London: Lopeti Timani says his mother and sisters have never watched him play football live before and that is why it will be a special moment when they sit in the stands at Twickenham this weekend.
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It will be a night of firsts for Timani on Saturday when he dons the Australian No.8 jersey. He has never started for the Wallabies before and the sense of occasion is even greater given his mum Letiola and younger sisters Vika and Kailata will travel from France to watch him play.
They may also be flanked by Timani's brothers Sitaleki – a former Wallaby – and Sione who are plying their trade in France.
Timani says it will be special for the family but has also given an insight into just how close he was to possibly forging a career as an All Black.
"They haven't watched me live, just on TV in Tonga," Timani said. "Very exciting moment for me … but at the same time very nervous.
"I came to New Zealand in 2008 I played at a Tongan tournament and I got an offer from the Crusaders for their academies to come train with them. Sita told me I had better come to Australia to play with him. That's the reason I moved to Australia. I think it's a good decision."
Timani is adamant he won't waste the opportunity to cause havoc at No.8 – a position he has said he prefers to the second row, even if he only started there once this year for the Melbourne Rebels.
"It's very exciting because I've been learning so much," Timani said. "I try and stay strong. I do my job. I thought they were going to start [Scott] Fardy or one of the experienced players and I would have been happy to come off the bench. I said this is my time to step up and show what I can do.
"No matter what happens on the field, I think just no step back."
Another Wallaby who gets as nervous as Timani is new starting second-rower Rory Arnold.
The Brumbies enforcer and his new partner in crime, Adam Coleman, have only featured in nine Tests collectively, but the 208-centimetre giant is pumped for the challenge at a ground he has never played at with some older heads around him.
"Not much experience there [in the second row] but you know you've got older guys in the team who have a lot of the experience," Arnold said. "They've been helping all the new capped players coming through so it's good to have those guys there and have that mixture of young blood coming through as well."
