Fijian Salu Salu, who rode Sri Lanka’s rugby fields like a giant among the dwarfs, returned to the island to catch up with his long lost friends in the sports fraternity along with his Sri Lankan wife Adrea.
The couple was hosted to a reunion by former rugby players of the now disbanded Petersons Sports Club at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo where they brought back memories of Salu Salu’s hey days at Havelocks Sports Club and Petersons.
Salu Salu was a man mountain many years before Sri Lanka rugby followers heard of a man like Jonah Lomu who wore the All Blacks jersey for New Zealand and strode the arenas like a colossus in the mid 1990s. “It’s such a great pleasure to re-connect with a celebrity like Salu Salu who became a household name in Sri Lanka after all these long years,” said former Sri Lanka Rugby president and Petersons flanker Rizly Illyas.
Among a host of others to grace the occasion were former rugby players Roshan Deen from Havelocks, Fazal Mohamed, Tuan Ahamed, Inthikab Thamam, Shamrath Fernando, Thushara Paris and Vajira Gamage. Salu Salu will be a special guest at the Police versus Havelocks Nippon Paint inter club league rugby match on December 29.
A man with a strong mindset, Salu Salu in retirement successfully came through four major operations overcoming life threatening situations and still looks a fit-again athlete.
