Neria Fomai (born 3 February 1992) is a

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 ...

player, who currently plays as a

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 ...

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 ...

for in New Zealand's domestic

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

competition and for in Super Rugby. He was born and raised in

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 ...

, but has represented

Manu Samoa The Samoa national rugby union team (also known as Manu Samoa) represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samo ...

– for which he is eligible due to his Samoan heritage – both in the fifteen-a-side form of the game and rugby sevens.

Early career

Fomai, who is a younger brother of former

and Hawke's Bay loose forward Tivaini Fomai, was born in

Auckland 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 ...

. With his family, he later moved to

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

, where he attended Hastings Boys' High School. Since leaving high school, Fomai played club rugby for Hastings Rugby & Sports Club in the Hawke's Bay club rugby competition. He was named the Club Rugby Player of the Year in 2016, ten years after his brother Tivaini became the inaugural winner of that award. In 2016, he played representative rugby for the Hawke's Bay Saracens – the development team of the Hawke's Bay (National Provincial Championship) (NPC) team – and the Hawke's Bay Samoans team. Fomai also played several seasons for the Hawke's Bay Sevens team, which he captained during the 2016–2017 season.

Senior career

In July 2017, Fomai joined for the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup season. He made his debut for the Stags on 19 August 2017 against his home province Hawke's Bay. His debut was short-lived as he had to leave the field within 5 minutes from kick-off, after suffering a head-knock. He returned from injury three weeks later and earned his first start for Southland in a

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

game against on 8 September 2017. He scored his first NPC try in that game. He played a total of 8 games for Southland that season. After being spotted while playing at the National Maori Rugby League tournament in Rotorua in 2018, Fomai was called into the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

preseason training squad ahead of the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

. He played in the Warriors' preseason game against

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

and scored the side's first try, but wasn't offered a contract. Later that year, Fomai was named in the squad for the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season. He made his Magpies debut – off the bench – against on 11 August 2019. His starting debut for Hawke's Bay followed on 31 August 2019 against , a game in which he scored a hat-trick. Since then, he's been a regular starter for the province. While not named in any Super Rugby squad, Fomai did get some recognition for a good

2020 Mitre 10 Cup The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fifteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour hosted Canterbury. It involved the top ...

season with Hawke's Bay. Ahead of the

2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season The 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season (branded as Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship reasons) was a professional club rugby union tournament organised by New Zealand Rugby. Announced on 11 November 2020, the tournament was the second se ...

, he signed a short-term contract with the as injury cover, and played in one of the franchise's preseason games. Later in the season, he joined the as injury cover for the 2021

Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in Australia and Sky Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in New Zealand) was a professional men's rugby union club competition in Australia and New Zealand. It featured the five S ...

competition, but didn't get game time. On 18 October 2021, new Super Rugby franchise announced the signing of Fomai for its first ever Super Rugby squad. He made his Super Rugby debut for the franchise in their inaugural game on 4 March 2022 against the . He scored his first Super Rugby try in Moana Pasifika's second game of the season, against the , on 19 March 2022.

International career

Fomai first made the Samoa Sevens team for the 2013

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 ...

and

London Sevens The London Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held at Twickenham Stadium in London. It is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. London was added to the World Series for the first time in 2001. For many years the London Sevens was the ...

tournaments, which were part of 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series. After several years of absence from the squad, Fomai was again named in the Samoan Sevens team in January 2017. Later that year, he was one of 22 Samoan sevens players to earn a contract for the 2017/2018 season. Between 2013 and 2018, Fomai played in 15 international sevens tournaments, including the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens and 2018 Commonwealth Games. He scored 65 points in 60 matches for Samoa. On 28 May 2021, Fomai was named in the

(fifteen-a-side) squad for the first time. He made his debut for Samoa on 26 June 2021 against 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 ...

and scored a try on debut.

Reference list

External links

itsrugby.co.uk profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fomai, Neria 1992 births Living people People educated at Hastings Boys' High School Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand rugby union players Samoan rugby union players Samoa international rugby union players Samoa international rugby sevens players Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Hawke's Bay rugby union players Moana Pasifika players Southland rugby union players 2023 Rugby World Cup players