There is more to life then rugby.

Speaking at the TOPEX conference dinner on Friday former rugby international Koli Sewabu said one of the main challenges rugby players face is financial literacy.

Mr Sewabu shared his heart and experience.

While the rugby industry is fast-growing, many of our ruggers still struggle with financial literacy.

He highlighted a few points from a project he had completed which was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand.

The aim of the project was to understand professional sports and migration from the Pacific and also look at the remittance generated by sports, with the focus on rugby.

From the research, they anticipated that rugby players sent remittances ranging from 6.8 to 13.6 times greater than the average migrant of each country.

Family, education or building of homes was the main reason they sent money to their countries.

“There were a lot of money sent for useful consumption.”

Mr Sewabu said that sadly some rugby players return home after several years on contract overseas with nothing.

In addition, there were no investments for life after rugby, he said.

“These cases tend to increase every year as sports now grow as an industry.”