Onosai Auva'a (born 7 February 1985 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

) 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 ...

footballer who has played for the

Auckland Blues The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...

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 ...

team and also for

in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

. Auva'a has signed for

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

on a two-month loan contract lasting until February 2012, but an outstanding performance against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

in the

Aviva Premiership 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 ...

would appear to further Auva'a's aim of a long-term contract with the Sharks.

Career

At the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

he was part of the

New Zealand Sevens The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record twelve World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team has been o ...

team that won a gold medal.Profile at the New Zealand Olympic Committee website
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Career history

* 2011: Auckland Provincial team (ITM Cup) * 2010: Auckland Provincial team * 2009: New Zealand 7s, Auckland Blues, Auckland Provincial team * 2008: Auckland Blues, Auckland Provincial team * 2007: Auckland Blues, Auckland Provincial team * 2006: New Zealand 7s, Auckland Blues, Auckland Provincial team, Auckland 7s, New Zealand Under-21 * 2005: Auckland Blues Development, Auckland Rugby Academy, Auckland Under-20s (captain) * 2004: New Zealand Under-19, Auckland Under-19's (captain) * 2001: New Zealand Under-16, Auckland Under-16's (captain)

References

1985 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Auckland rugby union players Rugby union flankers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Rugby sevens players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Blues (Super Rugby) players Sale Sharks players Counties Manukau rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in England Rugby union players from Auckland Living people New Zealand international rugby sevens players Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub