LESLEY VAINIKOLO PROFILE: John O'Sullivanruns the rule over the giant Tongan winger Munster will be aiming to keep scoreless at Kingsholm on Saturday

RUGBY UNION commentators have formed a disorderly queue to trample on the bona fides of Gloucester's Lesley Vainikolo eight months after many of them positively salivated at the prospect of the Tongan-born wing playing in the Test arena for England.

It's fair to say he looked ponderous during the recent Six Nations Championship but that was partially attributable to a nervous desperation to prove himself that contributed to several unforced and clumsy errors.

It also bespoke a lack of intelligence in the manner in which England sought to employ his raw power and physicality.

The polarised comment Vainikolo has generated since moving from rugby league to union threatens to overshadow an impressive pedigree.

To dismiss his credentials as a player would be a grievous error and one that Munster are unlikely to perpetrate ahead of Saturday's Heineken European Cup semi-final at Kingsholm.

Born in the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa, Vainikolo grew up in the south Auckland suburb of Mangere East, attending the local De La Salle College, where he is still credited with holding the school 100-metre record, 10.9 seconds.

He clocked 10.6 seconds in qualifying for the 1998 World Junior Athletics Championships but did not compete in France because he had already embarked on his rugby league career.

Although he had originally started with union, he switched codes as an 11-year-old at the behest of a friend.

A childhood hero, Mal Meninga, persuaded him to join the Canberra Raiders in the Australian NRL and it was during his time at the club that he earned the nickname The Volcano, bestowed by the commentator Peter Sterling, who found the player's surname a little awkward to pronounce.

His league career included 12 tests for New Zealand (14 tries) and reveals a litany of try-scoring landmarks.

Between joining the Bradford Bulls in 2002 and leaving for Gloucester last year, Vainikolo scored 149 tries in 152 appearances, was voted Rugby League World Player of the Year (2003) and in 2004 smashed the Super League record by scoring 37 tries, including five hat-tricks, in 26 appearances.

In his very first match for Gloucester, on September 16th last year, he scored five tries against Leeds Carnegie, and despite being hampered by injury he was encouraged to apply for the British passport that would enable him to play for England in the Six Nations Championship.

It is the only phase in his career that has been singularly unsuccessful; not only has he failed to score in his five Tests but his general form has been poor.

Munster will be aware his form at Gloucester is considerably better. He applied a typically robust finish in scoring a try against Worcester at the weekend, returning to competitive action following the birth of his first child.

The Munster team manager and erstwhile fullback Shaun Payne is in no doubt about Vainikolo's qualities.

"It is always dangerous to single out one player because Gloucester have strength all over the park but Lesley Vainikolo is special.

"I have been more impressed with him in the Heineken Cup than for England in the Six Nations as he clearly can improve in a few technical areas and a player's form is linked directly to team form. However, you cannot buy or be taught strength and in pure physicality he has it all."

The impact the giant Tongan can have can be gleaned from the fact that Worcester's Marcel Garvey was knocked out in the collision when attempting to tackle Vainikolo. In a gesture typical of the man, the six-foot-two-inch, 17-and-a-half-stone wing went to check on Garvey's health as he was treated by paramedics after being knocked out.

Vainikolo said: "I hope he's recovering well. It all happened very quickly and I just thought I would go over and give him my best."

He then turned his attention briefly to the Munster game, insisting: "We are underdogs. We don't want to be favourites. We will keep it low key. It's going to be a hard game, but I'm looking forward to it."

Munster will be hoping The Volcano does not choose this weekend for the next eruption.