Junior Poluleuligaga (born 5 February 1981) is a Samoan

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 ...

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player. He previously played for

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

in the Aviva Premiers before returning to Auckland and played two years with

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before retiring 2015. He played as a Scrum-half and was educated at De La Salle College, Mangere East. His name is often abbreviated to Junior Polu. He is currently the Rugby Development Officer (RDO) for the Papatoetoe Rugby Football Club and occasionally plays for the La Salle Collegians old boys rugby team.

Career

So much of Junior Poluleuligaga's career depended on his great rival Steve So'oialo. Polu began his career by breaking into the North Harbour provincial side, he was spotted for the Samoan national team and in 2006 was selected to nationalise to play for his parents country, representing composite side

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

as a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

n, having been unwanted for the 2004 tour due to the presence of So'oialo.

Pacific Islanders' Tour

A solid tour as

Mosese Rauluni Mosese Nasau Rauluni (born 26 June 1975) is a retired Fijian rugby union footballer. He usually plays at scrum half, and played for Saracens F.C., Saracens in the Guinness Premiership in England. He has played for Fiji national rugby union team, ...

's understudy lead to several offers from European clubs, but Polu declined and remained true to his North Harbour contract and returned home.

International career

Following the success of the Pacific Islanders tour Polu represented

in the

IRB Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held ...

in the summer of 2007 due to the absence of So'oialo. Here he was again 2nd choice to So'oialo, although his luck was about the change.

2007 World Cup

So'oialo and Polu were both selected for the 2007 RWC squad, as Samoa looked to upset 2003 champions

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and eventual champions

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. Polu was selected ahead of So'oialo for the opening game against the springboks, which they lost despite an encouraging start. So'oialo was restored for the derby game against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

which despite entering as overwhelming favourites lost 19–12. Polu was once again restored for the do or die game with

setting up an excellent try for

Mahonri Schwalger Mahonri Schwalger (born 15 September 1978) is a former Samoan professional rugby union footballer who last played in New Zealand for the Chiefs in the Super Rugby competition and for Counties Manukau in the National Provincial Championship. He ...

. Having travelled north to France for the world cup Polu joined

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on a short-term deal.

Harlequins

In the off season before the 2008/09 season he signed for Harlequins ironically moving to join So'oialo, and has since ousted his great rival for the bench spot behind

scrum half

Danny Care Daniel Stuart Care (born 2 January 1987) is an English rugby union player who plays for Harlequins in the Premiership as a scrum-half. He has played for England national team since 2008 and has won 87 caps. He previously played for England ...

. When his Harlequins contract finished in the summer of 2009 he joined the Bay of Plenty Steamers in the Air New Zealand Cup.

Waikato Chiefs

In 2010 Junior Polu was selected for the Waikato Chiefs as a backup Scrum Half for Brendon Leonard. On 21 February 2010 Junior Polu was selected ahead of Leonard at No. 9 against the Lions.

Exeter Chiefs

On 17 August 2010 Exeter Chiefs announced that they had completed a deal and visa for Junior. It was announced in local media in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England that Polu will be leaving Exeter Chiefs at the end of the 2012/13 season. In 2015 he was selected for the

Asia Pacific Dragons The Asia Pacific Dragons, also known as APDs, is a rugby union team based in Singapore that played in the Global Rapid Rugby Showcase Series of 2019. History The team is owned and managed by Carinat Sports Marketing based in Hong Kong. The t ...

References

External links