Wainwright came to prominence in the 1994 Five Nations Championship with a try against England, and also scored a try against France in the final pool match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
[4] Richard Bath wrote of him that his When Wainwright was injured in 1996, Gregor Townsend took on the position of national captain.
As the 1997 Five Nations Championship approached, Wainright anticipated that he might be deployed to Bosnia with NATO peacekeeping troops[7] but this did not occur.
In 1999 he and his family moved to the island of Coll in the Inner Hebrides, taking ownership of a farm.
[9][10][11][12] He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for voluntary and charitable services to the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.