Senikavika Kelemete Leawere (born 27 April 1974) 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 ...

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. He plays as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

Career

He is the elder brother of former Fiji sevens rep, Mika Leawere and Sekove Leawere. He departed for New Zealand in 1996 and has made an excellent name for himself in NPC Division Two with

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

, making 56 appearances and playing for the NZ Divisional XV against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He also played for the

Fiji Warriors The Fiji Warriors, also referred to as Fiji A, is a national representative rugby team of rugby union in Fiji. It is the second-tier side to the Fiji national team. The Warriors team is selected from players in the Fijian domestic competi ...

against the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

in 1997. He played for Nadroga and also represented the

Coastal Stallions The Coastal Stallions is a former Fijian rugby union team. The Coastal Stallions is a Fijian former rugby union team that had a franchise area coverering Nadroga-Navosa, Namosi, Serua and Malolo. The team played in Fiji's premier rugby union co ...

in the Colonial Cup. In October 2002, Leawere flew to Fiji to attend the national trials and won selection for the tour to Britain and Ireland, making his Test debut as a replacement against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He scored his first test try in June 2004 when he twisted and turned his way through the Samoan defense in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

. He was a member of the

team at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

. In May 2007, he was chosen to be part of Fiji team for the 2007 Pacific Nations Cup and later on co-captained the Fiji team at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. In the 2007 World Cup he scored one of the tries as Fiji defeated

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

to reach their first quarter final in 20 years. In August 2014, he joined the

National Federation Party The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel, A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party (Fiji, 1960s), National Democratic Party. Though it claimed to ...

to contest in the upcoming

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

References

External links

Fiji profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leawere, Kele 1974 births Living people Fijian rugby union players Rugby union locks Fiji international rugby union players Fijian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Fijian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand East Coast rugby union players Poverty Bay rugby union players National Federation Party politicians Pacific Islanders rugby union players Politicians from Levuka