The ACT Brumbies will put cross-code rivalries on hold to pay their respects to Jugiong junior Lui Polimeni on Saturday night when the players wear black armbands as a touching tribute to his life.
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Teenage rugby league player Polimeni died in Canberra Hospital this week after he was critically injured in a junior match at Gundagai last weekend.
The news rocked the tight-knit Jugiong community and it hit the Brumbies via hooker Josh Mann-Rea.
Mann-Rea moved his family to Jugiong at the end of last year and he spends three hours on the road every day to get to and from Brumbies training and games in Canberra.
Mann-Rea has immersed himself in country life and has enjoyed forming close bonds with everyone in the tiny town of just 300 people.
But he felt the impact of the Polimeni family's devastation and asked Brumbies captains Stephen Moore and Christian Lealiifano if the players would be happy to wear black armbands to honour Polimeni's life.
"Any time when something like this happens and it involves one of our teammates in some way, Mann-Rea's obviously in a close community out there, I feel it's a nice thing to do," Moore said.
"You want to support the family in whatever way you can. Anyone who's involved in rugby is part of the rugby family.
"If we can do something to make them feel supported and proud about one of their family, I'm all for it.
"Particularly in this region, people know each other and are very close. Rugby and sport connects everyone, and it's important we support each other and people's families."
Polimeni's mum, Jenny, sent a message to the Gundagai Tigers' supporters on Facebook on Friday.
"After Lui was pronounced sent to heaven we could not turn off his life support," Jenny wrote.
"Instead we gave [six] people this morning the gift of Lui's life. Those families are crying tears of joy and it gives us a tiny bit of comfort that Lui lives on.
"We are sure as we knew Lui so well that this is what he would have wanted. He loved people and from all your messages, people loved him.#livelikelui #playlikelui"
The Brumbies tribute to a family living 90-minutes west of Canberra shows that the barriers between different sporting codes are broken down when it comes to serious injuries.
The Brumbies wanted to pay their respects in a subtle and touching way to let the Polimeni family that they were thinking of them.
It comes as the Brumbies aim to keep building momentum in their Super Rugby season when they play the Japan Sunwolves at Canberra Stadium.
It's the last match before a four-week bye and beating the competition newcomers will be crucial to the Brumbies chasing a spot in the finals.
The Sunwolves have won just one game in their debut Super Rugby season, but pose a dangerous and largely unknown threat to the Brumbies' play-off quest.
"We've been watching the Sunwolves with interest so we've got a fair idea of how they play, we just narrowed it down this week," said Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham.
Former Brumbies boss Laurie Fisher has joined the club at training this week after returning to Canberra for a holiday after leading Gloucester in England.
Fisher has been helping the Brumbies tweak their game plan ahead of the Sunwolves clash.
Larkham has made three changes to his starting side, injecting prop Ruan Smith, scrumhalf Michael Dowsett and inside centre Robbie Coleman for the match.
Coleman is back from a hamstring injury while Smith replaces Ben Alexander and Dowsett takes over from Argentina No. 9 Tomas Cubelli.
"It's a bit of rotation [and fatigue] ... Benny A has had a pretty good campaign so far. It's a bit of rotation and chance for other guys to get out there," Larkham said.
"It's about making sure we don't burn guys and we feel like guys are ready for their opportunities. There's no room to be complacent against the Sunwolves."
SUPER RUGBY ROUND 14
Saturday: ACT Brumbies v Japan Sunwolves at Canberra Stadium, 7.45pm. Tickets: Available from Ticketek. TV: Live on Fox Sports 2.
Brumbies team: 15. Aidan Toua, 14. Nigel Ah Wong, 13. Tevita Kuridrani, 12. Robbie Coleman, 11. James Dargaville, 10. Christian Lealiifano, 9. Michael Dowsett, 8. Jarrad Butler, 7. David Pocock, 6. Scott Fardy, 5. Sam Carter, 4. Rory Arnold, 3. Ruan Smith, 2. Stephen Moore, 1. Scott Sio. Reserves: 16. Josh Mann-Rea, 17. Allan Alaalatoa, 18. Leslie Leulua'iali'i-Makin, 19. Tom Staniforth, 20. Jordan Smiler, 21. Joe Powell, 22. Jordan Jackson-Hope, 23. Lausii Taliauli.
Sunwolves team: 15.Yasutaka Asahara, 14. Mifiposeti Paea , 13 Derek Carpenter, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa , 11. Akihito Yamada, 10.Yu Tamura, 9. Yuki Yatomi , 8 Ed Quirk, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6. Liaki Moli, 5. Fa' Atiga Lemalu, 4.Hitoshi Ono , 3. Takuma Asahara,2. Shota Horie (c), 1 Keita Inagaki. Reserves: 16.Takeshi Kizu, 17.Ziun Gu , 18. Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 19.Yoshiya Hosoda , 20 Taiyo Ando, 21.Daisuke Inoue, 22.Tusi Pisi , 23.Riaan Viljoen
