Fitter and faster: Esi Komaisavai leading Paremata-Plimmerton to more success this season

Above: A familiar sight for opposition players. Esi Komaisavai heads off to score another try. Photo: Stewart Baird. 

• By Adam Julian

For the best part of a decade, Esi Komaisavai has been one of the most exciting players in Wellington rugby.

The 2019 Jubilee Cup winner enjoyed a stellar spell at Northern United, where he played 58 games for 39 wins and scored 22 tries. Since 2021 Komaisavai has lit up Paremata-Plimmerton. In 51 appearances, he has scored 39 tries and achieved 30 wins.

In 2023, he helped the Hammerheads win the Swindale Shield for the first time, amidst a 14-game consecutive win streak that ended in a Jubilee Cup final defeat to Oriental Rongotai.

In 2025, Komaksvai – primarily the team’s halfback – has scored 11 tries in seven games as Paremata-Plimmerton sit third on the Swindale Shield table with a 5-2 record.

The Hammerheads haven’t lost for a month. Komaisavai’s try-scoring pace is on target to pass Swindale Shield record holder Buxton Popoali’i, who bagged 18 tries in 2010.

Given the pyrotechnics Komaisavai consistently produces, his explanation for personal success seems almost self-deprecating.

“I’m pretty surprised at the number of tries I’ve scored. My success belongs to the boys who do all the boring work. I’m just a scab. I’m on the end of their breaks,” Komaisavai said.

Komaisavai scored a breathtaking hat-trick in a 43-18 slaying of Hutt Old Boys Marist where twice he bamboozled Wellington Lions hooker Harry Press with sparkling footwork.

Whether he is scoring tries himself or near the action where someone else is, he loves a try-scoring celebration. Photo: Stewart Baird. 

Paremata-Plimmerton was on fire during their old timers’ day on May 10, trashing Pōneke 51-22. Komaisavai scored yet another try while winger Louis Northcott celebrated five.

“That was special. We’d talked all week about the lack of space we’d given Louie. We were chasing the game in the second half. To have everything fall into place like that was amazing,” Komaisavai said.

“While we’re curious about other teams, we’re focusing on ourselves. What are our strengths? What can we do better? There are no easy teams out there.”

Komaisavai’s employment with Oranga Tamariki is anything but straightforward. He works between 10 pm and 6:00 am, helping disadvantaged children. Fellow premier players Leni Apisai, Junior Davey, Joe Faleafaga, Zane Edwards and Ali Pene all provide support, while he also works there with Paremata-Plimmerton team manager Frazer so gets to trainings on time.

“I’ve been in the job a year now and it’s eye-opening seeing these kids from broken homes exposed to drugs, alcohol and violence struggling to get by,” Komaisavai said.

“We try to put our best foot forward and offer some advice and support that can hopefully help them become better people.”

With wife Cavani-Reece Komaisavai and children Jah Carter, Khenzis and Te-Vaine, Esi has become a more balanced individual and better rugby player.

In 2024, he played in the Heartland Championship for Horowhenua Kapiti and was rewarded its player of the season. He trained the house down in the summer and helped Paremata-Plimmerton win the Middlesex County Wavell Wakefield Cup National Club Sevens. He won that title with Norths in 2018, too.

In Auckland in January, Paremata-Plimmerton beat Northcote (31-10), Auckland Marist (26-14), and Canterbury University (31-17) before losing to defending champions Karaka (17-31). The Hammerheads rebounded to beat Hamilton Old Boys 24-22 to make the final, where they beat Karaka 38-14 in the rematch.

“After going out on a draw in the semis to Auckland University the year before, we felt like we had unfinished business,” Komaisavai said.

“Sevens is a game I enjoy. It allows me to express myself. The Sevens pathway has changed a little bit since Covid. If a door were to open, I’d be pretty keen to take it.”

“I think I’m the fittest I’ve ever been. Training hasn’t always been a strength. I can now see the benefits of hard work.”

Komaisavai above with the Rongotai College sevens team at the Naenae College Condors tournament in October 2016. Two months later he was playing sevens for the Wellington represenative side and continues to play that form of the game when possible. 

This Saturday, Paremata-Plimmerton clashes with unbeaten Oriental Rongotai in round eight of the Swindale Shield. Komaisavai scored two tries in a 29-24 defeat to Ories last season. The fixture at Ngāti Toa Domain could be a Swindale Shield decider. Ories leads the competition with 35 points, Petone is next on 28 and Paremata-Plimmerton has 26.

Ories travel to Hutt Old Boys Marist, Avalon and Wainuiomata and host Pōneke and Wellington in their remaining fixtures. Paremata-Plimmerton has trips to Avalon, Northern United and Upper Hutt coming up. They host Petone and Tawa in the last two rounds.

Wellington Swindale Shield top try scorers after 7 rounds