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| Born | Lesley Paea 'I'muli Vainikolo[2] (1979-05-04)4 May 1979 (age 46) Nukuʻalofa, Tonga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 112 kg (17 st 9 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby player | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lesley Paea 'I'muli Vainikolo (born 4 May 1979) is a former professionalrugby league andrugby union footballer. Adual code international, he has played for theNew Zealand Kiwis in rugby league andEngland in rugby union.
He began his career playing rugby league in Australia for theCanberra Raiders of theNational Rugby League and later in England for theBradford Bulls ofSuper League. He then moved to English rugby union clubGloucester. In both codes, he has usually played as awing.
Vainikolo was born on 4 May 1979 inNukuʻalofa, Tonga. His family uprooted toMangere, Auckland in late 1986. He grew up inSouth Auckland, New Zealand playingrugby union but switched torugby league as he explains, "I first got into rugby league when I was 11. One of my mates got me into it. His team were short on numbers and my mate asked if I wanted to play. I grew up playing union, so I had the basic skills. I played the game and absolutely loved it. And I've been hooked since." Vainikolo played for theMangere East Hawks in theAuckland Rugby League competition. He representedAuckland in the 1997Super League Challenge Cup. He represented theJunior Kiwis in 1998.[3]
Vainkolo attendedDe La Salle College, Mangere East and holds the school's 100m record of 10.90s.[4] Vainikolo ran the 100 metres in 10.6 seconds in qualifying for the 1998 World Junior Athletics Championships.[5]
Vainikolo had two big league heroes when he was younger –Allan Langer andMal Meninga. So when Vainikolo received a call from Mal Meninga to join the Canberra Raiders, he had no hesitation.[4] Thus, in 1998, Vainikolo began his professional rugby league career for the Canberra Raiders in the AustralianNational Rugby League competition. In his first season for the club, he was voted as the Canberra Raiders' rookie of the year. While playing for the Raiders, Vainikolo was dubbed by Australian rugby league commentatorPeter Sterling as 'The Volcano'. The reason for this is because Sterling found the player's surname difficult to pronounce and shortened it to "Volcano" and he has been called this nickname ever since.Vainikolo was selected for theNew Zealand team to compete in the end of season1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In the final againstAustralia he played on the wing in the Kiwis' 22–20 loss.
Vainikolo made his début in the2002 World Club Challenge. AsSuper League VI champions, the Bulls played against2001 NRL Premiers, theNewcastle Knights in January 2002. He played on the wing and scored atry in Bradford's victory. His first season with the club in 2002 was disrupted by injury. He scored only 13 tries in 24 appearances. Vainikolo played forBradford Bulls on the wing in their2002 Super League Grand Final loss againstSt. Helens. In his second season with the club he scored 28 tries in 32 appearances. Vainikolo played for Bradford on the wing in their2003 Super League Grand Final victory against theWigan Warriors.
Having wonSuper League VIII, Bradford played against 2003 NRL Premiers, thePenrith Panthers in the2004 World Club Challenge. Vainikolo played on the wing, scoring atry in the Bulls' 22–4 victory. In the 2004 season he broke the Super League try scoring record by scoring 36 tries in only 26 appearances, including five hat-tricks. Vainikolo played for theBradford Bulls on the wing and scored atry in their2004 Super League Grand Final loss against theLeeds Rhinos.
Again in 2005, his season was disrupted with injury, although he still managed to score 34 tries in 23 appearances. During the 2005 rugby league season his contract was due to expire at the end of the season and Vainikolo received what he says was "a very big offer"[6] fromGloucester Rugby Club, who play in theGuinness Premiership. However, Vainikolo declined the offer and decided to remain with the Bradford Bulls until the end of the 2009 Super League season. After signing the contract, Vainikolo's coach at the time,Brian Noble stated "Lesley is a world-class player and was in big demand from both union and league clubs. To manage to keep him in rugby league says a lot for the sport and also the Bradford Bulls."[6] At the end of the 2005 season, Vainikolo had scored 112 tries in 105 appearances for the Bulls. He played for theBradford Bulls on the wing, scoring aatry in their2005 Super League Grand Final victory against theLeeds Rhinos.AsSuper League champions Bradford faced NRL premiersWests Tigers in the2006 World Club Challenge. Vainikolo played on the wing in the Bulls' 30–10 victory.
On 15 May 2007, it was confirmed by Bradford Bulls that he was to leave the club and join rugby union sideGloucester.[7] Vainikolo spoke about his move saying: "First and foremost I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone connected with Bradford Bulls – including my team-mates, the staff and all the supporters – for making the last five years so memorable. "Bradford is my home and I know I'll be back. I'm determined to go out on a high and want to contribute as much as possible over the next six weeks before I make the switch." His last match atOdsal was on 17 June 2007 againstHull FC, a 34–8 win.HookerTerry Newton took the limelight with four tries but Vainikolo was allowed a parting shot when he was given the chance to convert a last minute try from regular goal-kickerPaul Deacon; the first shot of his career and his only two-point score forBradford Bulls. Vainikolo's last match in theSuper League was against the Bulls' rivals theLeeds Rhinos atHeadingley on 29 June 2007, he scored the opening try in a 38–14 win for the Bulls, leaving his Bradford Bulls career statistics at 152 games, 149 tries and 1 goal. In August 2007, he was named in Bradford'sTeam of the Century.
Vainikolo made his first international appearance for theNew Zealand in 1998. He has scored fourteen tries in twelve appearances for his nation, including nine tries in the2000 Rugby League World Cup.
He was ruled out of both the2005 and2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations series through injury. He has had major surgery on his knees over recent years.[8][9][10][11]
In 2007, Vainikolo signed a three-year deal with rugby union Premiership side Gloucester who finished top of theAviva Premiership in 2006/07 season. Gloucester head coach,Dean Ryan, was delighted with the signing of Vainikolo. Vainikolo was the fourthBradford Bulls Player to have joined rugby union in the last 6 years afterTevita Vaikona joinedSaracens andHenry Paul and former teammateKarl Pryce who also joinedGloucester Rugby.
Vainikolo scored fivetries on his début for Gloucester againstLeeds Carnegie on 16 September 2007. He finished the 07-08 Season joint 4th top try scorer with Worcester wingMiles Benjamin with a total of 9 tries.
Vainikolo joined the French sideLa Rochelle on a two-and-a-half-year deal after leavingGloucester Rugby at the end of the 2011/2012 season.[12]As of 2013, Vainikolo leftLa Rochelle as he previously played for Rugby Athletic Club Angerien inSaint-Jean-d'Angély in France, where they compete inFederale 1 the third highest competition in France.[13][14]
Vainikolo was selected for theBarbarians squad and played 2 matches, against a Belgium XV in Brussels, when he scored a try, and against Ireland atKingsholm Stadium,Gloucester.
While still playing rugby league, Vainikolo playedrugby sevens forTonga at the2002 Commonwealth Games.[15]
As a union player, Vainikolo was eligible to play forTonga by birth,New Zealand by parentage orEngland by residence. He applied for a British passport and was included in the English squad for theSix Nations Championships in 2008.[16][17]
He made his début for England against Wales on 2 February 2008,[18] while his second appearance came for England against Italy in Rome on 10 February 2008. He also played against France, also in the Six Nations on 23 February 2008, Scotland on 8 March 2008 and Ireland on 15 March 2008. In total he played five test matches and did not score a try.
He was dropped by Rob Andrew for the England tour of New Zealand, and was left out of Martin Johnson's Elite Squad for 2008–2009.
In 2009 Vainikolo was found not guilty after being accused of grievous bodily harm. On 18 December 2008 he was arrested and charged after being accused of assaulting a man in a fight outside a nightclub inBath.
A spokesman for the Gloucester said Vainikolo had not been suspended and there was "no reason" for the star to miss the next match. The statement also said "Lesley vigorously contests this allegation and, as demonstrated this season, remains completely focused on his rugby and will not allow this matter to distract him".[19] He appeared before the Magistrates Court on 2 January 2009,[20] where he was found not guilty.
In 2022, he was in theKiwis alumni team in the season 2 finale ofMatch Fit as a member of the multi-sport team.[21] In 2023, Vanikolo participated in season 3 ofMatch Fit, where former rugby players return to play against the Australian counterparts. He joined in the first season that featured formerrugby league stars.[22] He revealed that he lost his brother from heart attack. His father also suffered from diabetes and asthma, while his mother died 2 years ago from complications of diabetes. His wife is Sienna and he has a 14-year-old son, Kava. He also revealed that Sienna is battling cancer,[23] but she recovered 2 months later.[24] In episode 3: He scored a hat-trick against Ex-All Blacks and Sevens inBeach Rugby game.
In 2024, he returned forMatch Fit: Union vs. League. He represented the League team despite represented both codes. He revealed that he works inWesley College as Director of Rugby and teacher's aide since last year. He is also thedorm parent in his night role.WhilePita AlatiniandCarlos Spencerwent -15 for metabolic age vs. biological age for the best possible result, he,Clinton Toopi and Henry Fa'afili started out +15, which is the worst possible result.[25] Despite this: He has great aerobic fitness and was able to control the pace on the vertical ski-erg machine, but ended up destroying them due to his strength.[26] He was named a League captain for the final match as he made the most improvements in the league team and is the only player who is a dual-code international player.[27]