Epeli Naituivau (born 22 May 1962) is a Fijian former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer, who played as

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

. He is one of the eight members of the country's armed forces to play for Fiji in a Rugby World Cup squad, alongside Koli Rakoroi, Elia Rokowailoa, Rusiate Namoro, Tom Mitchell, Alifereti Dere and Setareki Tawake.

Career

Naituivau debuted for Fiji against Tonga, at Nuku'alofa, on 24 March 1990. He called in the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

squad, where he played against Romania and Canada, as well in the 1999 Rugby World Cup squad, where he played against Namibia and England, the latter being his last international cap.

Post-retirement

Naituivau coached

Fiji Barbarians The Fiji Barbarians is a Fijian former rugby union representative team that played in the Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Fijian team in the Cup was the Fiji Warriors. The players were drawn from the Fijian domestic competitions. The ...

in 2009. In 2010 he was technical advisor and forwards coach for

Fiji Warriors The Fiji Warriors, also referred to as Fiji A, is a national representative rugby team of rugby union in Fiji. It is the second-tier side to the Fiji national team. The Warriors team is selected from players in the Fijian domestic competi ...

. Until 2013, he was appointed Development Officer by

Fiji Rugby Union Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are a ...

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naituivau, Epeli Fiji international rugby union players Fijian rugby union players Rugby union props 1962 births Living people 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players