Vilimoni Waqatabu Delasau (born 12 July 1977 in
Sorokaba,
Ba) is a
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 ...
an former
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. He played as a
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
. His nickname is Delz.
Early career
He grew up in the
Town of Ba and he played for Lautoka in the
National Provincial Rugby Tournament in Fiji. He was picked to represent
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 the
Rugby Sevens. He scored 85 tries for the Fiji sevens. In 1999 Delasau was named Player of the Year at the Fiji Rugby Awards after scoring 82 tries in the season. He earned his first Test cap against the
US Eagles
The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...
in June 2000 after impressing in the sevens form of the game the previous year. He also holds the record for scoring the most tries in a sevens game with 6 tries, and also the record of most tries in a tournament with 16 tries, ahead of fellow Fijian winger,
Rupeni Caucau on 14 tries.
Europe
He then went to Japan and played there for two years before going to France and playing for the
Mont-de-Marsan
Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.
Population
Military installations
The French Air and Space Force operates the ''Constantin Rozan ...
rugby club where he played 5 games for them scoring 3 tries. After that he returned to Fiji and was chosen to represent the
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
in the
NPC. He later represented the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
in the
Super 12
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 and in late 2005, he represented the
Highlanders in the
Super 14
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. After his short stint, he moved to France to join
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...
where he represented them in the
Top 14
The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...
and in the
ECC competition. He scored a few good tries for clermont including a 90-metre run against
London Wasps
Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...
in the
2007–08 Heineken Cup
The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was the 13th edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby.
The start of the tournament was delayed because of the 2007 Rugby World Cup ...
which was awarded the try of the season. He joined his new club,
US Montauban
US Montauban ( oc, Union Esportiva Montalban) is a French rugby union club that currently competes in Rugby Pro D2, the second level of the country's professional league system. They have also competed at the top level, Top 14, in the past, most ...
after his contract with Clermont expired and he chose not to renew it.
He represented
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 the
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
and
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...
and some said he was the best
right winger
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
in the competition. In the 2007 World Cup he scored one of the tries as Fiji defeated
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
to reach their first quarter final in 20 years, and he also scored a try in the quarter final defeat to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. He was also part of the Fiji sevens at the
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
,
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
2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens
The 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup was the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as the host venue for the tournament ahead of bids from four other countries. The f ...
.
Later career
In April 2010 he joined
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 ...
as a medical joker as they suffered numerous injuries. Montauban suffered a points deduction for financial irregularities and will be relegated at the end of the 2009/2010 season. He scored his first try against Castres on just his second game for his new team.
In February 2012, he retired from International rugby.
No more Test rugby for Dels
/ref>
References
External links
Crusaders profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Delasau, Vilimoni
1977 births
Living people
People from Ba (town)
Doping cases in rugby union
Fijian rugby union players
Fijian sportspeople in doping cases
Rugby union wings
Canterbury rugby union players
Crusaders (rugby union) players
Highlanders (rugby union) players
ASM Clermont Auvergne players
Stade Toulousain players
Fiji international rugby union players
Pacific Islanders rugby union players
Fijian expatriate rugby union players
Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand
Expatriate rugby union players in France
Expatriate rugby union players in Japan
Fijian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand
Fijian expatriate sportspeople in France
Fijian expatriate sportspeople in Japan
Fiji international rugby sevens players
Male rugby sevens players
I-Taukei Fijian people
Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Fiji
Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of Fiji
Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games