Wallabies v Fiji: Tevita Kuridrani and Nemano Nadolo the latest products of the Namatakalua talent factory

HOW a tiny Coral Coast village became a serious player on the world sports stage, with two famous sons facing off when the Wallabies meet Fiji in Cardiff.

THE Fijian village of Namatakalua is straight from central casting.

A small town of a few thousand friendly faces and all that a hidden spot on the Coral Coast promises; white sandy beaches, towering palms, fish jumping into nets.

It is a place of idyllic beauty but ask a local about the highlights of their corner of the world and up will pop a familiar name: Lote Tuqiri.

The former Wallaby and Souths winger will be followed up by others: former Canberra Raiders rugby league star Noa Nadruku, Fijian sevens star Sirilo Lala, Elia Tuqiri, Chris Kurirdani, the list goes on.

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Producing more than its share of famous footballers is a source of big pride in a small village where — like many others — rugby is as regarded as much part of the geography as the beaches and sunsets.

Tevita Kuridrani’s power in the contact will be vital against a physical Fiji.

For a long time Tuqiri’s face was plastered on a billboard outside the Ratu Felisi High School, whose fields are argued to be the birthplace of Fijian rugby and are rarely without a game of touch on the go.

But for as many players who filter up to Fijian representation from their province, the most famous have tended to find their fame on foreign shores.

Early on Thursday morning in Cardiff, two more sons of Namatakalua will do battle on the World Cup stage: Wallabies centre Tevita Kuridrani and Fiji winger Nemano Nadolo.

The pair are cousins, and are related to Tuqiri as well.

“It is hard to say, for both, about how proud it is for the family back home for us to be on this big stage together,” Kuridrani said.

“I used to come back from Australia to Fiji for holidays and we’d play on the beach. We didn’t think then that we’d be playing on this big stage later in our lives.”

Judging by the form of both Nadolo and Kuridrani in recent years, Namatakulua’s billboard painter may be in for some more work. And given their size, he may also need to take on an apprentice.

At 127kg and with balletic skills to match, Nadolo is powering for the Crusaders and Fiji and has been feted as one of the stars of the World Cup already.

“”He was always big — the biggest in the family,” Kuridrani said of his elder cousin.

“We were always competing against each other.”

At 103kg, Kuridrani is no small fry either and since debuting for Australia in 2013, he has also emerged as one of the world’s most damaging centres.

“Growing up, we were always playing rugby. All day, everyday,” Kuridrani said. “Heaps of good rugby players come out of the village. There’s really a lot of talent there.”

Something in the water?

“Something in the blood,” Kuridrani says.

“Uncles, fathers, they’re good rugby players so the young kids look up to them and want to follow in their footsteps. It is just part of life.”

Sadly for Fiji — and fortunately for Australia — Kuridrani was one of those lost overseas when his parents emigrated to Brisbane in 2007 to pursue work and study opportunities.

Though he returned to play for the Fijian under 20s in 2010, Kuridrani’s talent was pounced on by the Australians, who tossed him in the national sevens team and then picked the youngster in the Australian under 20s in 2011.

After a year in the Queensland academy, a spot at the Brumbies under new coach Jake White in 2012 followed and Kuridrani’s career exploded.

He won a Test debut in 2013 and had a barnstorming Rugby Championship in 2014, with superb power in contact and the ability to sniff out a try with a hard-run straight line.

This year, with coaches trialling positions all over the field, Kuridrani has been one of the few players to stay put at outside centre; pushing Mr Reliable, Adam Ashley-Cooper, to the wing.

Though so quiet he and fellow Fij-allaby Henry Speight are rumoured to hold entire conversations with their eyebrows, Kuridrani gets his point across with perfect simplicity

“In a tackle the job is just to get as far as I can,” Kuridrani says.

“For me it is keep going until you can’t go anymore, then you do down. Why go down if you can still be driving forward?

And in defence?

“I try to pride myself on defence. I always make sure I am aggressive going into contact,” Kuridrani answers. “Just playing hard, you know? It’s in the blood.”

Originally published as Wallabies v Fiji: Tevita Kuridrani and Nemano Nadolo the latest products of the Namatakalua talent factory