Francis Saili (born 16 February 1991) is a New Zealand

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, currently playing for French club

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

. He plays primarily as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

, though he can also play

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. He is the younger brother of

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

loose forward Peter Saili.

Early life

Saili was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and educated at St Peter's College where he played rugby in the school First XV. He was the captain in 2009. He represented New Zealand in schoolboy and global under-age tournaments. After leaving school he played for Auckland Marist.

Career

Saili was part of the New Zealand Under 20 team that won the Junior World Championship in Italy in 2011. Saili started his professional rugby career in 2011, with a start in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

for

. In 2012, he commenced playing for the

in a match against the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

. In 2013, Saili made his debut for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in Hamilton. On 1 November 2014, he played for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, scoring a try at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. On 6 April 2015, it was announced that Saili would be joining Irish provincial side

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

on a two-year contract. He made his debut on 21 August 2015 in Munster's uncapped pre-season friendly loss to Irish rivals

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

. Saili made his full Munster debut on 13 September 2015, starting against Ospreys in the

2015–16 Pro12 The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the sixth with its current four-country format. it ...

. He made his

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

debut on 14 November 2015, starting the opening 2015–16 pool game against

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

. On 16 August 2016, it was announced that Saili would be out for 3–4 months following a surgical procedure on his shoulder. On 26 December 2016, Saili made his return from the injury, coming on as a replacement for

Jaco Taute Jacob Johannes Taute (born 21 March 1991) is a South African retired rugby union player. He played as a fullback or centre, he won three caps for . Taute played for the and the in Super Rugby, the and in the Currie Cup, Munster in the Pr ...

in Munster's game against

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. On 14 January 2017, Saili scored the winning try in Munster's 12–14 away win against

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

, a win that secured Munster's place in the quarter-finals of the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup. On 19 May 2017, it was announced that Saili would leave Munster at the end of the 2016–17 season. The following day, in what was his final appearance for Munster in

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and has Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park fr ...

, Saili scored a try and won the Man-of-the-Match award in the sides 23–3 2016–17 Pro12 semi-final victory against Ospreys. On 27 May 2017, Saili made his final appearance for Munster when he started against

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

in the 2017 Pro12 Grand Final in the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and r ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. On 21 June 2017, it was announced that Saili had signed for

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side Harlequins. Saili played in his first senior game after recovering from an injury on 14 October in a European Champions Cup game against French side

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

. He came on as a substitute in a 34–27 loss. Saili left Harlequins to join French

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

club

for the 2020–21 season.

References

External links

Harlequins ProfileMunster ProfileBlues ProfileNorth Harbour Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saili, Francis Living people 1991 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand international rugby union players Auckland rugby union players North Harbour rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Rugby union centres People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland Rugby union players from Auckland Munster Rugby players Harlequin F.C. players Biarritz Olympique players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland