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| Date of birth | January 27, 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Palo Alto, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 197 lb (14 st 1 lb; 89 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Folau Niua (born January 27, 1985) is an American rugby union former player. He played fly-half for the United States national rugby sevens team from 2011 to 2022, and holds the U.S. record for most tournament appearances with over 65 caps.
Folau Niua is from East Palo Alto in California, and attended high school at Woodside High. [2] Niua previously played his club rugby with the East Palo Alto Razorbacks, where he helped the club win the 2009 Division II national championship. He then played with San Francisco Golden Gate, where he helped the team win the 2011 Rugby Super League national championship. [3] Niua played in the August 2011 national all-star championships, where his impressive scoring ability and fitness led the Pacific Coast team. [4]
Niua debuted for the United States national sevens team at the 2011 Pan American Games, where, despite his lack of international tournament experience, he was the starting flyhalf. [5] Niua was the top scorer for the U.S. in that tournament with 41 points, including a 78% success rate in kicking his conversions, helping the U.S. achieve a bronze medal. [6]
Niua signed a professional contract with USA Rugby in January 2012 to play full-time for the U.S. national sevens team. Niua was a regular on the U.S. national team in the 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series, finishing the season as one of the leading scorers for the team. Niua also played for the U.S. during the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series, leading the team with 30 points at the 2012 South Africa Sevens. [7] Niua also played for the U.S. during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Niua had been in consideration for a place at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but ultimately did not make the tournament roster. [8] Niua made the roster for the 2015 Rugby World Cup where he played as a center.
In February 2014, Niua signed a contract with the Glasgow Warriors. [9] Niua was released by Glasgow at the end of the season having made only one appearance for the club. [10]
The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States of America Rugby Football Union in men's international rugby union. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, and is a member of Rugby Americas North, one of six regional governing bodies under World Rugby. Until rugby returned to Olympic competition, with sevens at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic rugby champion, having defeated the one other competitor in 1920 and the two other competitors at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
The USA Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually during March in the United States. The USA Sevens is the largest annual rugby competition in North America, drawing over 60,000 fans, and is broadcast live in the United States by ESPN. The USA Sevens was introduced in 2004, originally in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The event moved to San Diego in 2007, and from there moved to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas in 2010. It then spent the entire decade of the 2010s in Las Vegas before returning to Carson in 2020. The USA Sevens tournament features 16 teams representing countries from every inhabited continent, including the host, the U.S. national team.
Spain's national rugby sevens team is one of 15 core teams participating in all ten tournaments of the World Rugby Sevens Series, having qualified by winning the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier tournament. Spain participated as a core team in the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series, but was relegated the following season.
Zachary "Zack" Test is a retired American rugby union player who played for the United States national rugby sevens team. With 143 career tries in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Test led all U.S. players in tries scored until Perry Baker broke his record in early 2018. He is the current head coach of the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR).
Colin Gregor is a retired Scottish rugby union player. He was the captain of the Scotland 7s team from 2009 to 2014. He was the eighth player, and first Scot, to score over 1,000 points on the IRB Sevens World Series. He retired as the most capped sevens player in Scottish history, having played in 58 IRB Sevens World Series tournaments, three Sevens World Cups and two Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, 2006 and at Glasgow 2014 where he was captain. He played as a Scrum-half or Fly-half.
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The East Coast Rugby Conference is a college rugby conference, founded in 2011 after USA Rugby decided that collegiate rugby teams would leave their local area unions and form independent conferences. Seven teams participated in the inaugural season.
Al Caravelli is head coach of the Philippines national rugby sevens team. He was head coach of the United States national rugby sevens team from 2006 until 2012.
The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010 to 2017, on ESPN News and ESPN3 from 2018 to 2019, The Rugby Network in 2021 and 2023, and on CBS Sports in 2022. The CRC capitalized on the surge in popularity of rugby following the 2009 announcement of the addition of rugby sevens to the Summer Olympics. Beginning in 2021, the tournament has been organized by National Collegiate Rugby under license for the name and logo.
Peter Tiberio is an American rugby union player who plays for the Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby (MLR).
Kisi Keomaka "Maka" Unufe is an American rugby union player. He played for a decade with the United States national rugby sevens team, and now plays for the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby (MLR) as a center.
The Atlantic Coast Rugby League was an annual college rugby competition played every spring among eight universities—seven from the Atlantic Coast Conference, plus Navy. The league was disestablished in 2016.
Alexander Magleby is the CEO of the professional rugby union team, The New England Free Jacks. He is a former professional rugby union coach, and former United States national team player and captain.
The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby sevens team represents Papua New Guinea in international women's rugby sevens tournaments. They are regular participants at the Oceania Women's Sevens Championship and Pacific Games.
The USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships is an annual competition among the top college rugby teams in the country to decide a national champion in rugby sevens. USA Rugby organized the championship to capitalize on the surge in popularity of rugby sevens following the 2009 announcement of the addition of rugby to the Summer Olympics. USA Rugby recognized that rugby sevens is growing in popularity, participation and interest. At the time of the foundation of the tournament, rugby was one of the fastest growing sports across college campuses. This tournament is a major contributor to the selection process for USA Rugby Olympic athletes.
The Red River Rugby Collegiate Conference is a college rugby conference in Division 1-A Rugby, formed during summer 2014. The conferences consists of many of the same schools from the Big 12 Conference that had previously been in the Allied Rugby Conference adding the Texas Christian University rugby team.
The California Golden Bears rugby team is the college rugby team of the University of California, Berkeley. The Golden Bears have won 33 championships since the national collegiate championships for rugby began in 1980. Current head coach and Cal alumnus Jack Clark took over the team in 1984, and has achieved prolonged success, leading the Bears to 28 national titles, including twelve consecutive championships from 1991 to 2002, five more consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008, and back-to-back titles in 2010 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017.
The Lindenwood Lions men's rugby team represents Lindenwood University in college rugby. Lindenwood plays in Division I-A in the Mid-South conference. The team is coached by Josh Macy. The Lindenwood men's rugby team won the 2012 USA Rugby Division II national championship in its inaugural season, and finished second in Division I-AA for the 2012-13 season. Following the 2012-13 season, Lindenwood moved up to Division I-A for the 2013-14 season. Lindenwood has also had success in Sevens. The Lions won the D1 7s National Championship in 2015 & the Red Bull University 7s Championship.
Carlin Isles is an American rugby union player who plays for the United States national rugby sevens team. With 202 tries, Isles is second for the United States in career tries scored, behind teammate Perry Baker. Isles has been touted as the fastest rugby player.
Jean-Pierre "JP" Eloff is an American rugby union player who plays Fullback for the Chicago Hounds in Major League Rugby (MLR) and also for the United States national rugby union team.
