Just saw Tonga V Japan and he scored two tries and looked very impressive. Whilst he was a bit "wayward" in some of his runs last season he was overall a good contributor to the team.

Why is it such a big secret? If he's signed he's signed.

that was macca. fets was retweeting all week about leaving and i seen one exeter player sent him a tweet say ''shhhhhhhhhh'' when people kept asking him where he was going

Vainikolo posted a picture of his leaving card on twitter, one of the messages says "G-luck in Exeter". Sounds like he is on his way for them definitly.

sea_point wrote: Confirmed that he's leaving as per attached..

Speculation that Fets is going to London, club TBC..

French Rugby site has him signing for Pro2 side Pau (Section Paulouise)

www.rugby-transferts.com/pro-d2/tableau-...ts-rugby-pro-d2.html

Bit extra I missed from Midi-Olympique apparently, Irish in for him for just a season and Pau offering two.

According to Midi Olympique , Pau has set his sights on Fetu'u Vainikolo . The Tongan winger Connacht (28 years, seven selections) would have been offered a two-year contract by Pau leaders who will face competition from London Irish, who have offered him a contract for one season. Fetu'u Vainikolo reserve time response.

www.rugby-transferts.com/pro-d2/0020184-...kolo-en-renfort.html

If I was him I'd be off to France in a shot, Pau is a fantastic city witha pretty decent location too. I imagine the attraction of Irish is London and probably a big Islander/Tongan community...

If we're signing Sinotti Sinotti then yes, there is room for him.

FAN

@FetsV woah woah woah please tell me Fets that you're not leaving Connacht?? #devastated

FETUU

@mikeydxo no room for me here

AND

FAN

@FetsV dont leave ! #connacht

FETUU

@EMMufc #haha I wish bud

There was another tweet but couldnt find it.

it reminded me of when i said to henry fafailli that if i won the lotto id pay his wage here.
his reply was that it really wasnt about the money but 100% about him being NIQ. i think that proves this now as dont think he's playing much (any?) rugby... if he knew that (which he would) then he'd be looking for a realistic contract

Confirmed that he's leaving as per attached..

Speculation that Fets is going to London, club TBC..

French Rugby site has him signing for Pro2 side Pau (Section Paulouise)

www.rugby-transferts.com/pro-d2/tableau-...ts-rugby-pro-d2.html

Qualified success I'd say, I'd like to have seen him here for another season. He gradually improved as he went along. Don't think that was down to contract, thing familiarity increased and we found out how to utilise him better. I'd be dubious about some aspects of his game but I'd give him a thumbs up and best of luck, he'll be missed.

He might not be a success, but is far from a bust. He's a player that probably would flourish with the right players around him working the right game plan. If he finds such a team he won't fade from our memories too soon. Obviously the great ones find a way to score no matter the situation, but Vainikolo can inject some excitement into a game and could potentially be a very good player for the right team. I wish him the best.

Put it like this, he was better than Mike Roberts, but he was never a finisher like Matt Mostyn. While he was a fine broken field runner, I'll always remember him not being able to burn Ian Keatley for gas at home to Munster which would have won us the game if he had been able to do so. Nevertheless good luck to him. A nice guy.

While it's true that the stats show a less than stellar return, I'll remember Fetu as one of the most exciting players we've ever had with Connacht. A fantastic broken field runner, something we don't really have elsewhere in the squad. His horizontal runs across the pitch, where he would seem to get swallowed up by the opposition defensive line only to burst out the other side left me speechless. His commitment has been questioned, but to his credit, he rectified his terrible performances under the high ball earlier this season and hasn't dropped anything in ages. That's mental toughness/hard work to some degree.

It's a position we have great depth in with Fionn returning so it's a good move for all concerned. All the best Fetu.

We can only speculate the value of the contract that Fet's was signed on, but I'd say if you are measuring him on tires scored then you have to measure him against his immediate team-mates and not against former players.

We have no way of knowing if Fionn was in the team last season or this if he would have score as many or more tries. Last season was a huge step up in intensity and horrifically difficult for the squad as a whole, and Fet's missed pre-season due to his involvement with Tonga in the PNC and then the RWC so perhaps unsurprising that he didn't get going try wise until the second half of the season as our own form improved post Quins Miracle match.

This season we are the second fewest points scored in the Pro 12, so perhaps a little unfair to look at only Vainikolo for this. I would have been fascinated to see how he would have done if Fa'AFili was retained, I think he would have really flourished off Henry's lines of running...

I don't think he was a total bust but he was brought over to fill a specific role (imo) and didn't do it well enough. I think this was made even more apparent when Poolman started scoring for fun this season. I'm not sure if the team needed to be tailored to him or if our attack just isn't effective enough in general or whether its his fault however, there have certainly been plenty of games where handling errors meant the ball never got to him or in a favourable position.

I would say C) Steady. Neither a success nor failure. Should have been better but no Ezra Taylor.

I guess you are judged by what went before and comes after you. Considering he replaced a record try scorer and only had a modest return in that regard and that same record try scorer is returning to replace hin he might be a mere memory.
Imo he had a great attitude but had limitations. If we were to keep one of the two( reynecke or fetu) id keep fetu because of that attitude. I just remember that piece that georges wife did for nz tv about the kiwis in galway. Fetu kept going on about the weather and cold. I thought after seeing that that he hadnt really settled.