Lakapi Samoa
Samoa’s Miracle Man
by Tuifa’asisina Peter Rees
PROFILE:
Full Name: Miracle Fai’ilagi
Villages: Vailele, Uafato, Leusoalii and Asau
Nickname: Mira
School: Leifiifi College
Clubs: Vailele (2020), Laulii Lions (2022)
When Moana Pasifika hosted the Queensland Reds at Apia Park in June, the biggest cheers from the lo- cal fans was for one of their own, Miracle Fai’ilagi, who scored two excellent tries. While overseas Super Rugby fans were starting to take notice of the big and athletic loose forward, locals already knew of his quality from his exploits with local clubs Vailele and Laulii Lions. It was those qualities that first caught the eye of Moana Pasifika coach Aaron Mauger and assistant coach Leota Filo Tiatia when they attended a World Rugby combine in Suva last year, set up to identify locally based island players who had the potential to play at a higher level. They didn’t hesitate to offer Miracle his first professional contract. He was the first Super Rugby contracted player from the islands signed by Moana Pasifika for the 2023 season.
Miracle repaid the faith shown by Moana Pasifika by scoring five tries enroute to taking out the franchise’s rookie of the year honours in his debut season, where he announced himself to the world as a loose-forward with not only the physical attributes to play loose forward and lock, but also the mix of power, skill and x-factor. His excellent form in this year’s Super Rugby Pacific competition shows how Moana Pasifika is contributing to rugby in the islands and opening up pathways for local island players to be exposed to higher level competitions and professional environments.
He attributes his success to his mother Vaiau’au and late father Va’atausili. As the eldest of two sons, Mira as he affectionately known, grew up in the vil- lage of Vailele and attended Leifiifi College.
Reflecting on his journey, Miracle told the Samoa Observer: “My journey with Moana has been amaz- ing. God has been so good to me with all the bless- ings of opportunities. This team has a unique cul- ture similar to home having lotu every day, a great environment.”
Standing 6’5” (1.96m) and weighing 106kg, Miracle has the raw physical attributes and ability to poten- tially become a world class loose forward. Manu Samoa has produced many over the years; from the legendary La’auli Michael Jones, to Sila Vaifale, Pat Lam and Apollo Perelini during Samoa’s ‘golden era’ of the 1990s, and more recently Semo Sititi and Maurie Faasavalu in the 2000s. All had common attributes, big, strong, fast, skilful, explosive, and tremendous ball carriers.
Can Miracle live up to these expectations? That is yet to be seen. But the 23-year-old has already shown the perseverance and mental focus to suc- ceed at the highest level, and those qualities are what will take him a long way in his career, according to Aaron Mauger, who stepped down as head coach at the end of the 2023 season.
“He’s a natural leader who exudes humility and respect,” said Mauger. “Miracle is a great example of what we’re trying to achieve at Moana Pasifika by taking Pasifika people and culture to the world stage. He was playing for his village and local province just a few months ago and now he’s starring on the Super Rugby Pacific stage.”
Mauger also believes his time in the Samoa Sevens set up has helped.”He has represented Samoa in sevens so has a solid fitness foundation and is a hard worker. For Miracle to come here, represent his fam- ily, his villages and his proud nation of Samoa, it’s 100% what we’re about,” said Mauger.
