Sean Wainui (23 October 1995 – 18 October 2021) was 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 ...

player. He played on the

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 expres ...

(and occasionally centre) for provincial side

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

, the Chiefs in

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 ...

, and for New Zealand's Māori international side 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 ...

Early life

Wainui was a member of the

Takapuna Grammar School Takapuna Grammar School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the suburb of Belmont on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1927, the school mainly serves the eponymous suburb of Takapuna and the entire Devo ...

1st XV in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He was awarded North Harbour's 2013 Māori Colts Senior Player of the Year whilst still in school. Also an ex Takapuna Grammar Prefect and 1st XV Captain, Wainui represented New Zealand on the world stage after playing for the Champion

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 ...

team in the Under 20 Rugby World Cup in

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 re ...

. The team played

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for the title, winning 21–16.

Domestic career

Taranaki

Upon leaving school, Wainui was contracted by the

Taranaki Rugby Football Union Taranaki Rugby, previously the Taranaki Rugby Football Union, is the governing body for rugby union in Taranaki Region, Taranaki, New Zealand; Taranaki is a Regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand that covers areas in the districts of New P ...

. In his first year out of school he was a part of Taranaki's 2014 national provincial championship squad. He was spotted by coach

Colin Cooper Colin Terence Cooper (born 28 February 1967) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a defender who notably played in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough. He played over 5 ...

and had signed with Taranaki at just 18-years-old after an impressive season, not only for his

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

Old Boys club but for the Chiefs development side also. Wainui made his debut for

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

in the

2014 ITM Cup Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

competition, coming on as a replacement against

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

. In the following year, he recorded nine appearances, including 5 starts, and scored three tries for the province in

matches. Overall, between 2014 and 2020, Wainui made 49 appearances for Taranaki and scored 15 tries.

Crusaders

In 2015 he was signed by the

franchise the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

after impressing in the centre and wing position for Taranaki. Wainui made his debut for the Crusaders in round one of the 2016 Super Rugby competition, starting in the

outside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

position against the Chiefs.

Chiefs

Prior to the

2018 Super Rugby season The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participate ...

, he signed with the Chiefs. By the end of the

2021 Super Rugby season The 2021 Super Rugby season was the 26th season of Super Rugby, an annual men's international rugby union tournament organised by SANZAAR, involving teams from Australia and New Zealand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was wholly reg ...

, he made 44 appearances for the club and has scored 18 tries. On 12 June 2021, in a 40-7 victory over the Waratahs during

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 Sup ...

, he became the first player in Super Rugby history to score 5 tries in a single match.

Bay of Plenty

On 27 May 2021, Wainui announced on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

that he had signed with

for the 2021 NPC.

International career

At the age of 19, Wainui was called up to the New Zealand U-20 team in 2015. Although the then 19-year-old Wainui had only played several matches for Taranaki, Colin Cooper, the

coach, selected him for the 2015 tour to

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 ...

, playing against the national side, and ending against the specially made

New Zealand Barbarians The New Zealand Barbarians, nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", are an invitational rugby union team. They have been a part of New Zealand rugby since the team was founded in 1937 by two ex-All Blacks, Ronald Bush and Hubert McLean, who captained their f ...

. Overall he was capped 10 times.

Death

Wainui died at about 7:50 am on 18 October 2021, five days before his 26th birthday, when the car that he was driving crashed into a tree at McLaren Falls Park near

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

. Wainui's

tangihanga ''Tangihanga'', or more commonly, ''tangi'', is a traditional Māori funeral rite held on a marae. While still widely practised, it is not universally observed in modern times. Each iwi (tribe/nation) differs on how they honour those who pass. ''T ...

was held at Te Wainui marae in

Whatatutu Whatatutu is a small settlement in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is located north of Te Karaka on the upper reaches of the Waipaoa River, close to its meeting with its tributaries, the Mangatu River and Waingaromia River. Whata ...

on 24 October 2021. Before the test match between the

New Zealand All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

FedExField FedExField (originally Jack Kent Cooke Stadium) is an American football stadium located in Summerfield, Maryland, east of Washington, D.C. The stadium is the home of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 un ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

on 24 October 2021, a moment of silence was held in memory of Wainui's death. The United States team's captain, Bryce Campbell, presented the All Blacks a white No. 11 shirt with Wainui's name.

References

External links

itsrugby.co.uk profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainui, Sean 1995 births 2021 deaths New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union wings Rugby union centres Taranaki rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Rugby union players from the Gisborne Region Road incident deaths in New Zealand Bay of Plenty rugby union players Māori All Blacks players Chiefs (rugby union) players People educated at Takapuna Grammar School People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland