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LONDON - After seeing their World Cup ambitions destroyed by former All Black wing Jonah Lomu, England will take particular pleasure in including the latest "new Jonah" in their Six Nations squad.
Like the outstanding player at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, Lesley Vainikolo is a giant wing of Tongan/New Zealand descent who made his name in rugby league before switching to union at the start of this season with Gloucester.
Any question marks disappeared within his first 80 minutes last September, two days after England were thumped 36-0 by South Africa in the World Cup, as he racked up five tries to announce the crossover of "The Volcano" in the most emphatic way possible.
After just eight more games England coach Brian Ashton had seen enough to include the 28-year-old in his Six Nations squad, for which he qualifies by residency having moved to England six years ago to play league for Bradford.
"I first saw him about five years ago playing rugby league and there was a bit of a wow factor then," Ashton said on Wednesday when revealing his 32-man group.
"When he switched it was interesting to see if he would take time to adjust. It's not quite been a seamless conversion but not far off as he's played union as a youngster. He's been a seriously good addition to the Gloucester team."
Asked exactly what Vainikolo would bring to an England squad not short of quality on the wings, Ashton waxed in unusually lyrical terms.
"He's different, we've never seen an England winger like him that's for sure. He's got an X-factor and players with an X-factor in the international game are pretty important," he said.
"He's powerful, explosive but he's a good footballer with good footwork and he's not been caught out defensively," added the Wigan-born coach, a lifetime admirer of the 13-man game.
"He's a try scorer, a threat all over the field, pretty quick as well. But he's not only your traditional powerhouse winger, he's intelligent. I've seen him play centre and he's certainly a pretty good all-round package."
For some union purists, however, even that glowing testimonial was not good enough. "Aren't you worried about his lack of a kicking game?" Ashton was asked of the former 10.8 seconds 100 metres runner, who was good enough to compete in the world junior athletics championships 11 years ago.
"Why would you want an 18 stone 6ft 2in player to kick the ball away?" answered the exasperated coach, who was similarly dismissive on fears over the condition of Vainikolo's knees.
"Dodgy knees? You ought to talk to those who play against him and have to try to stop him.".
Ashton said his latest acquisition was very excited about the prospect of joining up with England ahead of their opening Six Nations game against Wales at Twickenham on Feb 2, though the final confirmation of his eligibility has yet to arrive from the Tongan union.
- REUTERS
