Napolioni Vonowale Nalaga (born 7 April 1986) is a Fijian

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 it ...

footballer. He plays as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, flanker and

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 eccentri ...

for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

. He is nicknamed Napoleon or Naps or Napo. His father, Kavekini Nalaga also represented Fiji in the 80's and just like his son, he played on the wing.

Career

Born in

Sigatoka Sigatoka ( ) is a town in Fiji. It is on the island of Viti Levu at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, for which it is named, some 61 kilometres from Nadi. Its population at the 2017 census was 17,622. It is the principal urban centre for the pr ...

, Fiji, Nalaga first played as a wing for the Fiji Under 19 team to the

Under 19 Rugby World Championship The IRB under-19 Rugby World Cup was the premier tournament for male rugby union players under the age of 19 organised by the sports governing body the International Rugby Board (IRB) annually from 2004 until 2007. Both it and the Under 21 Rugby Wo ...

where he notched 7 tries in 3 games for the Fiji team. He also helped his Nadroga team win the U21 competition in the Digicel Cup for 2 years in a row. He was later selected to play for the Fiji U21 team to the

2006 Under 21 Rugby World Championship The 2006 Under 21 Rugby World Championship was played in the Auvergne region of France throughout June 2006. The final was played between South Africa and France at the Stade Marcel-Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, which saw France win 24–13. Part ...

in France where Fiji finished 9th overall. He played as a

in the tournament. He also made his mark for the Nadroga senior team playing in the Digicel Cup and the Farebrother Sullivan cup. He was selected into the Fiji sevens team by the then coach

Waisale Serevi Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi (born 20 May 1968) is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long car ...

who was impressed with the youngster for the first leg of the

2006–07 IRB Sevens World Series 2006–07 IRB Sevens World Series was the eighth of an annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. New Zealand were the series champions, winning the final tournament ...

. On 11 July 2014, he married his Longtime sweetheart Neomai Baleisuva at his hometown and village Nasama in Sigatoka, the mother of his three kids.

Clermont Rugby

After his first season with the Fiji sevens team, he was given a contract to play for the ASM Clermont Auvergne in the 2007/2008 season alongside other Fijians, Vilimoni Delasau and

Seremaia Bai Seremaia Baïkeinuku (born 4 January 1979) is a retired Fijian rugby union player who played most recently for Leicester Tigers in the Aviva Premiership, and represented Fiji at a National level. He plays at both Fly-half and Inside Centre. Car ...

where he finished the season as the leading try-scorer in the competition with 16 tries, 3 better than the previous year, top-try scorer, and captain, Aurélien Rougerie. In 2008, he was selected in the

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 Oce ...

2008 tour to Britain and Ireland. He was selected to play against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on 15 November 2008 where he made a late, high tackle that resulted in a serious injury to French scrum-half,

Jean-Baptiste Élissalde Jean-Baptiste Élissalde (born 23 November 1977) is a former French rugby union player, playing either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half, and current defense coach for Montpellier in the Top 14. Biography Early life Born on 23 November 1977 i ...

and was subsequently given a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

and expelled from the game. He was banned by the IRB judiciary for 22 days. He made a comeback for Clermont on 13 December in the Heineken Cup against Munster after his ban expired. and is the top try-scorer in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

with 13 tries. He has also been selected to be part of the Fiji sevens team to the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. He ended the

2008–09 Top 14 season The 2008–09 Top 14 Competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). It ran from late August 2008 through the final at Stade de France on June 6, 2009, in which Perpignan lifted the Bo ...

as the top try scorer scoring 21 tries in 19 appearances breaking the record he set last year by 2 tries. In October 2009, he was named the French

player of the year for the 2008/2009 season and was also included in the French Dream team, the last Fijian to win that award was Rupeni Caucau in 2006

Fiji team

He was selected in the 30-member Fiji squad for the

2009 Autumn Internationals The 2009 end of year rugby internationals, also known as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, saw Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, tour the northern hemisphere. The headline event of the series was an attempted ...

and he made his debut against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

on 14 November. In early 2011, he did not return to his club for the second half of the

due to some family issues surrounding his wedding. He was given time to return to the club but in March 2011, his contract with Clermont was terminated as Nalaga was unable to guarantee if he would return to France or not. After being unheard for in months, he was spotted at a local rugby tournament in Fiji in May 2011 for Nadroga in the Digicel Cup. His prowess and form saw him getting a call-up to the Fiji national team to prepare for the

2011 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2011 Pacific Nations Cup was a rugby union tournament held between the four national sides on the Pacific Rim: Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji, Japan national rugby union team, Japan, Samoa national rugby union team, Samoa and Tonga nati ...

. After passing the trials, he was included in the expanded Fiji team to prepare for the PNC and the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He ended up with just one try at the Rugby World Cup, just like his father in the 1987 RWC.

Western Force

In September 2011, he signed a one-year contract with Australian Super rugby side,

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. F ...

for the

2012 Super Rugby season The 2012 Super Rugby season was the second season of the current 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involves teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as FxPro Super R ...

. He finished the Super rugby season with 2 tries in 11 appearances.

Move back to Clermont

In April 2012, he signed a 3-year contract to return to his former club Clermont after the end of the super rugby season. On 13 April 2013, Nalaga had played 25 games for Clermont in both the 2012–13 Top 14 season and the 2012–13 Heineken Cup leading the try-scoring tally in both with 13 and 6 tries respectively. Since his return, he has scored 19 tries in 25 games taking his overall tally to 80 tries in 115 games for Clermont. On 27 April, Nalaga's solo try in the Heineken Cup semi-final against Munster helped his team reach the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...

of the Heineken Cup where he scored a try but it wasn't enough to defeat the new champion,

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. He ended the tournament with 8 tries scoring 5 tries in pool play and a try each in the quarter final, semi final and the grand final. In December 2013, he scored a try in 18 seconds in the 2013–14 Heineken Cup making it the fastest try ever in the 1844 match, 18-year history of the Heineken Cup. He finished the season with 5 tries and is the 10th most highest try scorer in Heineken Cup history with 23 tries. In October 2014, he scored twice in the European Rugby Champions against Sale Sharks to take his record to 25 tries in 32 ERC games joining the 'Elite 25 Try' club.

Toulon deal and joining Lyon

In December 2014, he signed a three-year contract with another French

side,

worth FJD$70,000 a month but in May 2015, Toulon turned back on their deal citing Joshua Tuisova's form and a four-year contract extension made them re-think their decision allowing Pierre Mignoni (current Toulon backs coach but signed as the Head coach for Lyon for next season) to sign Nalaga to join the now-relegated

Lyon OU Lyon Olympique Universitaire or LOU is a French rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season af ...

next season. He scored 14 tries in 12 games for Lyon in his first season before a thumb injury ruled him out for 2 months.

London Irish

On June 2, 2017, he signed a contract with newly promoted

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side,

after his 2-year contract with Lyon expired.

Honours

* Top try scorer 2007–08 Top 14 season (16 tries) * Top try scorer

(21 tries) * French Top 14 Player of the year ( 2008-09) * French Dream Team ( 2008-09) * Top 14 titles winner ( 2009-10) * Fastest Try in the 2013–14 Heineken Cup (18 seconds) * 6th Highest try scorer in Heineken Cup/ERC history

References

External links

Teivovo profile

FRU Profile

Bio

Nalaga hits top form in France

Western Force Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nalaga, Napolioni 1986 births Living people Fijian rugby union players Rugby union wings ASM Clermont Auvergne players RC Toulonnais players London Irish players People from Sigatoka Rugby union centres Fiji international rugby union players Pacific Islanders rugby union players Western Force players Fijian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Expatriate rugby union players in France Fijian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Fijian expatriate sportspeople in France I-Taukei Fijian people Yacare XV players