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Marika Koroibete has revealed the inspiration behind his inspiring performances, saying the “privilege” of playing for the Wallabies after thinking his days in gold were over was taking him to new heights.
Koroibete’s two acts of brilliance either side of half-time were pivotal moments in the Wallabies’ superb 25-17 victory over the Springboks at Adelaide Oval.
The 30-year-old came up with the defining moment of the match late in the first-half as he sprinted across his own goal-line like a homing missile and set his target on opposite winger Makazole Mapimpi.
With right-winger Tom Wright in the sin bin, Koroibete covered for his back three teammate by sprinting from his left wing to the wing and smashed into the World Cup-winning winger to force an error with the tryline in sight.
As one the Adelaide faithful rose and vision of his incredible engine and workrate has been shown countless times.
Soon after half-time, Koroibete made the Mark Ricciuto stand end of the field his own as he showed off his burgeoning footwork to show there is subtlety to the brawn nature that has defined the Fijian-born rugby convert.
The two moments put the Wallabies on course for their third straight victory over the Springboks, keeping their nine-year unbeaten streak against the world champions on Australian soil in tack.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie paid tribute to his Japanese-based winger, saying his incredible performances were no fluke and he was the “hardest trainer” he had seen.
“Some of the stuff he does on the footy field is just phenomenal,” Rennie said.
“One thing I know about Marika is that he’s going to put his body on the line, not only for his teammates but for his country and the jersey.
“He’s a player we all enjoy having in our squad, for sure, he picks us up.”
Rather than talking up the moment, Koroibete simply said it was a “tackle” that “had to be made.”
“We got a man in the bin and I have to cover his side and make that cover (tackle),” he said.
“We spoke this week about effort and working for each other. The forwards do their job, ruck, mauling and those sort of things and backs we have to do our job.”
He added: “At the moment I was just covering the tackle, I was just running . I knew he wasn’t going to step, he was going to go for the corner, so I put my head there and hoped for the best.”
The softly-spoken Koroibete is too humble to talk about the moment, but teammate Fraser McReight summed up the tackle by saying it left the Wallabies feeling “pumped” at a time when they were on the back foot.
“It was great, obviously, we were under the pump as forwards, their maul was doing really well against us and there was a few tough minutes there but Marika’s tackle just showed the character within the group,” McRreight said.
“A job had to be done and that’s sort of our mantra is, we’ve got to do our job and he did it really well.
“From that we’re able to play and sort of save ourself.”
The significance of his inspiring plays was not lost on the rugby community, however, with former Wallabies flyer Drew Mitchell saying Koroibete ranked as one of the game’s best ever left-wingers.
“Marika is maybe our best 11 on both sides of the ball ever,” he tweeted.
Koroibete said he feels compelled to leave everything on the field after his adopted country gave him the chance to play for the Wallabies.
“It’s just an honour. Being overseas, it’s a privilege to get back to Australia with the Giteau Law and I just took that opportunity,” the Japan-based winger said.
“As a kid growing up in Fiji to come over to Australia, the country has given a lot to me and my family and I just return that gesture.
“Every kid brought up in Australia who plays rugby, they want to don the jersey. That’s the same for me, to grow up in Fiji, come over here and just give back to the country after what they’ve done for me and my family. It’s for my teammates and for the country and the coaching staff.”
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