke-on-Trent with his family and was part of the Tigers’ youth team. His family’s work meant they couldn’t drive him to early morning training, so he found a way himself. He took a night train to get there on time, even though he had no place to sleep once he arrived.
Satala told Rugby Pass, “The night train was cheaper and got me there on time. I wanted to be ready and do my best. I didn’t tell my parents I was leaving that night. I just got on the train and decided I would sleep at the station. Some stations didn’t allow overnight stays, so I slept outside on the ground. I packed clothes in my bag to keep warm, brought a cotton blanket, and used my coat and bag to rest. The next morning, I cleaned up the best I could and went to training.
“To me, that was normal — just another day. When I told some people, they were shocked and asked if I really slept at a train station. I say, you think that’s hard? Try living in my shoes in Fiji for a day — I’m not sure you’d make it.”