Lesley Vainikolo - Anyone know if he'll be in the world cup?

[Hinch]

My Telegraph rugby RSS feed threw me the name of this man, who I knew through mild League interest (I'm a union man, but try and at least keep up to speed with the other code) and saw that he was jumping back into union, with Gloucester.

Now, an intersting point made in the article (and subsequent articles I looked at afterwards) is that he's eligable to play for the All Blacks, England or Tonga. What I'm wondering is, will be appear in the world cup? The Wiki states he will, but Wikipedia is full of crap as much as it is full of great information.

I'd expect if he were to compete, it'd be with Tonga, but I've not seen anythign about squad line-up etc. for them. So, this long winded build up is for this question: Does anyone know of his international status in Union?

Thanks.

 

[Bullitt]

Certainly not the AB's, being as that's tricky without an NZRFU contract (although being Tongan, that puts him in better steed then most locals down there!).

I should doubt he'll go though, especially as the Super league is still going/only just finished by the time the WC starts.

 

[melon]

Quite obviously he won't be picked for the All Blacks no matter what he does. If he plays a dozen miracle games between now and the world cup he may have a chance for England, but the only real chance he'll have at all at representing at the World Cup is for Tonga and even then, I'm not so sure.

 

[Hinch]

Yeah, I kind of assumed it'd be Tonga or bust. England would be a far stretch as you mentioned, but hell, we need anyone we can get to have a shot at defending that cup.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll try and keep an eye on Tonga's line-up, just in case.

 

[St Helens RLFC]

I suspect an Island team will squeeze him in.

 

[Fa'atau82]

I think he'll go for Tonga, but not this world cup.

 

[candybum]

his strike rate in terms of scoring tries is pretty phenomenal! I haven't seen stats like his before, 149 tries in 152 matches is astounding! (rugbyrugby.com)

 

[goranski]

yeah definitely not this world cup, although he's officially joining gloucester this month he still might be playing in SL till the end of the season

 

[T.Rugby]

to be honest i dont think he will get into any other squad than tonga, not to offend anyone who is a great fan of him but tevita vaikona who was a similar league great transferred to union and hasn't really been all that big...He might be able to get into the england squad but i find that very hard to believe that he would get in as he hasnt played a premiership game yet, so they dont know what hes like if he can catch...tackle ect in union

 

[bryant08b]

I remember a couple or years back Vainikolo played for the New zealand rugby league team against australia i think it was for the anzac test im not quite sure. So assuming he is elegible to play in the world cup, you'd think he'd be registered to play for NZ unless he's had a change of heart. And in all honesty he's a large lump of dung, nothing special.

 

[candybum]

to be eligible for the all blacks you gotta be playing for a nz club sort of thing if he plays for Gloucester , then he can't play for the mighty AB's

 

[melon]

to be honest i dont think he will get into any other squad than tonga, not to offend anyone who is a great fan of him but tevita vaikona who was a similar league great transferred to union and hasn't really been all that big...He might be able to get into the england squad but i find that very hard to believe that he would get in as he hasnt played a premiership game yet, so they dont know what hes like if he can catch...tackle ect in union



[/b]

A similar league great?! Bloody hell you must use that term extremely loosly!

 

[Substitute]

Yep Vaikona was pretty crap in RL. Vainikolo however is one of the greatest ever.

I think injuries and age will curtail his effectiveness for glos (I sure hope it does).

 

[ws4life]

I think Tonga should take a gamble on him and give him atleast a call up to see if he is interested. They should chuck him at wing or at centre where, from what I saw from the Pacific 6 nations, there should be a vacancy for him.

 

[samoan_stallion]

I think he'll be picked up by Tonga for this WC, as a winger (not center). I'm not too sure how old he is, but suspect he might be a pace slower in the next world cup, so it seems logical to get him in this year.

By the way, although he's played for NZ in League, he'll be eligible to play for any other country in union i.e. Eng, Tonga or NZ.

 

[zavala]

It would be great to see him there but as he hasn't played any competitive RU since his time at Bradford I doubt they'll through him in.

 

[gloucesterfan]

i cant see him playing in the world cup. squads have been chosen already. i think the premiership even starts after the world cup (dont quote me on that one). how will he have a chance toi impress if that is the case.

he definately will not play for the all blacks as long as he is playing over here. all of their players are centrally contracted. once they leave new zealand they dont play for the all blacks.

 

[Hinch]

As an update to my own thread, it seems Lesley is going for for residency in England.

Not exactly out of the norm, but he capped his five try Gloucester debut with a report in today's Daily Mail stating he'll be wanting to play for England, and could be eligable for the '08 Six Nations.

Now...Thoughts on him as an England wing?

 

[Frostie]

Why not? Can't do much worse, particularly after Billy retires..

 

[Hinch]

Why not? Can't do much worse, particularly after Billy retires..
[/b]

Indeed. It'd be interesting to have such an imposing winger on an English team. I just hope he has a solid, injury free (maybe try record breaking) Union season, as a good build up.