Sione Vaiomo’unga
Tonga captain Nili Latu has expressed his gratitude to the Romanian team ahead of the RWC 2015 for their help in aiding his friend and former teammate Sione Vaiomo’unga, who is suffering from life-threatening kidney failure.
The former Tonga flanker was the only player in the 2011 RWC squad to play in the Tongan domestic divisions at the time before going on to join Tonga’s European tour a year later.
Now residing in Romania, 26-year-old Vaiomo’unga cannot receive dialysis treatment in Europe, Australia or New Zealand because he is a Tongan national and won’t find the care he needs in his homeland either.
To help the best they can during his plight, the Tonga and Romania unions dedicated their final World Cup warm-up fixture in Bucharest on 5 September to raising money for his treatment.
Following the fixture, the two nations pulled together more than 10,000 euros for Vaiomo’unga and his family.
“Knowing that in Tonga we don’t have a dialysis machine for people like Sione, it was a way that we could help him as brothers and ex-teammates,” Latu said.
“All the money raised has been given to support him and his family. All of us playing in the French and English leagues did as much as we can.
“The Romanian team helped out as well so we put that money into the bank. It shows that, no matter what you do, you will always have support off the field as well.”
Kidney failure is common in Tonga, according to health statistics, which show around 200 Tongans suffer from the condition annually of which a third require dialysis.
Head coach Mana ‘Otai welcomed the generosity of both unions and, while his team is concentrating on Tonga’s opening World Cup fixture against Georgia on Saturday, emphasised that there are things in life “bigger than winning”.
“It’s bigger than us,” ‘Otai said of Vaiomo’unga’s condition. “Winning is good and one of the things that we do but rugby is far bigger.”
rugbyworldcup
Really sad to read about the plight of Sione Vaiomo’unga, wish him and his family all the strength in going through this tough time. Can’t really understand why he is being denied the treatment seems quite complex to me. Hopefully more can be done for him soon, something like them collecting more at each of the World Cup games Tonga plays would be good.
From Sky news : “England head into the tournament as second favourites behind defending champions New Zealand and Wood knows that while playing at home is an advantage, it does bring added pressure to perform” 🙂 🙂
@ NZINCHINA:
Sounds about right, they are playing all their matches at Twickenam.
Whoever wins pool A has a very good chance of reaching the final, but I have a feeling it might just be Australia and not England
@ nortie:
Sure, home advantage helps but Twickers is not really a place where they have dominated in recent years.
@ NZINCHINA:
@ nortie:
If the rain comes the winner will be either NZ or England IMO.
Frogs can always cause an upset, but don’t seem to be able to put more than a couple of decent performances in a row together.
@ Scrumdown:
And if the rain doesn’t come?
Only 4 teams can win this thing imo and that is NZ, Australia, England and South Africa.
I would bet R60 on NZ, R 20 on England and R12 on Aus and R8 on SA.
“Very difficult” this!
I only got 10/10
http://www.iol.co.za/sport/think-you-know-rugby-test-yourself-1.1917942#.VfvRFNKqqko
@ Scrumdown:
Agree re France, they don’t look like they can string together 3 huge matches in a row.
Money must be on NZ, and then it’s a toss up between the Boks, Eng, Aus and Ireland perhaps
7 @ robzim:
Not really familiar with the complexities of it all but there apparently was an odd of 9/1 for the Boks to win, would have thought worth a punt at those odds but had a quick look today and seen the best was 13/2 so not sure where the 9/1 came from. Don’t bet much and am still ahead after the handful have made over the years but was tempted if it was 9/1 anywhere still, bit of a risk but also a fairly healthy return if it comes off.
USA team to face Samoa on Sunday:
1 Eric Fry
2 Zach Fenoglio
3 Titi Lamositele
4 Hayden Smith
5 Greg Peterson
6 Al McFarland
7 Andrew Durutalo
8 Samu Manoa
9 Mike Petri
10 AJ MacGinty
11 Chris Wyles (captain)
12 Thretton Palamo
13 Seamus Kelly
14 Takudzwa Ngwenya
15 Blaine Scully
Replacements
16 Phil Thiel
17 Oli Kilifi
18 Chris Baumann
19 Cam Dolan
20 Danny Barrett
21 Shalom Suniula
22 Folau Niua
23 Brett Thompson
1 @ Bullscot:
Odds at the NZ TAB for RWC Outright Winner.
New Zealand 2.25
2 England 5.00
3 South Africa 6.50
4 Australia 8.00
5 Ireland 7.50
6 France 15.00
7 Wales 26.00
8 Argentina 41.00
9 Scotland 101.00
10 Samoa 251.00
11 Italy 501.00
@ cane:
Not bad odds on the Wobblies and the Frogs!
Even the Taffy Bastids might be worth a few bob at those odds.
NZINCHINA wrote:
It will.
It always does in England in October.
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