Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi has moved to ease concern about Pacific Island player unrest in Australian rugby and says he still feels comfortable to express his religious faith publicly.
The Queensland captain was keen to restore calm on Thursday after a furore sparked when his Reds and Wallabies teammate Taniela Tupou leapt to his support on social media.
Tupou had declared: “Seriously might as well sack me and all the other Pacific Islands rugby players around the world because we have the same Christian beliefs.”
“Nella [Tupou] is all good,” said Kerevi. “People have just taken what he said in the wrong way. He’s an emotional fella, just having my back and I love that about him. But I’d rather have him do his talking on the field.”
Tupou’s post came after Kerevi had felt compelled to explain himself for thanking “the heavenly father” in a TV interview following the Reds’ Super Rugby win over the Sharks in Durban.
Kerevi’s heartfelt tribute on Good Friday had been tenuously linked to the Israel Folau saga in a news report.
It is a sign of how sensitive things are just days out from Folau’s code of conduct hearing, as the Wallabies star faces the sack for a social media posting viewed as discriminatory after already being cautioned by Rugby Australia.
Kerevi was one of several athletes to “like” Folau’s post claiming hell awaits “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators” unless they repent and turn to Jesus Christ.
Kerevi on Thursday insisted he felt supported and comfortable but wouldn’t say whether he regretted liking the post, or if he had been spoken to by the governing body since.
“It’s all been dealt with, I don’t want to talk about it too much. Everything is all good from my end, no pressures at all,” he said. “People can come up to me personally and talk about my faith and beliefs and I’ll stand by it, every day of the week.
“100% [I’m comfortable expressing myself] I’ll do it this weekend, I’ll do it every weekend … that’s who I am and footy is what I do. I’ve got a team to lead and that’s what I want to do this week.”
Kerevi’s post-game comments in Durban came after a man-of-the-match performance to break a 15-year win drought at the ground.
“For me that’s where my power, my grace and love comes from and it’s about giving that honour back to God and if people took it the wrong way I didn’t mean it,” Kerevi said of the significance of playing on Good Friday. “It’s all out of love and gratitude.”