Leni Chris Anitoni Apisai (born 8 March 1996) 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 who currently plays as a hooker for in New Zealand's domestic

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

and the in the international

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 ...

competition.

Early career

Born in the town of

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

in the greater

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

metropolitan area, Apisai was educated at

Aotea College Aotea College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Porirua, New Zealand. Founded in 1978, the school serves students for Year 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18) across the northern suburbs of Porirua. Demographics At the September 2013 Ed ...

in his hometown before later moving to

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

where he played first XV rugby. During his high school years, he turned out for at age group level and captained their under-16 side.

Senior Rugby

Aged just 18, Apisai first played provincial rugby for during the

2014 ITM Cup Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

, making 2 appearances including 1 start. The campaign was not a happy one for the Lions as they were relegated down to the Championship division for the 2015 season after recording just 1 win in 10 games. Wellington were unable to gain promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking, finishing 2nd behind on the Championship log before being defeated 26-25 by the same opposition in the playoff final. Although the season was one of disappointment for his team, for Apisai personally, it saw him take advantage of Motu Matu'u's involvement with in the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

to establish himself as the Lions first choice in the number 2 jersey, playing all 12 games during the season and scoring 2 tries. Matu'u departed for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

prior to 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 ...

leaving Apisai unchallenged as Wellington's main hooker for the year. He played 10 of their 11 games during the year and helped himself to 3 tries as they once again finished 2nd in the Championship, this time behind and were then surprisingly defeated 40-37 at home by in the playoff semi-finals with his 11th minute try scored in vain.

Super Rugby

After just 2 provincial appearances for Wellington, Apisai was named as part of the wider training group ahead of the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

. Unsurprisingly given his tender years and lack of top-level experience, he was unable to get on the field at any point during the year, taking the role of the franchise's fourth choice rake behind;

Dane Coles Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (Germanic tribe) Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the name ...

, Motu Matu'u and

Brayden Mitchell Brayden Mitchell (born 21 January 1989 in Invercargill, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He plays as a hooker for Southland in the Mitre 10 Cup. Playing career Provincial Rugby Mitchell, a product of the Southland academ ...

. Doors began to open for him ahead of the 2016 season with Mitchell leaving after his short-term contract had expired and Coles and Matu'u both being struck down by injury in pre-season. Apisai was left temporarily as the 'Canes first choice number 2 and debuted in week 1 of the season, a 52-10 defeat away to the . This heavy defeat was in stark contrast to what followed throughout the rest of the year as the 'Canes bounced back to lift the Super Rugby title in August with a 20-3 win over the . Apisai started the first 3 games of the year and played a total of 5 matches in his first season as a member of the franchise's senior squad. Apisai signed to the Blues for the 2018 Super Rugby season.

International

Apisai was a New Zealand Schools representative in 2013 and was later captained the New Zealand Under-20 side which finished 5th in the

2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the ninth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in England by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations took part in the tournamen ...

in England, scoring 1 try in 5 matches. In October 2016 Apisai, who affiliates to the

Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

, was named in the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

squad for their end-of-year tour to the Northern Hemisphere. He debuted as a 75th minute replacement for the Māori captain

Ash Dixon Ash Dixon (born 1 September 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a hooker for Green Rockets Tokatsu in the Japan Rugby League One. He formerly played for the in Super Rugby and for in New Zealand's domestic Natio ...

in a 27-14 defeat by

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 11 November 2016.

Career Honours

Hurricanes *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Super Rugby Statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apisai, Leni 1996 births Living people Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Māori All Blacks players Moana Pasifika players New Zealand rugby union players Ngāti Awa people People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Porirua Sunwolves players Wellington rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players People educated at Aotea College