Rejieli Sau Uluinayau 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 its m ...

and sevens player.

Early life

Uluinayau was born and grew up in Vatuwaqa,

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

where she attended Stella Maris Primary School. She hails from Salia,

Nayau Nayau is an island of Fiji, a member of the Lau archipelago. Nearby cities: Suva; Nuku'Alofa; Coordinates: 17°58'39"S 179°3'13"W. Nayau, north of Lakeba Lakeba (pronounced ) is an island in Fiji’s Southern Lau Archipelago; the pr ...

Lau Lau or LAU may refer to: People * Lau (surname) * Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien * Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab * LAU (musician): Laura Fares Places * Lebane ...

and shares maternal links to Nukui,

Rewa Rewa may refer to: Places Fiji * Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji * Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh * Rewa Province, Fiji * Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji ...

. She later migrated with her family to New Zealand at the age of 13 and attended

Wellington East Girls' College Wellington East Girls' College (WEGC, Maori name: Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika) is a state single-sex girls' secondary school which sits directly above Mount Victoria Tunnel, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 ( ...

Rugby career

Uluinayau made her international debut for

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

at the 2016 Oceania Championship. In December, she made an appearance for the Fijiana's again at the 2017 World Cup Repechage tournament against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In 2011, Uluinayau scored one of nine unanswered tries for Wellington in the season opener against Otago Spirit in the Farah Palmer Cup. She was part of a 14-member squad that played for the Eketahuna Club, they represented Wairarapa-Bush at the Bay of Plenty Interprovincial Sevens tournament at

Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of the Tauranga metropolitan area, located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completio ...

. Uluinayau scored a brace of tries for Wellington Pride in the opening round of the 2017 Farah Palmer Cup. She later featured for the Wellington sevens team at the Central Region Qualifying tournament for the 2018 Sevens Nationals. In 2018, She played for the Wellington Pride in their

Farah Palmer Cup The Farah Palmer Cup (formerly known as Women's Provincial Championship until 2016), is the highest level domestic women's rugby union competition in New Zealand and is named after the former Black Ferns captain, Farah Palmer. This contest is hel ...

Championship semi-final against the North Harbour Hibiscus. Uluinayau made seven appearances for Wellington in 2019, she featured in their Premiership Semifinal against Auckland Storm. She made three appearances in 2020, she played against Otago Spirit in round seven. Uluinayau has also represented Fiji in sevens. She was chosen for the Fijiana sevens team for the

2021 Oceania Sevens Championship The 2021 Oceania Sevens Championship was held in Townsville, Australia on the weekend of 25–27 June 2021. The rugby sevens event was sponsored by the PacificAus Sports program (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), and was the t ...

. She was initially named as a traveling reserve for the Tokyo Olympics but was ruled out due to injury. Uluinayau was selected for the

Fijiana Drua Fijiana Drua are a Fijian rugby union team based in Australia. Rugby Australia announced in February 2022 that they had joined the Super W competition. History The Fijiana Drua would is the first Fijian team to join the Super W competition with ...

squad in their

Super W The Super W is a women's rugby union competition held in Australia. The inaugural season was in 2018, when it replaced the former National Women's Rugby Championship. The are the most successful team so far, . Teams Six women's rugby teams c ...

debut. She was named on the bench in the Drua's inaugural match against the

Rebels Rebels may refer to: * Participants in a rebellion * Rebel groups, people who refuse obedience or order * Rebels (American Revolution), patriots who rejected British rule in 1776 Film and television * ''Rebels'' (film) or ''Rebelles'', a 2019 ...

. She made the starting line up in the matches against the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

and

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. ...

. She also played in the games against the Waratahs and the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

. She then featured in the Grand Final against the Waratahs as the Drua wrapped up a perfect season with their first title. Uluinayau was named in the Fijiana squad for two test matches against Australia and Japan in May. She came off the bench in the first test against

. She was in the starting line up in the test against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uluinayau, Rejieli 1993 births Living people Fijian female rugby union players Fiji women's international rugby union players Fiji international women's rugby sevens players Rugby union players from Suva