All Blacks Sevens captain Molia visits Valladolid prison as rugby's social reach extends beyond the field

Sione Molia captained the All Blacks Sevens to a 40-0 shutout of Uruguay at Estadio Joe Zorrilla in Valladolid on Friday, the opening match of the HSBC SVNS World Championship’s second stop. But the result was almost secondary to what Molia and three teammates had experienced earlier in the week.

Molia, along with Brady Rush, Dylan Collier and Akuila Rokolisoa, visited Valladolid Penitentiary Center as guests of the El Salvador Rugby Club, whose social project “in contraria, ducet” — against adversity, it leads — has been running rehabilitation sessions with inmates for eight years. A photo circulating online shows Rokolisoa standing shoulder-to-shoulder with participants, draped in an El Salvador Rugby scarf.

“To be honest, a whole heap of us were terrified when we got the call to go visit prison,” Molia told reporters in Valladolid. “A blessing and an honour to go in and see what the Spain rugby community is doing for all those people wanting to reintegrate back into society. We’re just glad that we could play a little part in it.”

Molia stepped into the captaincy after Dylan Collier — originally named to lead the side across the Valladolid and Bordeaux legs of the World Championship — was ruled out just before the tournament began. The New Zealand management’s handling of the transition drew praise from Molia, who credited the leadership group back home for making it straightforward for whoever was called upon to step in.

“The word that we used the whole week was just grateful,” Molia said. “Grateful that we get to be on the other side of the world in Spain and do the things that we love.”

On the field, New Zealand were ruthless against Uruguay. Kitiona Vai and Roderick Solo scored within the opening five minutes, and Molia added a third try before half-time — a finish he credited to his children’s habit of kicking the ball around the backyard — to put the All Blacks Sevens 21-0 ahead at the break. They did not relent in the second half.

Molia posed alongside other SVNS captains at the tournament’s official photo call, taking on the role with the composure of a seasoned campaigner. Meanwhile, Risi Pouri-Lane continues to lead the Black Ferns Sevens, who have won six of their seven tournaments this season.