Ratu Henry Vafo'ou Speight

A big-hearted yet softly spoken Melanesian speedster, Henry Speight followed the influential advice of a former Fijian president to spurn the All Blacks and instead play his rugby for Australia.

The president in question was Josefa Iloilo, who also happened to be Speight’s grandfather. “He was one of the most influential people in my life, he made me the person I am today. My grandfather always told me; ‘Be grateful to people who give you an opportunity’,” Speight said.

Unfortunately, the eventual opportunity was far from straight forward. Speight’s roller-coaster of fortune began in 2008, while playing in New Zealand, when he signed a three-year deal with ITM Cup side Waikato, the feeder club for the Chiefs. In 2010, Chiefs’ head coach Ian Foster, only offered Speight an extended playing squad contract for Super Rugby while the Brumbies guaranteed him a two-year full-time contract. “It came down to a personal goal in life, to play in Super Rugby, that was the dream I’d had all my life,” Speight said. “I knew if I could be part of a full squad, I had a good chance to make it.”

True to his grandfather’s word, Speight chose to pursue a professional career with the Brumbies and immediately set the competition alight. He also generated much hype as to his international eligibility. That eligibility was compromised given Speight had already signed for a third season of ITM Cup with Waikato and had played with them at the end of the 2011 season. As such Speight was deemed ineligible to represent Australia until 2014 in order to satisfy the IRB ruling which stated that an individual must play in one country only for three consecutive years before becoming available for their national team.

If the IRB ruling wasn’t enough, Speight also had to contend with the Australian government who rejected visa applications for his brother and sister based on the fear that they would seek asylum. Nonetheless, Speight never once wavered from the “ultimate goal” and that faith was rewarded in 2014 when he wore the gold jersey of Australia for the first time.

A year later Speight made Australian Rugby Union history with a landmark three-year deal, one which allowed him to play for the Brumbies, the Wallabies and the Aussie men’s sevens team.

Speight moved to Queensland for the 2020 season where he scored a try on debut against the Brumbies. That five-pointer made Speight the first ever player to score tries against all eighteen current and former Super Rugby teams. At the end of that year, Speight left Australia after he signed a three-year deal with French club Biarritz Olympique.

Henry Speight played 19 Tests for Australia in a four-year international career.

Highlights

2008

Selected in the Fijian squad for the IRB under-20s World Championships in Wales.

2014

A four-year wait to be considered eligible to play for the Wallabies was put on hold while he recovered from a hamstring strain. Consequently, Speight missed the Rugby Championship before he was chosen for the season ending Spring Tour. He won his first Test cap on the left wing against Ireland in Dublin.

2015

Won three caps and was selected to his first Rugby World Cup where he played outside centre in the 65-3 pool match win over Uruguay at Birmingham.

2016

Speight put his immediate Super Rugby and Wallabies’ ambitions on hold in order to focus on a bid to play Sevens at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Unfortunately, those hopes were derailed by a nasty fracture to his skull following a collision with Brumbies’ teammate Christian Leali’ifano. Doctors gave Speight the all clear to chase his Olympic dream but only under the condition he wore headgear to protect a titanium mesh insert above his left eye. Ultimately, he was ruled out of the Olympics after sustaining a Grade 3 medial ligament injury to his right knee.

2017

Earned eight caps throughout the year, six of which came in the starting side and predominantly on the right wing. A highlight of the season was his selection in the run-on XV against his former countrymen in Melbourne, a match in which Speight bagged his first Test try double.