Solomona on a soul mission to add variety
GROWING up in the mean streets of South Auckland, Denny Solomona was never far away from a rugby ball – or a fight.
Thankfully, his love of rugby and a strong family network kept the Sale and England winger on the right path in an area otherwise known for violent crime.
Always appreciative of the fact that life could have turned out very differently without rugby, Solomona needed no second invitation to support Project Rugby, a joint grassroots initiative between the RFU and PRL that aims to get 12,000 youngsters from under-represented communities involved with the sport.
“You either played rugby or you fell into gangs and a life on the streets, that’s the story of where I grew up,” Solomona told The Rugby
Paper during the launch at the AJ Bell Stadium.
“Luckily, I got stuck into rugby when I was five and had a real strong family around me. My parents and grandparents took me training whenever they needed to.
“Rugby gives you the tool to make friends and be con- fident in yourself and your ability as a person and player.
“This project is all about encouraging people that don’t really have much knowledge of rugby. It is about ethnicity, as there isn’t a lot of variety in rugby, with the aim of bringing everyone together as one.
“I am doing two things that I love,” he continued. “I love playing rugby and I love trying to make a difference. If I can help one kid off the street and join a rugby club, I’ve done my job. It boosts my soul that I am doing something that may help change people’s lives for the better.”
As for the job of scoring tries, Solomona is one of the best, even though he has been a professional Rugby Union player for less than a year.
The 23-year-old went into the weekend with six tries from seven games – form that he hopes will earn him an England reprieve for the Autumn internationals against Argentina, Australia and Samoa.
Solomona was sent home early from a national squad training camp in August due to “team culture issues” but hope he can put that episode behind him.
“What’s in the past is in the past, I’m looking to the future now,” he said.
“I’m not focusing on England too much, I’m just going to take it day by day and do my job here.
“Form is always the key thing to have as a rugby player, it comes down to training and the one-percenters that you need to do.”
While Solomona has made the transition from League to Union look like a breeze, Sale’s other highprofile cross-coder Josh Charnley has yet to show his true potential.
But Solomona has backed the record-breaking ex-Wigan wing to follow in his slipstream and come good.
“He has got the talent and the work ethic and that fire in his belly to do well here, all he needs to do is keep learning which is what I am doing every day.”