Filipo Daugunu

Filipo Daugunu

Daugunu during a match representing Queensland Country, September 2017
Full name	Filipo Suraki Daugunu
Date of birth	(1995-03-04) 4 March 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth	Labasa, Fiji
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	92 kg (203 lb; 14 st 7 lb)
School	Labasa Sangam College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing/Centre Current team Reds Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2017–2019 Queensland Country 21 (106) 2018–2023 Reds 69 (120) 2024 Rebels 12 (25) 2025- Reds 0 (0) Correct as of 8 June 2024 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2015 Fiji U20 4 (14) 2020– Australia 7 (10) Correct as of 11 April 2023

Filipo Suraki Daugunu (born 4 March 1995) is a rugby union player who plays for the Reds in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. His position of choice is wing. ^[1] Fijian-born, Daugunu moved to Australia in 2016 at the age of 20 to pursue a professional sporting career. He was selected to play international rugby for Australia in October 2020. ^[2]

Early career

Daugunu started his sporting career playing football for his local district football team, Labasa Football. He played both as a goalkeeper and a striker, and became a regular in the Labasa team in 2013.

In 2015, Daugunu gave up an association football career to play rugby union, ^[3] representing Fiji Under-20 at the World Rugby Junior Trophy in Portugal. ^[4] He was involved with the Fiji 7s program in 2016, ^[3] but opted out of joining the team to play on the world circuit. ^[5] He moved to Brisbane, Australia and began playing club rugby there. ^[5]

Daugunu gained significant attention in Queensland Premier Rugby after scoring sixty-six points from eleven appearances for Wests Bulldogs in 2017. After helping Wests to their first finals appearance in ten years, losing 24–22 to Sunnybank in the semi-finals, he was recruited to play in the National Rugby Championship (NRC) for Queensland Country.

Daugunu scored seventy-one points in just eight appearances for Queensland Country on the way to club's first national title. He scored a hat-trick of tries in the final against the Canberra Vikings which was instrumental to Country's 42–28 win. ^{[6] [7]}

Super Rugby

Because of his performances in the NRC, the Queensland Reds signed him in late 2017 to join their squad for the 2018 Super Rugby season. ^{[8] [9]}

In 2024, Filipo joined Melbourne Rebels. He returned to the Reds for the 2025 season on a one-year contract. ^[10]

International tries

As of 20 November 2021 ^[11]

Try	Opposing team	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result	Score
1	New Zealand	Wellington, New Zealand	Sky Stadium	2020 end-of-year rugby union internationals	11 October 2020	Draw	16–16
2	Wales	Cardiff, Wales	Principality Stadium	2021 Autumn Nations Series	20 November 2021	Loss	29–28

Super Rugby statistics

As of 24 June 2023 ^[12]

Season	Team	Apps	Start	Sub	Mins	T	C	PG	DG	Pts	YC	RC
2018	Reds	14	11	3	913	6	2	1	0	37	0	0
2019	Reds	7	6	1	396	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2020	Reds	3	0	3	60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2020 AU	Reds	10	10	0	794	6	0	0	0	30	1	0
2021 AU	Reds	8	5	3	452	4	0	0	0	20	0	0
2021	Reds	5	4	1	332	2	0	1	0	13	1	0
2022	Reds	10	8	2	674	2	0	0	0	10	1	0
2023	Reds	12	10	2	787	2	0	0	0	10	0	0
Total		69	54	15	4,408	20	2	2	0	120	3	0

References

1. "Filipo Daugunu". www.redsrugby.com.au. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
2. Woods, Melissa (12 October 2020). "Daugunu makes memorable Wallabies debut". 7 News. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021.
3. "Reds sign ex-Fijian soccer player Filipo Daugunu". The Sydney Morning Herald . 19 October 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
4. "Filipo Daugunu – international career". It's Rugby. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
5. Mele, Kalesi (16 February 2016). "On the radar". The Fiji Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
6. "New Fiji sensation Filipo Daugunu leads Queensland Country to NRC success". Sport 360. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
7. "Match Report". Rugby.com.au. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
8. "Filipo Daugunu converts NRC form into Super Rugby contract with Queensland Reds". The Courier Mail. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
9. "Filipo Daugunu signs for Queensland Reds". Fiji TV. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
10. "Filipo Daugunu returns to the Queensland Reds for 2025". Queensland Reds. 29 June 2024.
11. "Filipo Suraki Daugunu". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
12. "Player Statistics". It's Rugby.