Osaiasi Kupu Vanisi (born 30 November 1972) is a former professional rugby union footballer who played at flanker for the Highlanders and Hurricanes in the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition. He also made a single appearance for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

in 1999. ''(Vanisi's stats by seasons)''

Playing career

Vanisi was born in Nuku'alofa, Tonga and his father Vainikolo played for the Tongan nation team in the 1960s, but the family moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand in his youth. He made his provincial debut for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

in 1994 and was a member of the original Highlanders squad in 1996, but the presence of

Josh Kronfeld Joshua Adrian Kronfeld (born 20 June 1971) is a TV presenter and a former rugby union footballer who represented New Zealand at international level and Otago, the Highlanders and Leicester at first-class level. During his international career, K ...

- one of the dominant openside flankers in world rugby in the 1990s - severely curtailed his opportunities for both sides. In 1999, Vanisi shifted to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and the Hurricanes, where he would flourish with increased playing time. A strong debut season with the Hurricanes saw him called up to the

in 1999, where he made a single appearance in a non-test game against New Zealand A. While he wouldn't again feature for New Zealand internationally, Vanisi continued as a regular squad member for both Wellington and the Hurricanes through 2003, serving as a veteran mentor to rising stars like

Jerry Collins Jerry Collins (4 November 1980 – 5 June 2015) was a Samoan – New Zealand rugby union player. He played for New Zealand, for whom he was capped 48 times, as well as for the Wellington Hurricanes in New Zealand, Toulon and Narbonne in the Rugb ...

and

Rodney So'oialo Rodney So'oialo (born 3 October 1979 in Motoʻotua, Samoa) is a New Zealand rugby union player who recently played in Japan for the Honda Heat. He is now the director of rugby and head coach at Trinity College Kandy, Sri Lanka. Previously, he h ...

. He finished off his legendary career with a three-year stint in Japan before retiring.

References

External links

All Blacks profile

Hurricanes profile
1972 births New Zealand international rugby union players Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Dunedin Rugby union flankers Tongan emigrants to New Zealand People educated at King's High School, Dunedin {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub