Sefanaia "Sefa" Naivalu (born 7 January 1992) is an Australian rugby union professional player who currently plays as a centre or wing for the Queensland Reds in the international

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 ...

competition. He also represented Melbourne Rising in the inaugural National Rugby Championship. He has a

100 metre The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

recorded time of 10.5seconds in 2011.

Career

Naivalu started out his rugby career with the Ovalau Rugby Club in his native Fiji before moving to Australia at the beginning of 2014 with the Rugby Plus Program. He joined the Box Hill Broncos who play in the local Dewar Shield in Victoria and made an immediate impact by becoming the leading try and point scorer in the competition which in turn saw his side reach the tournament's Grand Final. These performance brought him to the attention of the newly formed Melbourne Rising who competed in the first ever National Rugby Championship in 2014. 5 tries in 5 appearances at the beginning of the season were enough to convince local Super Rugby franchise the Melbourne Rebels of his worth and he made history by becoming the first Rebel ever to be signed directly from a Dewar Shield side. For the

2016 Rugby Championship The 2016 Rugby Championship was the fifth edition of the annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four countries' n ...

, wallabies coach Michael Cheika called Sefa Naivalu for the 33 men squad in preparation for the test against South Africa and Argentina, although the player will not be eligible until September the 18th, one day after the match between the Wallabies and the Pumas. On 22 March 2019, Naivalu would travel to France to sign for Top 14 side

Stade Francais Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

from the 2019-20 season after the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

Super Rugby statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Naivalu, Sefanaia 1992 births Living people Fijian rugby union players Rugby union centres Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Fijian expatriates in Australia Melbourne Rising players Melbourne Rebels players People from Levuka I-Taukei Fijian people Australia international rugby union players Stade Français players Queensland Reds players Australian rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union wings