Leicester Tigers' match winner Hosea Saumaki reveals pre-game family concerns
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Leicester Tigers' winger Hosea Saumaki scored in the latter stages of the Champions Cup fixture against Connacht on Saturday evening.
The Premiership club overturned an 18 point deficit with Saumaki scoring in the 79th minute to secure the win for Steve Borthwick's side.
Hosea Saumaki putting the finishing touches on @LeicesterTigers' comeback 🐯#HeinekenChampionsCup
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) January 16, 2022
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The Tongan internationalspoke to Leicester Tigers TV and revealed that he had not been able to contact his family back home in Tonga before the match.
An underwater volcano had erupted in the South Pacific Ocean near Tonga earlier in the day, which sent tsunami waves towards the small island nation.
“I was shocked. A day like this, that’s the worst news. You don’t want to hear about that before a game,” Saumaki said.
“I woke up, I didn’t know what was going on but I checked my social media, which I shouldn’t do, before the game and I saw that my mate had posted, ‘What happened at home?’ And it hard me hard. I don’t even know what to do.
“Not only that, but the thing that makes it harder was that I tried to contact my family but they didn’t respond. But I hope that everything is fine.
“Before the game, Stephen [Borthwick] and the boys grabbed me and they just had my back and said, ‘Mate, we’ve got you.’ That’s made the difference for me in the performance today.
“I haven’t got a response from my family back at home but I hope they’ll be fine. Just because of the time difference and everything and the network might not be working at the moment.
“For the team to work so hard to come up with the win today makes everything feel better for me. Not only that but at home, they might wake up, after two days the network might be on and they always support us wherever we go, so I think it will put a smile on them.”
