Denny Solomona
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Born | Auckland, New Zealand | 27 September 1993||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 95 kg (14 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Wing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Wing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 22 October 2017 |
Denny Solomona (born 27 September 1993) is a New Zealand-born English rugby player, currently playing rugby union for Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership. He previously played rugby league as a winger for Melbourne Storm Under-20s, London Broncos, and Castleford Tigers.
Youth
Solomona was born and brought up in Auckland, and was educated at St Peter's College where he was a member of the school's Rugby Union First XV and won the Boris Shroj Cup in 2010 as the top try scorer.[3]
Rugby League
In 2012, Solomona became a member of the Melbourne Storm Rugby League franchise being recruited out of Melbourne's youth system. He only played 13 games during the 2012 National Youth Competition season, with a fractured fibula in Round 13. Nevertheless, the 19-year-old scored eight tries from those 13 games. Solomona joined the Melbourne Storm's senior squad in 2013.[4]
Solomona signed for Super League side London Broncos in January 2014 after being released from his contract with Melbourne Storm.[5] Following the club's relegation, it was announced that he would join Castleford Tigers at the end of the season.[6]
In 2016, Solomona scored a record-breaking 37th try in a single Super League season in Castleford's Super 8s win over Catalans. The try broke a 12-year record held by former dual-international, Lesley Vainikolo.[7] Solomona finished the season with a total of 40 tries along with another 2 in the Challenge Cup competition.[8] On October 8, 2016, Solomona made his International début for Samoa in their historical test match against Fiji in Apia.
Rugby Union
On 13 December 2016, it was confirmed that Solomona had retired from rugby league, with two years still remaining on his contract with Castleford Tigers, to switch to rugby union, and join Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership. The move was subject to a legal dispute which was concluded out of court as Sale paid Castleford some £200,000 in compensation[9]. On 29 March 2017, having enjoyed a prolific start to his career with Sale (10 tries in 11 appearances), Solomona declared himself available for international selection with England.[10] He was subsequently called up to the senior England squad by Eddie Jones for their 2017 summer tour of Argentina and came on as a sub in the opening test and scored the winning try on his debut.l[11]
References
- ^ loverugbyleague.com
- ^ Rugby League Project
- ^ St Peter's College Magazine 2010, p. 96.
- ^ Denny Solomona, Official Website of the Melbourne Storm Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 9 July 2013)
- ^ "London Broncos sign Ben Ross and Denny Solomona". BBC Sport. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ "Super League: Denny Solomona to leave London Broncos and join Castleford Tigers". Sky Sports. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ "Catalans 28-34 Castleford: Solomona sets Super League try scoring record". 17 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ "Denny Solomona enjoys a record-breaking afternoon as Castleford see off Widnes". 26 September 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/16/castleford-sale-settlement-denny-solomona
- ^ "Solomona ready to play for England". planetrugby.com. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
- ^ "England v Argentina: Dylan Hartley, Joe Launchbury & George Ford in squad". BBC Sport. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
External links
- Living people
- 1993 births
- New Zealand rugby league players
- New Zealand rugby union players
- New Zealand people of Samoan descent
- Castleford Tigers players
- London Broncos players
- London Skolars players
- Sale Sharks players
- Rugby union wings
- Rugby league wingers
- Rugby league players from Auckland
- People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland
- New Zealand expatriate rugby union players
- New Zealand expatriates in England
- Expatriate rugby union players in England
- Dual-code rugby internationals
- England international rugby union players
- Samoa national rugby league team players
- Rugby union players from Auckland