Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker are furious after one of the men responsible for the death of their teammate, Fau Vake, was signed to a national rugby team.
In 2021, Vake and his brother, Ika Vake, were outnumbered by four men outside of the Edinburgh Castle bar in Auckland, New Zealand in May 2021. One of the men involved in the incident, Daniel Havili, was caught on CCTV blindsiding Fau Vake with a punch that caused him to collapse and hit his head on the pavement. Vake died a few days later at an Auckland City Hospital.
One of the four men involved in the attack was Semisie Pomale, later identified as the first person to initiate the violence that night. Despite that, Pomale was discharged without conviction and was only required to donate $2,000 to the Salvation Army or the Auckland City Mission within a month of the ruling
The justification for Pomale’s dismissal was based on his lack of prior convictions and because he was demonstrably remorseful, as evidenced by his taking courses for anger management and alcohol abuse. A conviction would also undermine Pomale’s export business and negatively impact his role as the Tongan national rugby team’s deputy manager.
“He says as a result of what happened to Mr Vake, he was shocked to the core,” Judge Winter said, noting that the defendant claims he has stopped drinking alcohol altogether since the incident. “I assess him to be genuinely remorseful. I do not consider that he would have been aware of the likelihood of the incident elevating to the extent that it did, where a blow was administered by another person which caused the victim to fall to the ground and suffer the fatal injury he did” (h/t New Zealand Herald).
Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker react
Getting wind of Pomale’s association with the Tongan national team and their role in keeping him out of jail, Adesanya was understandably infuriated and let his feelings be known in a fiery post online.
“Really? Tongan rugby… So you hire the POS who initiated the attack that led to Fau’s death? Oooooh we’re sorry you instigating our brother’s death inconvenienced your travel plans,” Adesanya wrote on Instagram. “Fau’s plans to represent Tonga on the global stage were permanently erased. Can any tokos confirm or deny this…let me know.”
Dan Hooker also shared his frustration over the injustice on X.
“I love being a cage fighter and not a main stream athlete so I can voice my opinion of things that pi** me off. These dogs should crawl under a rock and die. To have a national sports team protect these cowards is a disgrace. Scum.”
