IT’S OCTOBER 2018 and Leinster are having their captain’s run before a Champions Cup game against Wasps. They have a visitor.
Jason Tomane is in Dublin for a week to visit his brother, former Wallabies back Joe, so he gets to watch the session and meet the players, Johnny Sexton, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Tadhg Furlong, Josh van der Flier, and James Ryan among them.
Little does Jason Tomane realise that he will end up playing against these guys at a World Cup five years later.
That’s set to be the case next weekend, with Tomane now a feature in midfield for Romania.
The Australia native qualified for the Oaks on residency back in 2021 and with the Romanians taking on Ireland in Bordeaux in their Pool B opener on Saturday, Tomane is set to go up against some of the players he met when his brother was playing for Leinster.
“They probably won’t remember me,” says 28-year-old Tomane. “It was cool, I loved it.
“As a rugby player, you want to play the best of the best and right now, Ireland are the best. It will be a good challenge, not just for me but also for Romania. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Qualifying for Romania wasn’t part of the plan when Tomane first pitched up there in 2018, a few months before his visit to Dublin. His journey has been rather unique.
Tomane was born and raised in Brisbane. His parents are both Samoan, moved to New Zealand where Joe was born, then onwards to Australia. Jason played rugby union and league when he was growing up. He loved watching Joe in the NRL for a few years before he came back to union, which Jason also settled for eventually.
Joe was playing with the Brumbies down in Canberra when Jason finished school, so he decided to follow his brother and try his luck there. He did a pre-season with the Brumbies but after realising that Jason was still only 18, then-head coach Jake White recommended that he go back to school.
Jason did another year at school in Canberra, living with his brother, and made the Australian Schoolboys team. His rugby reputation was growing, but he was missing Brisbane.
“I got a bit homesick and told Joe I wanted to move back home to mum and dad. I was so young, my first time living away from home. I wish I had stayed, to be honest, but I got really homesick. As you get older, it gets easier to leave the nest.”
He went back and joined his home club Sunnybank, where he was playing until his cousin, former Queensland Reds, Bourgoin and Samoa wing Brando Va’aulu, convinced him to move to Hong Kong, where Va’aulu was coaching. Just three months later, Va’aulu told Tomane a contact in Romania was in touch looking for a powerful back.
Thinking that a year in Romania could catapult him on into French rugby or another professional league, Tomane joined CSM București in the Liga Națională de Rugby and admits that he was a fish out of water.
“It was a big culture shock for me,” says Tomane. “Coming from Australia to Romania, I hated it at the start, to be honest.”
Five years on, he loves the place. He says the language is still a struggle, but he appreciates the beautiful countryside and nice people. Tomane’s wife, Josina, lives there with him and they welcomed their first child, Psalm, into the world last year.
Having done a season in Bucharest, Tomane was snapped up by Baia Mare in the north of the country. They won the league in his first season there and playing for Romania in the future became a possibility.
“After my second year, the word got into my ear that ‘there’s an option if you stay. You can push for the national team.’ Two years had moved so fast, I thought another year wouldn’t hurt and it just happened.
“I spoke to Joe about it and he kinda pushed me to stick around and play for a cap. He told me that no one can take away international rugby from me. I’m glad I listened to his advice.”
Tomane is happy in the northern city of Baia Mare and the club have won the last four Liga Națională titles. He explains that the league has plenty of imports like himself, with players from South Africa, Tonga, Fiji, and Australia.
“They’re all spread out through the clubs and that’s nice because you get a taste of all the different rugby cultures. We’ve got some South Africans, they’re all big and strong, then you have the fast, nippy Fijians, so you get a bit of all the skills. Some of the Tongan players come straight from the islands.”
Tonga natives Fonovai Tangimana and Tevita Manumua and New Zealand-born Hinckley Vaovasa are also part of the Oaks’ squad for the World Cup.
This was not where Tomane expected rugby to take him but he’s determined to enjoy every second of his World Cup experience. The Romanians landed into Bordeaux today and will look to have a real go against Ireland next weekend even if they are underdogs. Their warm-up form wasn’t good, but Tomane believes they can be better.
“We want to show everyone in Romania that we’re a rugby country,” he says. “We want to get more fans and get more junior players to take up the sport. We want to do the nation proud.”
Josina and Psalm will be in France for Romania’s games, while family and friends in Australia will be watching on with great pride too.
Joe, who has been a huge influence on Jason’s life, returned to rugby league with the Souths Logan Magpies in Brisbane earlier this year, having played in Japan and for Biarritz after his two-year stint in Leinster.
“Joe’s my favourite player to watch,” says Jason. “Growing up, I wanted to be him.
“He has done a lot for me, especially when I was younger. I owe a lot to Joe and his wife, Ana. They’re one of the reasons I’m here.
“Joe text me the other day to say how proud he is and how he couldn’t wait to see me rip into the World Cup.”
