Male Sa'u (born 13 October 1987) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional

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 ...

footballer of Samoan descent. Sa'u can play both

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 eccentricity ...

and

Fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

. After

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 ...

stints with the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

and the

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 ...

, Sa'u has returned to the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

for the 2016-2017 season with

Yamaha Júbilo Shizuoka Blue Revs (formerly the Yamaha Júbilo) are a rugby union team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. The team came second behind Toshiba Brave Lupus in the second season of Japanese rugby's Top League (2004–05). They were coached by former A ...

Playing career

Sa'u was educated at De La Salle College, Mangere East and was selected for Counties Manukau Steelers for the inaugural

Air New Zealand Cup The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

(now the

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 ...

) in 2006. Sa'u played his club rugby for the Patumahoe club. He was again selected for the 2007 season, where he played nine out of the ten matches. He played for New Zealand at under-19s level, and at under-20s level. He was also named in the under-21s Trial Squad in 2007.Six Counties Manukau Players named in u21 Trial Squad
/ref> He joined Japanese side

in the

competition for the 2008–09 season, and played twelve time and scored 35 times in his debut season. On his departure in the 2013–14 season, he had scored 115 points over 46 matches. His form over the seasons, earned him a place in Eddie Jones Japanese 42-man squad for the

2013 Asian Five Nations The 2013 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2013 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the HSBC, was the 26th Asian Five Nations rugby union tournament, and the sixth since it was rebranded from the Asian Rugby Championship in ...

. He made his debut against the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on 20 April 2013. In March 2014, Male Sa'u joined the

in the

competition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sau, Male 1987 births Japanese rugby union players Japanese people of Samoan descent Living people Japan international rugby union players Counties Manukau rugby union players Melbourne Rebels players Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Japanese expatriates in Australia Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Shizuoka Blue Revs players Blues (Super Rugby) players People educated at Tangaroa College Rugby union players from Auckland Japanese expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Toyota Verblitz players