![]() Speight playing against New Zealand, August 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Ratu Henry Vao'ofu Speight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 24 March 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Suva, Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 97 kg (214 lb; 15 st 4 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Queen Victoria School and Hamilton Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Samisoni Tikoinasau (father) George Speight (uncle) Josefa Iloilo (grandfather) Kavu Iloilo (grandmother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ratu Henry Vao'ofu Speight (born 24 March 1988) is a Fiji-born Australian professional rugby union player. He currently plays for the French club Biarritz. [1] Speight was previously with the Brumbies and Queensland Reds in Super Rugby, and has represented Australia with the Wallabies and national sevens team. He is currently playing for Wests in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. His playing position is wing or centre.
Henry Speight is the son of Fijian politician Samisoni Tikoinasau [2] and the grandson of former Fiji President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo. [3] He was born in Suva, Fiji, where he attended Queen Victoria School before moving to New Zealand for his final years of high school.
His first taste of pro-rugby came in his final year at Hamilton Boys High School, when he was picked for Waikato, making his debut against the Bay of Plenty in 2008. [4] Speight went on to represent the province over four seasons. [5] Not eligible for the New Zealand Schoolboys, Speight represented his native Fiji in the same year at the Junior World Cup in Belfast. [6]
Speight made his Brumbies debut during the 2011 Super Rugby season against the Chiefs [2] in Canberra. After becoming eligible for national selection, on 11 September 2014, [7] Speight made his Wallabies debut during the 2014 Spring Tour against Ireland. [8]
In early 2018 Speight signed with Australia for at least one more year, showing his dedication to Australian rugby despite offers of contracts by foreign clubs. [9]
After signing a short deal in late 2018 with Ulster as a temporary replacement for the injured Louis Ludik, he returned to the Brumbies for the 2019 season before joining the Queensland Reds for the 2020 season. Speight's first game was against his old team, the Brumbies. He scored a try in that match to officially make him the only player to have scored tries against all 18 (current and former) super rugby teams.
Speight then moved to France on a 3-year contract with Biarritz Olympique. [1]
In 2024, Speight joined Wests for the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. [10]
Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Cons | Pens | Drops | Points | Yel | Red |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Brumbies | 12 | 11 | 1 | 837 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | Brumbies | 16 | 15 | 1 | 1137 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | Brumbies | 18 | 18 | 0 | 1377 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 |
2014 | Brumbies | 11 | 11 | 0 | 798 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 |
2015 | Brumbies | 17 | 17 | 0 | 1316 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 1 |
2016 | Brumbies | 4 | 4 | 0 | 267 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | Brumbies | 16 | 16 | 0 | 1256 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 |
2018 | Brumbies | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1075 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | Brumbies | 14 | 14 | 0 | 976 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | Reds | 6 | 6 | 0 | 480 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 128 | 126 | 2 | 9519 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 245 | 1 | 1 |
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