Lesley Paea 'I'muli Vainikolo (born 4 May 1979) is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer. A

dual code In coding theory, the dual code of a linear code :C\subset\mathbb_q^n is the linear code defined by :C^\perp = \ where :\langle x, c \rangle = \sum_^n x_i c_i is a scalar product. In linear algebra terms, the dual code is the annihilator ...

international, he has played for the

New Zealand Kiwis The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

in rugby league and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in rugby union. He began his career playing rugby league in Australia for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

of the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

and later in England for the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He then moved to English rugby union club

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. In both codes, he has usually played as a .

Early life and career

Vainikolo was born on 4 May 1979 in Nukualofa, Tonga. He grew up in West Auckland, New Zealand playing

but switched to

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 the

Mangere East Hawks The Mangere East Hawks are a rugby league based in Mangere, New Zealand. The Hawks compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was formed in 1963, the first fourteen junior teams took the field in 1964.''The Haw ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition. He represented

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in the 1997 Super League Challenge Cup. He represented the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

in 1998.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, 1998. p.181 Vainkolo attended De La Salle College, Mangere East and holds the school's 100m record of 10.90s. Vainikolo ran the 100 metres in 10.6 seconds in qualifying for the 1998 World Junior Athletics Championships.

Rugby league

Canberra Raiders

Vainikolo had two big league heroes when he was younger –

Allan Langer Allan Jeffrey "Alfie" Langer AM (born 30 July 1966) is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national team, the Queensland ...

and

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

. So when Vainikolo received a call from Mal Meninga to join the Canberra Raiders, he had no hesitation. Thus, in 1998, Vainikolo began his professional rugby league career for the Canberra Raiders in the Australian

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 commentator Peter 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 the New Zealand team to compete in the end of season

1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations The 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations series was contested by Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand in 1999. It was the first multi-national rugby league tournament to feature the sport's three world powers since the 1989–92 World Cup (the 19 ...

tournament. In the final against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

he played on the wing in the Kiwis' 22–20 loss.

Bradford Bulls

Vainikolo made his début in the 2002 World Club Challenge. As Super League VI champions, the Bulls played against 2001 NRL Premiers, the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in January 2002. He played on the wing and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

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 for

on the wing in their 2002 Super League Grand Final loss against St. Helens. In his second season with the club he scored 28 tries in 32 appearances. Vainikolo played for Bradford on the wing in their 2003 Super League Grand Final victory against the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

. Having won

Super League VIII Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League. The season culminat ...

, Bradford played against 2003 NRL Premiers, the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

in the

2004 World Club Challenge The 2004 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 13 February 2004, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and the Penrith Panthers. Background Bradford Bulls Penrith Panthers Match ...

. Vainikolo played on the wing, scoring a

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 the

on the wing and scored a

in their

2004 Super League Grand Final The 2004 Super League Grand Final was the 7th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League IX. It was held on Saturday 16 October 2004, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was played between Leeds Rhinos, who fi ...

loss against the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

. 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" from Gloucester Rugby Club, who play in the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. 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." At the end of the 2005 season, Vainikolo had scored 112 tries in 105 appearances for the Bulls. He played for the

on the wing, scoring aa

in their 2005 Super League Grand Final victory against the

. As

champions Bradford faced NRL premiers

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

in the 2006 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 side

. 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 at

Odsal Odsal is an area of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Odsal Stadium is the home of Bradford rugby league club. The Richard Dunn Sports Centre is named after the boxer who lived in Bradford at the time of his 1976 bout against Muh ...

was on 17 June 2007 against

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

, a 34–8 win.

Terry Newton Terry Newton (7 November 1978 – 26 September 2010) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Lancashire, and at club level for the L ...

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-kicker

Paul Deacon Paul Deacon (born 13 February 1979) is an English rugby union coach who is the head coach of the Sale Sharks in Premiership Rugby, and former a professional rugby league footballer and coach. A Great Britain and England international represen ...

; the first shot of his career and his only two-point score for

. Vainikolo's last match in the

was against the Bulls' rivals the

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

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's

Team of the Century In team sport, team of the century and team of the decade are hypothetical best teams over a given time period. For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century (always the 20th). Similarly the team of the decade can be for 10 ...

International rugby league career

Vainikolo made his first international appearance for the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1998. He has scored fourteen tries in twelve appearances for his nation, including nine tries in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. He was ruled out of both the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations The 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations (also known as the Gillette Rugby League Tri-Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The tournament followed the same format ...

series through injury. He has had major surgery on his knees over recent years.

Rugby union

Gloucester Rugby

In 2007, Vainikolo signed a three-year deal with rugby union Premiership side Gloucester who finished top of the Aviva Premiership in 2006/07 season. Gloucester head coach, Dean Ryan, was delighted with the signing of Vainikolo. Vainikolo was the fourth

Player to have joined rugby union in the last 6 years after

Tevita Vaikona Tevita Vaikona (born 18 August 1974) is a Tongan professional rugby league and rugby union footballer, a winger who played rugby league and picked up many honours before switching codes to rugby union. In 2002, Vaikona was voted best rugby leagu ...

joined

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

and

Henry Paul Henry Paul (born 10 February 1974), also known by the nickname of "HP", is a former dual-code international rugby league and rugby union footballer. Paul represented New Zealand in rugby league and England in rugby union and rugby sevens. He ...

and former teammate

Karl Pryce Karl Pryce (born 27 July 1986), also known by the nicknames of "Big Karl", and " Hightower", is an English former professional rugby league footballer, best known for playing for the Bradford Bulls. His usual position was on the . Pryce previou ...

who also joined

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

. Vainikolo scored five tries on his début for Gloucester against

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie ...

on 16 September 2007. He finished the 07-08 Season joint 4th top try scorer with Worcester wing Miles Benjamin with a total of 9 tries.

France

Vainikolo joined the French side

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

on a two-and-a-half-year deal after leaving

at the end of the 2011/2012 season. As of 2013, Vainikolo left

as he previously played for Rugby Athletic Club Angerien in

Saint-Jean-d'Angély Saint-Jean-d'Angély (; Saintongeais: ''Sént-Jhan-d'Anjhéli'') is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. The commune has its historical origins in the Abbey of Saint-Jean-d'Angély. Royal abbey Founded in the ...

in France, where they compete in

Federale 1 Federale may refer to: Sports *Fédérale 1, the highest level of French amateur rugby union *Fédérale 2, the second highest level of French amateur rugby union * Fédérale 3, the third highest level of French amateur rugby union *Trofeo Federal ...

the third highest competition in France.

Barbarians

Vainikolo was selected for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

squad and played 2 matches, against a Belgium XV in Brussels, when he scored a try, and against Ireland at

Kingsholm Stadium Kingsholm Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the Kingsholm area of Gloucester, England, and is the home stadium of Gloucester Rugby. The stadium has a capacity of 16,115. It is sometimes nicknamed 'Castle Grim', after the estate where ...

International rugby union career

While still playing rugby league, Vainikolo played rugby sevens 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 ...

at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

. As a union player, Vainikolo was eligible to play for

by birth,

by parentage or

by residence. He applied for a British passport and was included in the English squad for the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

s in 2008. He made his début for England against Wales on 2 February 2008, 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.

Assault charge

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 in Bath. 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". He appeared before the Magistrates Court on 2 January 2009, where he was found not guilty.

Notes and references

External links

Baa-Baas win in BrusselsBBC Gloucestershire feature on Vainikolo signingLesley Vainikolo Official Player ProfileVainikolo quits league for unionVainikolo speaks of Gloucester Rugby switch joyGloucester Rugby profileEngland new boys – Lesley VainikoloTeam Of The Century
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vainikolo, Lesley 1979 births Living people People from Nukuʻalofa Tongan rugby union players Tonga international rugby sevens players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players English rugby union players England international rugby union players New Zealand male rugby sevens players Tongan emigrants to New Zealand Tongan emigrants to England New Zealand emigrants to England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Tongan expatriate sportspeople in England English people of Tongan descent New Zealand people of Tongan descent New Zealand rugby union players Bradford Bulls players Barbarian F.C. players Mangere East Hawks players Canberra Raiders players Auckland rugby league team players Gloucester Rugby players Dual-code rugby internationals Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of Tonga Junior Kiwis players Rugby league fullbacks People educated at De La Salle College, Māngere East