Epeli Ruivadra (born 1 June 1977 in Nausori) is a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

an rugby union footballer. He plays as a centre. He is 1.85m tall and weighs 90 kg. He started playing rugby at Lelean Memorial School and represented the school's Under 19s team in the Deans Trophy in 1997. He even tried to play at

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, distinct ...

for his club Dravo before moving to the backs. He trialled in 2001 for the Pacific Tri-Nations and he managed to break into the

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the tour to Europe later that year, then made the

Fiji sevens The Fiji Sevens, also known as the Suva Sevens is an international rugby union sevens tournament held at the National Stadium in Suva, Fiji. It was a part of the Sevens World Series in 2000, but in the wake of the Fijian coup d'état later tha ...

squad for Beijing and Hong Kong in 2002 where he was Fiji's top try-scorer at both tournaments. Ruivadra made his Test debut under

Mac McCallion Warrick Lee "Mac" McCallion (26 July 1950 – 14 March 2018) was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach. McCallion served in the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment of the New Zealand Army during the Vietnam War. Aged 17, and having lied abo ...

in the first game against Tonga in June 2002, and scored a try. He earned a spot in the Rugby World Cup 2003 and played an instrumental role in Fiji's final pool game against Scotland but they were unlucky to lose.

External links

Profile of Epeli Ruivadra
1977 births Living people People from Nausori Rugby union players from Tailevu Province Fijian rugby union players Rugby union centres Fiji international rugby union players Male rugby sevens players Fiji international rugby sevens players I-Taukei Fijian people People educated at Lelean Memorial School Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Fiji Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for Fiji Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games 2003 Rugby World Cup players {{Fiji-rugbyunion-bio-stub