MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Rugby World Cup winner and Tonga coach Toutai Kefu has had surgery and is recovering well after suffering serious injuries in a violent attack by intruders, his daughter said on Tuesday.
The 47-year-old Kefu, who played 60 tests for the Wallabies around the turn of the century, was rushed to hospital with his wife and two of his children on Monday after they were injured during a home invasion at their Brisbane house.
“Both Josh and Dad had their surgery’s (sic) yesterday and are recovering well,” Kefu’s daughter Olivia said in a social media post, adding that her mother and sister Madi were having surgery on Tuesday. Josh is Kefu’s son.
“Thank you to everyone for all the kind messages and support, it means the absolute world to us all.”
Kefu was stabbed and suffered abdominal injuries during the home invasion, which police believed was a burglary gone wrong.
His wife and children suffered cuts and lacerations in the attack.
Police arrested two teenage boys in connection with the incident and are searching for a third suspect who absconded in a stolen car.
One of the boys was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and assault and appeared in Brisbane’s Children’s Court on Tuesday, Australian media reported.
The second boy remained under police guard at a Brisbane hospital after he presented there with injuries.
Number eight Kefu was a mainstay of the Wallabies pack during the later part of Australian rugby’s golden era, helping his adopted country win the 1999 World Cup and hold onto the Bledisloe Cup for five successive years.
He coached Tonga at the 2019 Rugby World Cup and was reappointed to the job earlier this year.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
