“We watched a bit of England’s game against South Africa and South Africa are world number one, so they’re physical, but I think we are more physical than South Africa,” he says.
“We’ll fix everything that we lacked in the last game [the 39-24 defeat by Wales].
“We will balance it out and be a bit more physical because that’s what South Africa did with England.”
Wainqolo, 6ft 2in and 15st 4lb, puts some of his own power, pace and evasiveness down to the footballing drills he still leans on.
“I played football in school and then was blessed to get picked for Fiji’s under-20s squad,” he remembers.
“I was training with players who are now representing Fiji [at senior level], some of them are playing for clubs in New Zealand and Australia.
“I love the agility training we did – I still do it now, it is so good. It helps my ankles, legs, changing direction, sidesteps, I love it.”
Perhaps the most important muscle is mindset, however.
Knowing that the Olympic Sevens stage would be a prominent platform to earn a lucrative overseas contract, a 22-year-old Wainiqolo, playing domestically in Fiji and not part of the top-tier Sevens circuit, forced his way into the country’s 12-strong all-star squad for Tokyo 2021.
A Covid-affected build-up turned a one-week training camp turn into four months away from their families for Fiji’s players as they locked down and knuckled down on their title defence.
In Japan, Wainiqolo was the team’s top try-scorer, crossing five times in their gold-winning campaign.
The move he wanted arrived. French giants Toulon signed him up.
But, at the end of the 2024-25 season, Wainiqolo felt that, with league rules encouraging Top 14 clubs to favour home-grown talent, he was falling behind the team’s French wings Gabin Villiere and Gael Drean.
He switched to Lyon and duly lit up the league.
“At Lyon there is no Jiff [Joueurs Issus des Filières de Formation – the stipulation over quotas of homegrown players] problem, I get to play every match,” says Wainiqolo.
“I was just so happy. I don’t worry about the stats and the tries. I’m just enjoying playing. I love this game.”
Source:
www.bbc.co.uk
