Roland Suniula (born December 17, 1986) is an American international

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 plays for the

Austin Elite The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby. History On September 19, 2019, after extensive polling at t ...

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 ...

in Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for the Seattle Seawolves in the MLR and the Ohio Aviators as a centre in

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

. He is the brother of

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

and Shalom Suniula, who have also represented the United States Eagles rugby union (both sevens and XV's).

Early life

In 2004, Suniula graduated from

Kelston Boys' High School Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") (Te kura tuarua o nga tamatane o kerehana) is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High Scho ...

which has produced several New Zealand All Blacks players.

Professional Rugby Career

Suniula played for North Harbour between 2005–2008. He debuted for the U.S. Sevens team in October 2008 in their NAWIRA RWC 7s Qualifier event and has appeared in 13 IRB tournaments. He played with the Chicago Griffins for the 2012 Rugby Super League season. Suniula signed with

FC Auch Gers Football Club Auch Gers is a French rugby union club based in Auch in Midi-Pyrénées most recently playing in the promotion-eligible pool of Fédérale 1. In recent years, they have mainly bounced between the first-level Top 14 and Pro D2. In a ...

for the 2012-13

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

season. After one season with team he joined

CS Vienne CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

where he made 18 appearances for the team during the 2013-14 season. In May 2014, Suniula signed a two-year deal with an option for a third with

RC Chalon Racing Club Chalonnais, also known simply as RC Chalon is a French rugby union club from Chalon-sur-Saône. They competed in Fédérale 1, the third level of the French league system, in the 2009–10 season, but recent financial troubles saw th ...

another

Fédérale 1 Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 2 ...

side. In 2016, Roland signed to play for the Ohio Aviators in the inaugural season of

US

On April 17, 2016, he scored the first try for Ohio against the Denver Stampede. During the 2016–17 season, Roland played for Ohio's Columbus Rugby Club, as well as a coach for the Tiger Rugby Academy. In September 2017, Roland played with Misfits Rugby in Colorado's Aspen Ruggerfest. He also played for Rugby Reggio in

Emilia Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the Italian Eccellenza League for the 2018 season. In 2018, Roland played with his brother Andrew for

and in 2019, he currently plays with his brother Shalom for the Seattle Seawolves in the MLR.

References

External links

Scrum.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suniula, Roland 1986 births Living people Rugby union centres United States international rugby union players American Samoan rugby union players Austin Gilgronis players North Harbour rugby union players American Samoan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France American Samoan expatriate sportspeople in France American Samoan emigrants to New Zealand United States international rugby sevens players People from Pago Pago Ohio Aviators players Pan American Games medalists in rugby sevens Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Seattle Seawolves players Rugby sevens players at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 2011 Rugby World Cup players