SAPPORO, Japan — No matter the score, if Nasi Manu gets on the field for Tonga in the Rugby World Cup game against England on Sunday it’ll be a triumph.The 31-year-old Manu is on the brink of playing his first game at the World Cup, and first since being diagnosed with testicular cancer. He missed all international rugby in 2018 and feared for his life, not just his career, while having to undergo emergency surgery and months of chemotherapy.
It all struck home for Manu at a World Cup welcoming ceremony for the Tongan team in Sapporo this week. Manu’s most inspiring moment, he said, was when he was just strong enough to attend a Benetton game and went to meet his teammates in the dressing room afterward. They had all shaved their hair in support of him through his treatment.