Waisake Naholo

Waisake Naholo
Full name Waisake Ratunideuba Naholo
Date of birth (1991-05-08) 8 May 1991
Place of birth Sigatoka, Fiji
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 108 kg (238 lb)
School Cuvu College &
Wanganui City College
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Wing
Provincial/State sides
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2009
2011–		 Wanganui
Taranaki		 11
32		 (30)
(70)
correct as of 23 October 2016.
Super Rugby
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2013
2015–		 Blues
Highlanders		 2
26		 (5)1t
(105)21t
correct as of 31 July 2016.
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2015– New Zealand 12 (30)
correct as of 26 November 2016.
Sevens national teams
Years Club / team Comps
2012–13 New Zealand 9
correct as of 12 May 2012.

Waisake Ratunideuba Naholo (born 8 May 1991 Sigatoka, Fiji) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He previously played for the All Blacks Sevens and now plays on the wing (and occasionally centre) position for the Dunedin based Super Rugby franchise the Highlanders,.[1] Naholo made his test debut for the All Blacks in 2015 and was a member of the 2015 Rugby World Cup winning team.

A former New Zealand under-20 rep, Naholo has played in 5 Sevens World Series tournaments, and featured in Gordon Tietjens squad to take part at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Naholo earned himself a Blues contract after a superb ITM Cup season in 2012. Starting on the wing, he became a regular try-scoring threat. At provincial level he began his career with Wanganui before making the switch to Taranaki in 2011.[2] He was also part of the Highlanders team that won the 2015 Super Rugby title.

Domestic career

At just 18 Naholo was playing provincial rugby, playing the 2009 Heartland Championship with Wanganui, he was contracted and appeared in eleven matches and recorded six tries while still at school.[3] In 2011, Naholo moved north to Taranaki. He made his debut for the side, when he started on the wing against Wellington in week one of the competition. He played mainly on the wing throughout the season, featuring in five matches with the only one game coming off the bench. He also became a member of the Hurricanes wider training group for 2012.

In 2012, Naholo continued to be a key contributor for Taranaki, playing the season's first two Ranfurly Shield matches against King Country and Wanganui. He played his second consecutive ITM Cup season for Taranaki. Naholo started the season scoring a solo try taking the ball from a line-out on half way and easily beating Bay of Plenty defenders to score untouched.[4] He ended the season with a total of eight matches and five tries, enough to earn him a Super Rugby contract with the Blues.[5]

After an impressive showing in the ITM Cup, Naholo earned his first Super Rugby start in the Blues 21–28 loss to the Bulls in Round 4 of the 2013 Super Rugby season.[6] He had the only one appearance after against the Highlanders finishing with a try.

In February 2015, he signed a 2-year contract with French Top 14 club, ASM Clermont Auvergne. He was to join the club at the end of the 2015 ITM Cup [7] but decided to pull out of the contract after a good super rugby season as he was now in contention for an All Black spot and he was subsequently released by Clermont.[8]

International career

Naholo was selected in the New Zealand Sevens team to prepare for the 2012 IRB World Series in Wellington, making his international rugby debut at Westpac Stadium.[9] Naholo also played for the New Zealand U20 side that defended its World U20 championship crown in Italy in 2011.[10] Naholo has since been selected in a squad of 41 for the New Zealand All Blacks. He was eligible to be selected for the historic test against Manu Samoa in Apia on 8 July, The Rugby Championship and the return Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park on 15 August. Selection for the test vs Manu Samoa was dependent on the Highlanders progress in the 2015 Superugby playoffs series.

He made his debut on the right wing in the 2015 Rugby Championship against Argentina but was subbed off in the 51st minute with a cracked bone which would rule him out for 3 months thus ruling him out of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[11]

However, in a shock move which defied the odds, Naholo was named in the 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup 2015, being chosen over veteran outside backs Israel Dagg and Cory Jane. He was expected to be match-fit for the All Blacks third pool game aganist Georgia.[12] Naholo played in matches against Georgia and Tonga, scoring the opening try for the former, making it his first international score.

In June 2016 he made a return to the All Blacks after coach, Steve Hansen included him in his 32-man squad for the 2016 June international test series against Wales.[13] He was named on the right wing for their first test against Wales.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Waisake Naholo Blues Profile". Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Waisake Naholo Taranaki Profile". Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Your homework? Score tries for Wanganui". Wanganui Chronicle. APN. 17 June 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Waisake Naholo scores a brilliant try in Taranaki's win over Bay of Plenty 37–22". 29 August 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Blues sign four players from Canes territory". Fairfax. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "Blues will give young guns a shot". Fairfax. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  7. ↑ Baleilevuka, Rusiate (27 February 2015). "Naholo agrees to Clermont deal". Fiji Village. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Hinton, Marc (17 May 2015). "Clermont relents, Waisake Naholo to stay with Highlanders in New Zealand – report". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "O'Donnell, Naholo new faces in sevens squad". 27 January 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  10. ↑ "Waisake Naholo IRB Profile". Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "All Blacks new recruit Waisake Naholo will miss the Rugby World Cup due to a broken leg.". TVNZ. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "All Blacks new recruit Waisake Naholo miracle recovery".
  13. ↑ "All Blacks squad named for 2016 Steinlager Series". allblacks.com. New Zealand Rugby Union. 29 May 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "All Blacks team for first Steinlager Series Test". All Blacks. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
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