Japan Top League rugby: Samu Kerevi speaks about life in Tokyo

As the coronavirus ruins sport across the globe, ex-Reds skipper Samu Kerevi has offered an insight into how his new life is playing out in the locked down Japan.

SAMU Kerevi has struck up an alliance with Will Chambers in Japan that no one imagined was possible a year ago when they were codes apart in different teams.

The ex-Wallaby and the ex-Origin star have united at the Suntory rugby club in Japan where coronavirus precautions have left them both in limbo.

While thousands of Australians were making hurried plans to fly home to Australia last weekend, Kerevi was on a flight from Brisbane to Tokyo to resume training with Suntory this week.

Japan’s Top League has been suspended this month because of virus concerns and an overlapping pause because of alleged cocaine use by a Kiwi player at a rival club.

Former Reds captain Samu Kerevi meets coach Brad Thorn at Reds-Bulls game at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Brendan Hertel, QRU

Kerevi’s recent time-out in Brisbane finished with a visit to Suncorp Stadium last Saturday night, not as the bulldozing centre he was in a Reds jersey but as a fan in the stands meeting up with old teammates and coach Brad Thorn.

“It's a funny world ... I've played six games in Japan and the season may be over because it’s all pretty fluid as to where the Top League goes from here with the virus stuff,” Kerevi said.

“It does give perspective that footy can be taken away from you.”

Kerevi is based at Fuchu, west of Tokyo, and is confident that the Japanese focus on health is a positive in trying times.

“Japan was a clean country already, lots of people wore masks even before coronavirus for sickness prevention and hand sanitiser was in regular use so that's like the normality,” Kerevi said.

“We have masks given to us any time we travel.”

Kerevi has relished the new team environment and playing with the likes of Wallabies great Matt Giteau, Japanese World Cup wing star Kotaro Matsushima and Chambers, who played 13 State of Origin games for Queensland.

Samu Kerevi meets Japanese fans during the 2019 World Cup. Picture: Rugby AU Media/Stuart Walmsley

Kerevi and Chambers played a trial in the centres together, have tag-teamed for one another in other games and are enjoying all there is to learn from each other at training.

“Will is a competitive bloke and awesome for the team with that league mindset with how hard he goes,” Kerevi, 26, said.

“I spend a lot of time with him and that aggressive mindset is something I've taken on more with some of the little things I've picked up from him in attack and defence.”

Kerevi has never regretted leaping from the prime of his 33-Test Wallabies' career into Japanese club rugby where All Blacks like Brodie Retallick are playing for different reasons.

“For me, family reasons were big and still are,” said Kerevi, whose brothers Josua and Jone play or study in Japan.

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“My little brother Jone stays with me on weekends (after university), I can leave tickets for games for him and I can be the big brother I missed out on being for a long time.”

While Kerevi grew up in Brisbane with his grandparents, his younger brother's life was in Fiji with his parents.

Chambers, 31, dabbled with rugby at the Reds and Irish club Munster (2010-12) in between two stints at the Melbourne Storm where he won two NRL premiership and was a fine performer for over 200 matches.