PAUL BRACCHI looks back at the childhood of England rugby hero Manu Tuilagi 

Manu Tuilagi is pictured above with partner Chantelle Garrity. As for Manu himself, in the early days he developed something of a bad boy, macho reputation which even threatened his career

Few Britons have probably heard of Fatausi-Fogapoa. 

The map tells us that it’s a beachside community situated 10,000 miles from the UK on the island of Savai’i in Samoa.

You might wonder, then, why they were cheering for England against the All Blacks at the weekend in this rugby-mad corner of the world. 

Or at least, they were in one crowded home in this Polynesian paradise.

The head of the household in question is a retired politician and deputy (in the Samoan government), as well as the high chief of the village council.

His name is Namulauulu Tuilagi Vavae Leo II, and he happens to be the father of England rugby star Manu Tuilagi, who wowed the World Cup crowds in Japan on Saturday by scoring a try in the second minute. 

It was a moment that set the tone for England’s 19-7 semi-final victory over the feared New Zealand team.

‘Sometimes I cry when I see him on the field … because in my mind and in my heart he is still our baby,’ Mr Tuilagi Sr told the Samoa Observer newspaper.

It sounds endearingly incongruous to call the 6ft, 17st wrecking ball who crossed the New Zealand try line after just 96 seconds his ‘baby’. But 28-year-old Manu, after all, is the youngest of his seven — yes, seven — boys.

Behind that number is an extraordinary sporting, and family, story. Of Manu’s six brothers, five have played rugby for his current English Premiership club, the Leicester Tigers. 

England rugby star Manu Tuilagi wowed the World Cup crowds in Japan on Saturday by scoring a try in the second minute. It was a moment that set the tone for England’s 19-7 semi-final victory over the feared New Zealand team

England rugby star Manu Tuilagi wowed the World Cup crowds in Japan on Saturday by scoring a try in the second minute. It was a moment that set the tone for England’s 19-7 semi-final victory over the feared New Zealand team

At one point they shared a house in the Leicester suburb of Thorpe Astley, which doubled as a little piece of the South Pacific.

Mr Tuilagi Sr, 72, and his wife Aliitasi, who ran the local food shop in their village, watched Saturday’s semi-final in Japan’s Yokohama Stadium from their home in Samoa, we have been told, because they do not fly.

That is also where the only non-rugby playing member of the brotherhood lives. Olotuli Tuilagi is now known as Julie. 

In Samoa, Julie is part of the deep-rooted Polynesian culture of the fa’afafine, a third gender whose name translates simply as ‘in the manner of woman’.

The fa’afafine are ubiquitous in the South Pacific nation and there is no stigma attached to their appearance or lifestyle. 

Both Julie and other members of the family, including Manu, have spoken in the media about the fa’afafine identity.

Julie lived in Leicester as a woman with Manu and the rest of their siblings for a while before returning to Samoa.

It sounds endearingly incongruous to call the 6ft, 17st wrecking ball who crossed the New Zealand try line after just 96 seconds his ‘baby’. But 28-year-old Manu, after all, is the youngest of his seven — yes, seven — boys

It sounds endearingly incongruous to call the 6ft, 17st wrecking ball who crossed the New Zealand try line after just 96 seconds his ‘baby’. But 28-year-old Manu, after all, is the youngest of his seven — yes, seven — boys

‘It’s just the way he is,’ Manu said in one interview. ‘He was born like that and he wants to dress up as woman. But not just dress up, he lives the life of a woman. He has the eyelashes, eyebrows, has make-up done and wears a bra. It doesn’t matter. He is our brother and a great guy. He’s just different.’

Manu has bought handbags and cosmetics as gifts for Julie, one interview reported.

As for Manu himself, in the early days he developed something of a bad boy, macho reputation which even threatened his career.

Past misdemeanours include getting drunk one evening during a pre-season training camp (in 2017) and being involved in an incident in which two female police officers and a taxi driver were assaulted (in 2015).

He was also arrested after jumping off a ferry into Auckland Harbour following England’s disastrous World Cup campaign (in 2011).

Such a legacy has now been firmly consigned to history. These days he prefers strumming on his guitar for entertainment: the Bob Marley classic, Redemption Song, is a favourite of Manu’s, apparently.

Had it not been for his trailblazing brothers, however, things might have turned out very differently.

Julie Tuilagi is pictured with her borther Manu. Every month, Manu sends money back to his family in Samoa

Julie Tuilagi is pictured with her borther Manu. Every month, Manu sends money back to his family in Samoa

Fereti (or Freddie) was the first of the Tuilagi brood to leave Samoa, travelling halfway round the world to become a rugby league player before switching to rugby union and joining Leicester in 2000 as a winger.

Henry, a hulking back-row forward, was next to arrive at Leicester, followed by Alesana (Alex), Anitelea (Andy) and Vavae. 

Manu was just 13 when he joined them in 2004 and could barely speak English.

The brothers lived together and Manu accepted his role in the pecking order. 

‘It was expected of me to make the drinks, clear up, answer the door, in fact everything, and if I did something wrong one of my brothers would sort me out,’ he explained. 

‘You always respect your elders, and it remains the same today.

‘Not being able to speak the language made life really tough for me at first, especially at school. Samoa culture is so different to life in England that I found it hard to fit in.’

Already a member of the Leicester Academy, he was in due course called up to the England Under-16s under the three-year residency rule that lets foreign nationals play for UK sports teams. His decision was the subject of a Tuilagi family conference. 

After all, his siblings had represented Samoa. ‘It wasn’t only my decision to play for England,’ Manu would later recall. ‘It was my family’s.’

The next hurdle in his path was bureaucratic and almost derailed his international career. 

The Home Office discovered he had originally come to England on a six-month tourist visa, his application for ‘leave to remain’ here was turned down and Manu faced deportation as an illegal immigrant.

His family came up with a plan for Freddie, who had established himself in the UK, to adopt him before the deportation process got going. However, the plan was not completed in time.

‘I was just waiting for the police to knock on my door and arrest me,’ is how Manu has since described that traumatic time.

In the end, a campaign by his club, fans and MPs persuaded the Home Office to award him indefinite leave to stay on the grounds of family ties — and his flourishing rugby career.

It culminated in his first cap against the ‘old enemy’ — Wales — at Twickenham stadium in 2011. England won 23-19, and Manu started as he would continue, with a try.

The next generation of Tuilagis are already growing fast — including Manu’s 18-month-old daughter Leilani, which translates as ‘heavenly flower’. ‘Go Daddy,’ Leilani told him on Instagram at the weekend, with a little help from her mum Chantelle Garrity, a business development manager for a construction company and Manu’s fiancee

The next generation of Tuilagis are already growing fast — including Manu’s 18-month-old daughter Leilani, which translates as ‘heavenly flower’. ‘Go Daddy,’ Leilani told him on Instagram at the weekend, with a little help from her mum Chantelle Garrity, a business development manager for a construction company and Manu’s fiancee

Yet many feared he would never achieve his true potential thanks to his laddish behaviour and a spate of injuries that kept him sidelined for long periods.

Once, in desperation, he returned to Samoa to seek the help of the ‘Fofo Samoa’, or witch doctor, to ‘rebuild’ him following persistent knee injuries.

He spent four days in the company of the Fofo Samoa, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday three years ago. 

She told how she ‘cast away’ spirits and massaged his body with oils made from coconut, frangipani, sandalwood and rose. ‘Now he is protected,’ she declared afterwards — and certainly he has gone from strength to strength.

Every month, Manu sends money back to his family in Samoa. He signed an improved contract extension at Leicester Tigers earlier this year, where he was already on a reported £450,000 a year.

‘I have been sending money since I started here,’ he says. ‘Most of the islanders do.

‘It is a different culture: we support church and funerals and all those things that are different from over here.

‘You know you’re not going to play rugby for a long time, and you have to look at investing whatever money you have — but that comes after money you’ve sent home.’

Manu, of course, remains close to his brothers — the Unstoppable Tuilagis, you might call them. Freddie, Henry, Alesana and Anitelea are all retired from rugby now. 

Freddie runs after-dinner events in England and does charity work in Vietnam, while fellow Leicester star Alesana owns a taro (root vegetable) plantation in Samoa, where he and Anitelea help Julie look after their parents.

The other rugby-playing brother, Vavae, is with the Carcassonne club in France.

And the next generation of Tuilagis are already growing fast — including Manu’s 18-month-old daughter Leilani, which translates as ‘heavenly flower’.

‘Go Daddy,’ Leilani told him on Instagram at the weekend, with a little help from her mum Chantelle Garrity, a business development manager for a construction company and Manu’s fiancee. ‘So proud, Daddy.’

The message, as we all know, seems to have done the trick.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk