Janai Haupapa (born 14 March 1996) is a women's

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer from

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. She plays for the

Canada women's national rugby league team The Canada national women's rugby league team, also known as the Canadian Ravens represents Canada in international rugby league football tournaments. Canada have qualified for, and will be competing in the 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup ( ...

and has played for the

Canada women's national rugby union team The Canada women's national rugby union team is governed by Rugby Canada, and plays in red and black. They were ranked 5th in World Rugby's inaugural women's rankings and are currently ranked as the third best team in the world. Canada competes ...

's development side as a centre.

History

Haupapa plays rugby union for Calgary Rams RFC. In 2015, she was called up to the Canada women's national rugby union development team for their tour of England and made her debut playing in the second row at Molesey Road in

Hersham Hersham is a village in Surrey, within the M25. Its housing is relatively low-rise and diverse and it has four technology/trading estates. The only contiguous settlement is Walton-on-Thames, its post town. Hersham is served by Hersham and Wa ...

. In 2017, Haupapa switched codes to rugby league in order to join up with Canada's first ever women's national rugby league squad in time for the

2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the fifth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup and was held in Australia between 16 November and 2 December 2017. Pool and semi-final matches was held at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydney ...

. She along with the majority of the team were rugby union players with only one having played rugby league prior and Haupapa was still a member of Calgary Rams RFC at the time. However during the tournament where she made her international rugby league debut, she was accused of biting the

Australia women's national rugby league team The Australia women's national rugby league team, also known as the Australian Jillaroos, or Harvey Norman Jillaroos for sponsorship reasons, represents Australia in women's rugby league. They are administered by the Australian Rugby League Commi ...

captain Renae Kunst. Despite support from Canada's coach

Mike Castle Michael Newbold Castle (born July 2, 1939) is an American lawyer and politician who was governor of Delaware (1985–92) and the U.S. representative for (1993–2011). He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes the entire ...

, Haupapa pleaded guilty to the charge and received a two match ban which meant that she missed Canada's semi-final match and the rest of the tournament. This was the fourth allegation of biting that had been levied at a player during the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup with the

England women's national rugby league team The England women's national Rugby League team represents England in Women's Rugby League. They are administered by the Rugby Football League. As Great Britain, they toured Australia in 1996, New Zealand in 1998, and reached the first-ever Wo ...

and the

Papua New Guinea women's national rugby league team The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby league team, also known as the PNG Orchids represents Papua New Guinea in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League. Current squad Head coach: Ben Jeffr ...

players also being accused of biting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haupapa, Janai 1996 births Living people Canadian female rugby union players Canadian female rugby league players Canada women's national rugby league team players Rugby union centres Sportspeople from Calgary Rugby league centres