Va'aiga Tuigamala & Joeli Vidiri
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Jonah and Joeli WERE Super Rugby when it was kicking off. Must watch TV.
Joeli sat out his prime international years and world Rugby was poorer for it.
Will always remember him in a counties jersey tearing up Waikato.
This is all very sad.
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@canefan said in Va'aiga Tuigamala:
@mariner4life said in Va'aiga Tuigamala:
great player
by all accounts a great bloke too.
i watched a lot of Wigan in the mid-90s too so Inga had a place in my heart from there as much as Black
52 is no age. (and far too close to me for my liking)
Sounds like he had let himself go physically. A shame Ted didn't rope him into that Match Fit TV show
He'd dropped 30kgs plus as of December (https://www.facebook.com/brownbuttabean/posts/444364063725615) so he was back on the right track as of late.
Any of the recent All Blacks we've lost all hit hard, but there's something particularly sad about losing Inga. As has been mentioned, he was the first antithesis to Terry Wright that I can remember watching play the game. A bit scary to remember how long ago the 1991 RWC is now.
An absolutely top bloke too. Jason Robinson was one of the first to tweet the news, and had this to say in 2015: Jason Robinson thanks Inga Tuigamala for saving him
@donsteppa said in Va'aiga Tuigamala & Joeli Vidiri:
@canefan said in Va'aiga Tuigamala:
@mariner4life said in Va'aiga Tuigamala:
great player
by all accounts a great bloke too.
i watched a lot of Wigan in the mid-90s too so Inga had a place in my heart from there as much as Black
52 is no age. (and far too close to me for my liking)
True. He sort of set the stage for Jonah and other big hard outside backs. I remember many times yelling Inga the Winga in celebration RIP
Vidiri also was massive and a guy I would have always picked in my team.
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Arohanui to the families and friends of Inga and Joeli.
Joeli was one of my favourite players and I had the privilege to meet the man after a Blues v NSW game in the late 90s. He was actually a lot taller than I expected from watching him on the box. Even though he was a decent unit, his game was different to Inga and Jonah’s. He almost made it look too easy when he ran. Basically a 90s version of at peak Caucau.
Inga to me was all power.
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I don't know if anyone noticed but the graphic Sky used for Inga had a major typo, unless he debuted for the ABs aged 11.
@bovidae said in Va'aiga Tuigamala & Joeli Vidiri:
I don't know if anyone noticed but the graphic Sky used for Inga had a major typo, unless he debuted for the ABs aged 11.
Yeah, I noticed that, the proof reader missed that.
They did a tribute to both during the NSW v Reds game too, and then oddly at the end just mentioned a Wallaby (from the 50s) had died too.
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Very sad, went to the States to get married, and died from covid induced heart attacks
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Arohanui to the families and friends of Inga and Joeli.
Joeli was one of my favourite players and I had the privilege to meet the man after a Blues v NSW game in the late 90s. He was actually a lot taller than I expected from watching him on the box. Even though he was a decent unit, his game was different to Inga and Jonah’s. He almost made it look too easy when he ran. Basically a 90s version of at peak Caucau.
Inga to me was all power.
@act-crusader said in Va'aiga Tuigamala & Joeli Vidiri:
Arohanui to the families and friends of Inga and Joeli.
Joeli was one of my favourite players and I had the privilege to meet the man after a Blues v NSW game in the late 90s. He was actually a lot taller than I expected from watching him on the box. Even though he was a decent unit, his game was different to Inga and Jonah’s. He almost made it look too easy when he ran. Basically a 90s version of at peak Caucau.
Inga to me was all power.
I remember in one match program Vidiri was listed at 90kg when he would have been 20kg more than that at least. In one of his later games I’m pretty sure they said he’d gotten over 120kg, more than Jonah !
A lot of guys had the skill to go round Jonah every now and again but Vidiri was THE only guy I ever saw actually power through him ( I think it was Counties against Wellington in the NPC ) incredible stuff.
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Jonah and Joeli WERE Super Rugby when it was kicking off. Must watch TV.
Joeli sat out his prime international years and world Rugby was poorer for it.
Will always remember him in a counties jersey tearing up Waikato.
This is all very sad.
@mariner4life said in Va'aiga Tuigamala & Joeli Vidiri:
Jonah and Joeli WERE Super Rugby when it was kicking off. Must watch TV.
Will always remember him in a counties jersey tearing up Waikato.He and Jonah did an absolute number on Canterbury at Lancaster Park one year - they were down by about 20, and had a masterclass in getting the balls to the wings in space. Fark, Counties were fun to watch back then, just awesome
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