Ereatara Enari (born 30 May 1997) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 its m ...

player, who currently plays as a halfback for in New Zealand's domestic

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

competition and for in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

Early career

Enari was born in Auckland, but grew up in Gisborne and

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. He attended Tū Toa until his last year of school moving to Saint Kentigern College in Auckland. After school, he moved to New Zealand's South Island to attend Lincoln University where he played Hawkins Cup rugby and won the championship in 2015, 2016 and 2017. During this time he also attended the Academy.

Senior career

Enari was first named in the Canterbury squad ahead of the

2016 Mitre 10 Cup The 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season was the eleventh season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 18, when North Harbour hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the ...

. Initially, he was expected to be 3rd choice halfback for the defending champions, however, season-ending injuries to first-choice

Mitchell Drummond Mitchell David Drummond (born 15 February 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a halfback for in the Bunnings NPC and the in the Super Rugby competition. Early career Born and raised in Nelson in the South Islan ...

and his replacement

Alby Mathewson Albert Samuel "Alby" Mathewson (born 13 December 1985) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half. Early life and education Mathewson was born in Hastings, New Zealand. He first attended Havelock North High School but switch ...

saw Enari thrust into the starting number 9 jersey at 19 years old. He made 9 appearances, 7 of them from the start, as Canterbury retained their Mitre 10 Cup Premiership title which was their eighth success in nine seasons. On a pre-season training contract with the Crusaders in preparation for the NZ U20’s tour in 2017, Enari made his Super Rugby debut in a round 1 victory against the Brumbies. He went on to play another 8 games between 2018-2020. On 15 October 2021,

Moana Pasifika Moana Pasifika is a rugby union team made up of players from various Pacific island nations as well as New Zealand or Australian born players of Pasifika heritage, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands. The team was originally creat ...

announced via its social media accounts that the new

franchise had signed Enari for the

2022 Super Rugby Pacific season The 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Pacific in Australia and DHL Super Rugby Pacific in New Zealand) is the 27th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams fr ...

. On 4 March 2022, he made his debut for Moana Pasifika in their inaugural Super Rugby game against the .

International

Enari was a

New Zealand Schoolboys The New Zealand Schools rugby union team, commonly referred to as the New Zealand schoolboys rugby team, is composed of secondary school students in New Zealand. Many of the players have gone on to play for professional clubs or provinces or for ...

representative in 2014 and also turned out for New Zealand Universities in 2015 touring Japan. He was involved with the New Zealand Under 20 team in 2016 where he worked with his future Canterbury head coach, Scott Robertson Missing out on World Cup selection in 2016, Enari became Vice Captain in 2017 and was a part of one of the most dominant Junior World Cup victories in decades. Unbeaten in the tournament and winning the final against England 64-17. On 2 June 2022, Enari – who is of Samoan and Māori descent – was named in the

Manu Samoa The Samoa national rugby union team (also known as Manu Samoa) represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samo ...

squad for the first time. He made his international debut for Samoa on 2 July 2022 against Australia A in their first game of the 2022 Pacific Nations Cup, which they won 31–26.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Enari, Ere 1997 births Living people Rugby union players from Auckland People educated at Saint Kentigern College New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby union players Samoan rugby union players Samoa international rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Hawke's Bay rugby union players Moana Pasifika players