Sefanaia Naivalu
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sefanaia Naivalu | ||
| Nickname | Sefa | ||
| Born |
7 January 1992 Levuka, Fiji | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 94 kg (14 st 11 lb) | ||
| Club information | |||
| Playing position | Centre / Wing | ||
| Current club | Rebels | ||
| Amateur team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| −2013 | Ovalau Rugby Club | () | |
| 2014− | Box Hill Broncos | () | |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Pts)† |
| 2014− | Melbourne Rising | 5 | (25) |
| 2015– | Rebels | 23 | (50) |
| Representative team(s)‡ | |||
| 2016− | Australia | 5 | (5) |
|
* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 21 July 2016. | |||
Sefanaia Naivalu (born 7 January 1992) is a Fijian rugby union player who currently plays as a centre or wing for the Melbourne Rebels in the international Super Rugby competition.[1][2] He also represented Melbourne Rising in the inaugural National Rugby Championship.[3]
Career
Naivalu started out his rugby career with the Ovalau Rugby Club in his native Fiji before moving to Australia at the beginning of 2014 with the Rugby Plus Program. He joined the Box Hill Broncos who play in the local Dewar Shield in Victoria and made an immediate impact by becoming the leading try and point scorer in the competition which in turn saw his side reach the tournament's Grand Final.[1][2]
These performance brought him to the attention of the newly formed Melbourne Rising who competed in the first ever National Rugby Championship in 2014. 5 tries in 5 appearances at the beginning of the season[4] were enough to convince local Super Rugby franchise the Melbourne Rebels of his worth and he made history by becoming the first Rebel ever to be signed directly from a Dewar Shield side.[2]
For the 2016 Rugby Championship, wallabies coach Michael Cheika called Sefa Naivalu for the 33 men squad in preparation for the test against South Africa and Argentina, although the player will not be eligible until Septempber the 18th, one day after the match between the wallabies and the pumas
Super Rugby Statistics
- As of 26 July 2016[4]
| Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Cons | Pens | Drops | Points | Yel | Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Rebels | 13 | 8 | 5 | 561 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | Rebels | 10 | 9 | 1 | 707 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 23 | 17 | 6 | 1268 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 0 | |
References
- 1 2 "Sefanaia Naivalu Melbourne Rebels Player Profile". Rebels Rugby. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Rebels make history signing Box Hill speedster Sefanaia Naivalu". Rebels Rugby. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ↑ "Sefanaia Naivalu Melbourne Rising Player Profile". Melbourne Rising Rugby. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- 1 2 "Sefanaia Naivalu itsrugby Player Statistics". itsrugby. Retrieved 10 December 2014.