Elisi Busco Vunipola (born 5 July 1972, in
Nuku'alofa) is a Tongan former rugby union player. He played as fly-half.
Career
Vunipola debuted for
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
in the match against
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, in
Nuku'alofa, on 24 March 1990. He played the
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
and
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
World Cups, earning in total 6 World Cup caps. Although not taking part at the
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...
, Vunipola last played for Tonga in the match against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, in
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
, on 19 November 2005. At club level, he played for
Sanyo
, stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka, Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiari ...
,
ACT Brumbies
The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...
,
Caerphilly RFC
Caerphilly Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team founded in 1887. Their home ground is Virginia Park in Caerphilly and their nickname is ''The Cheesemen''. Caerphilly RFC currently play in the WRU Division Two East Central and are a ...
and
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...
.
Personal life
He is brother of the scrum-half
Manu Vunipola and of the hooker
Feʻao Vunipola
Fe'ao Moe Lotu Vunipola (born 6 January 1969) is a Tongan former international rugby union player who participated at the 1995 Rugby World Cup and 1999 Rugby World Cup. He is the father of Mako Vunipola and Billy Vunipola, and is married to Rev. ...
, both Tongan internationals. He is also the uncle of Feʻao's sons,
Billy
Billy may refer to:
* Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name)
Animals
* Billy (dog), a dog breed
* Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945
* Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
* Billy, a youn ...
and
Mako Vunipola
Mako Vunipola (born 14 January 1991) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a loosehead prop for English club Saracens and the England national team. Born in New Zealand to Tongan parents, he qualified for England through residenc ...
, both England internationals.
He is the father of fly-half
Manu Vunipola.
Notes
External links
*
1972 births
Living people
Tongan rugby union players
Saitama Wild Knights players
Tongan expatriate sportspeople in Australia
Tongan expatriate sportspeople in Wales
Tongan expatriate sportspeople in Japan
Tongan expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand
Rugby union fly-halves
Tonga international rugby union players
Sportspeople from Nukuʻalofa
Rugby union players from Tongatapu
Tongan expatriate rugby union players
Expatriate rugby union players in Australia
Expatriate rugby union players in Wales
Expatriate rugby union players in Japan
Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand
1995 Rugby World Cup players
1999 Rugby World Cup players
{{Tonga-rugbyunion-bio-stub