Nathan Vella (born 10 February 1990) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 ...

Youth career

Born and raised in Auckland, Vella attended

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

in the city and played first XV rugby with them for 3 years, captaining the side in 2008. During this time, he made his way through the age group levels with his local provincial side, .

Senior career

Vella started his senior career with his local side, Auckland, making 14 appearances for them across 3 seasons from

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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. He then moved to the UK to try his luck, initially with

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

who he helped win promotion to the

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

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. Latterly he had a short stint with RFU Championship side, the

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

before returning to New Zealand in 2016. After a short spell providing injury cover for

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 ...

franchise, the at the beginning of 2016, he was named in their main feeder union, 's squad for 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 ...

. He made 9 appearances, 7 of which were as a replacement for regular starter

Ben Funnell Benjamin Camden John Funnell (born 6 June 1990) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a hooker for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Early career Born in Palme ...

and scored an impressive 4 tries which helped Canterbury lift that year's Mitre 10 Cup Premiership, their 8th success in 9 seasons.

Super Rugby

Vella made his super rugby debit for the Crusaders as in 2016 and in 2018 played for the Hurricanes against the Crusaders. Then in 2019 Vella played for Japanese super side the Sunwolves. When third choice Highlanders hooker Ricky Jackson suffered an ankle injury before the 2020 season, Vella was bought into the side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vella, Nathan 1990 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Auckland Auckland rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Bay of Plenty rugby union players London Welsh RFC players Bedford Blues players People educated at Auckland Grammar School New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand people of English descent Sunwolves players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Coca-Cola Red Sparks players Highlanders (rugby union) players Crusaders (rugby union) players