Joeli Vidiri (23 November 1973 – 23 February 2022) was a professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

. Born in Fiji, he earned seven caps for the Fiji national team before switching his allegiance to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, for whom he earned two more caps.

Career

Vidiri studied at Queen Victoria School (Fiji). He represented

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

in both 15s and sevens before coming to New Zealand in 1994. He played for the Auckland Blues in the

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

competition and represented Counties Manukau in the NPC. He only managed to play two tests for

in 1998. In 2001 he was diagnosed with a kidney illness and placed on dialysis treatment like his fellow

Auckland Blues The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established b ...

winger

Jonah Lomu Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players in the history of the sport, and as one of the most talented sportsm ...

. Vidiri played in the Super 12 for the Auckland Blues from 1996 until 2001, where he scored 43 tries in 61 games, at the time an individual record. In 2000 Joeli created the record for most tries scored in one match scoring four against the Bulls, a record which has since been broken when Sean Wainui scored five tries against the Waratahs in 2021. He had a song named after him (''Give Me Hope Joeli'') that was very popular with the Auckland Blues fans at home games at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

. He appeared in only five Super 12 matches in 2001, with his illness impacting on his ability to play. In 2000 Vidiri played for the

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a Great Britain, British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitatio ...

against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

. Vidiri made 71 provincial appearances for

Counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, for whom Vidiri scored 56 tries. After two early matches with

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in the 2001 NPC, he ended his career.

Post career

After his career was cut short, it was revealed that Vidiri had been waiting on a transplant for over a decade (accurate to 2013), and on 8 April 2013 episode of ''Campbell Live'', it had been revealed he was talked out of a kidney transplant in 2008, and had taken himself out of the waiting list due to his mother's scepticism and traditional views against transplants and surgery. He worked in Pukekohe. Vidiri died on 23 February 2022, at the age of 48, in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in California The COVID-19 pandemic in California began earlier than in some other parts of the United States. Ten of the first 20 confirmed COVID-19 infections in the United States were detected in California, and the first infection was confirmed on Janua ...

, shortly after getting married. He was unvaccinated. Tributes from the Rugby community were shared through the New Zealand media.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vidiri, Joeli 1973 births 2022 deaths Rugby union players from Nadroga-Navosa Province Fijian rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Counties Manukau rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union wings New Zealand international rugby union players Barbarian F.C. players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Fiji international rugby union players Fijian emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand expatriate rugby union players Fijian expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand people of I-Taukei Fijian descent New Zealand international rugby sevens players New Zealand male rugby sevens players Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for New Zealand Rugby sevens players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in rugby sevens Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games People educated at Queen Victoria School (Fiji)