Former England rugby winger Lesley Vainikolo. Photo / Chris Rattue
Lesley Vainikolo crossed two codes, and many borders.
The giant rugby league wing had a dozen games for the Kiwis, before switching to union and playing a Six Nations season for England in 2008.
Vainikolo – brought up in Auckland’s southern suburbs – started his international career as a teenage league nines player for Tonga, his country of birth, and was also an outstanding junior athlete.
The Mangere East league junior went on to play for clubs in Australia, England and France before returning home and he is now established as rugby director for Wesley College, the school made famous by Jonah Lomu and where Vainikolo is now a teacher aide.
It’s not his only link with the Counties Manukau rugby – he lives on the union’s southern border. The 45-year-old Vainikolo and his wife Sienna – they have been together since teenagers and have one son – share a Te Kauwhata property with Sienna’s parents.
As the All Blacks and England prepare to do battle in Dunedin, Vainikolo gives his test forecast, casts an eye over his career and famous teammates, reveals how Covid has set back rugby in the greater Auckland region, names his toughest opponent, reveals where he used to meet up with Lomu, and explains why he is both frustrated and optimistic about rugby.
How do you see the opening test in Dunedin going?
The first 20 minutes will be tough for both teams… the nerves will settle down after that and things will start opening up. England will give the All Blacks a good go, especially in this first test. They will want to come here and make a statement on the other side of the world.
And England had a warm-up game whereas the All Blacks will go in cold…
Yes, but look at the quality of what the All Blacks have. Many of them have just come out of a grand final, and they’ve got players who have been there for so many years. So that will count for something.
Are you going to any of the tests? Who are you cheering for?
A lot of people ask me that question. England opened a door for me during some hard times – I’ll never stop supporting and respecting them. I’ll take that to the grave. But I’m also a south Auckland guy and will never forget what this country has done for me. So I’m in the middle. I’ll be going to the test at Eden Park.
Your old England teammates include current coach Steve Borthwick – did he strike you as coaching material?
I never thought of him becoming a coach but he was one of the real leaders of our team and people respect him. As a player he was just down to earth, a good guy to get on with. You could be up front with him.
Do you still have contact with those old England mates?
I try to get hold of some of the boys I played with like Mike Tindall and James Simpson-Daniel. I text the numbers I have but none of them text back. But I still talk to Simpson-Daniel – we talked last week. Tindall is hard to get hold of… his nickname was ‘The Lord’ in the England rugby team because of the leadership thing plus he was going out with [future wife and royal family member] Zara Phillips. We thought ‘this guy is going to become Lord Tindall’.
Favourite England memories?
Oh man… getting the phone call from coach Brian Ashton letting me know he was selecting me for the Six Nations in 2008. I was going through tough times – my brother Kava had just died of a heart attack and my father passed away a month later, on his birthday. I was back here when Brian rang – I just broke into tears. It was the day before we buried my father. As a family we discussed whether I should go back to play for England and we decided we needed that light at the end of the tunnel.
The biggest moment on the field was running out in front of a packed Twickenham against Wales. You know that there will never be another memory like that in your life again. The first thing in my head was that Dad and my brother were watching me – then I got back to representing the jersey I had put on. It was like a dream really. Who takes this sort of pathway? But for me, it was about saying thank you to my parents, for getting me to the highest level of the sport I played.
My favourite moment came in that first game – Jonny Wilkinson kicked across the field, I caught it and offloaded inside to Toby Flood to score. It was a planned move – the signal came down the backline from Jonny. It was a great start for me which gave me confidence.
Yes, you were lauded for your clever part in that try. Speaking of great starts – your NRL league career began by living for a few months with the legendary Canberra player-turned-coach Mal Meninga and his family…
I was buzzing… I went there straight from school. He was my idol, along with Allan Langer. I had watched a lot of videos of those two. Mal married a Kiwi – living with them was amazing. He took me under his wing, advised me on things to do and not do. He said ‘be that person who goes in early – you’ve got to do the hard work’. The only time he told me off was when I got a bit cheeky and snuck out with his kids to go and eat takeaways. He found out and said ‘don’t take my kids’.
How did he help specific parts of your game?
He told me to work on my weaknesses. People thought I was too big and heavy to turn around, and taking the high ball… I made those things my priority. Every team kicked for me. They were testing the young kid. But they got sick of it and stopped kicking to my side all the time.
Your toughest opponent?
Wendell Sailor. He was tough, man, and it was very hard to get him down. It always took two or three players. My goal was to challenge him – I never got sick of challenging myself. He never said much on the field, just ‘hey young boy’. A good guy.
Any particular memories of playing for the Kiwis?
I was very nervous going into camp with players like Stacey Jones, Gene Ngamu, Tawera Nikau, Steve Kearney Joe Vagana… also Ali Lauiti’iti, who I had grown up with. I had played against all of my teammates in the Kiwis which can be hard. As we say in rugby league – enemies for 80 minutes, friends for life.
You had a stunning try-scoring record at Bradford in England – 149 in 152 games including six in one match…
We had an incredible left-side connection which included Shontayne Hape and [Australian] Daniel Gartner, who had an amazing offload. We connected and read each other. The highlight was 2003 when Bradford did the unthinkable and won everything.
I still keep in touch with some of the Bradford supporters, on Facebook and that sort of stuff. I often get a text from a friend saying they are still talking about you, which is nice. They ask me how things are going over here, and say ‘we miss you’. I think the fans in Aussie have forgotten who was playing back then, but they don’t forget in England.
At Gloucestershire [rugby club] there was also a lot of passion for their team and players. That’s what you love as a player, having that support behind you through thick and thin.
How are things going here at Wesley College?
I coach the juniors – we’re building a foundation. It’s my fourth year but if you take Covid [lockdown] into account I’ve only been here two years. Missing two years is a lot for the kids coming through – it has set them back massively. We play in the Central North Island competition and teams from Waikato down could still play some games during Covid. Being zoned in Auckland we couldn’t. I don’t want to blame that, but it has put us on the back foot.
Wesley College will forever be linked to Jonah Lomu…
Oh yes, he’s an icon of the school. He changed the game, put the school on the map. Many people, like Charles Piutau and Uini Atonio who plays for France, have put a lot into the Wesley jersey.
At the same time, we want to move towards having the kids not living in the past. We tell them ‘make your own history and leave your own legacy in that jersey you pull on’.
Did you meet the great man?
I was honoured to meet Jonah and talk with him. I would always catch him at his favourite Chinese restaurant in Royal Oak. He would say to me ‘keep doing what you are doing’.
There is a lot of angst in rugby over the rules and cards, etc. What is your perspective?
We find the refereeing in every region is totally different. We go to Hawkes Bay for instance and find that their way of picturing the breakdowns is different. Consistency is possible – maybe one region should set the rule and everybody sticks with it. I’d love every region to have a look at it.
What about the state of rugby in general?
I think rugby is starting to come back to the level it should be. It was missing for a while but the last four games of Super Rugby in particular were exciting. That’s what it should be.
I go to watch both league and rugby. The coaching staff are doing an amazing job at the Warriors.
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Kiwi schools have now won the tournament three years in a row.