Comeback hero Christian Lealiifano will inspire ACT Brumbies long after Super Rugby finals loss

THE Brumbies kept a season-ending defeat firmly in perspective after Christian Lealiifano’s first Super Rugby game in a year due to his leukaemia battle.

Christian Lealiifano was playing his first game in a year against the Hurricanes. Picture: Getty Images

WITH the sight of one banged-up figure still smiling in the dressing room corner, the Brumbies kept a season-ending defeat firmly in perspective on Friday night.

The figure was co-captain Christian Lealiifano, who played his first Super Rugby match in a year after leukaemia forced him to leave the game.

Following a scary but determined recovery process, his cancer went into remission and the sight of the 29-year-old running on to the field after halftime brought the Canberra crowd to its feet.

His presence wasn’t enough to help the Brumbies beat the in-form Hurricanes, who came from behind to score 20 unanswered second half points. It was a fifth consecutive finals series without a title for the ACT team.

Christian Lealiifano was playing his first game in a year against the Hurricanes. Picture: Getty Images

After sharing Lealiifano’s journey for most of the past year, the Brumbies still managed to feel like they’d been part of a victory.

“It’s an amazing feat,” said prop Scott Sio.

“To think that 12 months ago he was in hospital with all tubes in him, doing chemotherapy. And he has come out of that. That’s the thing. Today was bigger than rugby.

“Christian has alluded to it, rugby is such a small part of our lives. Things do get put in perspective.”

Sio is one of Lealiifano’s best mates and lives around the corner from him. Like everyone at the Brumbies, Sio was rocked by the diagnosis last year when Lealiifano felt flat in training and was sent for a precautionary blood test.

Sio said Lealiifano’s positivity and stage-by-stage goal-setting inspired everyone.

Christian Lealiifano inspired his Brumbies teammates just by taking the field. Picture: AAP

“He got everyone on board and said this is how I am going to go about it: get on board and we will achieve it together. That’s been the special thing,” Sio said.

“It has been an ongoing process and will continue to be. This is something he will still probably deal with for the next couple of years but he’s so diligent in everything he does, I know he will attack it head on.”

The Brumbies have routinely described Lealiifano as an inspiration but the veteran told teammates after the game he’d been inspired by their unswerving support.

“That has really got us up after this loss as well, knowing he draws a lot of inspiration from support from us,” Sio said.

The best part of the past year, said Sio, hasn’t been watching Lealiifano at training or at the games. It’s been when he goes around to his house and sees his mate be a new dad: son Jeremih was born in June last year.

“Not a lot off people get to see how he is at home with little Jeremih and how he is with (wife) Luga as well. That’s the awesome part for me, to see the kick he gets off what his son does. When he sees his son smile, just to see the warmth of his smile back at him. Those are the moments that you sometimes overlook,” Sio said.

But close mate Scott Sio says the best moments have come off the field. Picture: Stuart Walmsley

After defying most predictions by winning the Australian conference title despite a stable of stars leaving, the Brumbies are confident they’ll only be better next year.

The return of Lealiifano will be complemented by David Pocock who will be coming off a sabbatical year in Africa.

“He has been saving rhinos and being a humanitarian over there. How much more of a good bloke does he want to be?” Sio said.

“To have a player of his calibre coming back into the squad next year is pretty unreal.”

The Brumbies’ pugnacious effort lifted them to a 16-15 halftime lead but they were forced into defending for most of the second half and paid the price in the last 10 minutes.

It highlighted that Australian rugby has determination and spirit but pays a price for making errors under pressure; small slips the Kiwis don’t make often enough to allow the pressure to be turned back on them.

The Brumbies were troubling the Canes with their physicality and set-piece but they wasted good attacking ball with silly kicks.

“Everyone has been a bit down on Australian rugby but we showed that if we can hold that intensity for 80 minutes, the future is bright for us next year,” Sio said.

“I guess the great thing is we are keeping a lot of the youth here and everyone is going to be that one year wiser as well.”

Originally published as Comeback hero Christian Lealiifano will inspire ACT Brumbies long after Super Rugby finals loss