PEATO MAUVAKA holds a unique place in French rugby – he is the only player to have featured in every game of their record-breaking 13-match winning streak. Not bad for a kid from New Caledonia who dreamed of playing volleyball professionally and admits he knew barely anything about rugby when he came to mainland France a decade ago.
Now he’s a fixture in France’s match-day squad and while he rarely starts, there are few players more trusted by Fabien Galthié and his staff.
Mauvaka’s progress from volleyball spiking in the South Pacific to lineout throwing in Toulouse is in large part due to key parts played in his sporting life by two influential men. His father, Souane-Patita, was Mauvaka’s biggest rugby supporter. In fact, he was the only member of the Mauvaka family who cared about rugby when Peato and his siblings were growing up.
For Peato, who struggled at school, in contrast to his brothers and sisters, it was the
