Ratu Meli Semisi Naevo Saukawa (born 3 May 1975 in Nawaka,

Nadi Nadi (pronounced ) is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...

) 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 ...

player. He plays as a flanker. His nickname is Man Mountain. His father, Joeli Lesavua, and two brothers, Apenisa and Manoa Naevo, are also Fiji reps.

Career

He plays sevens 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 ...

. He is a strong tackler with good line-out skills, he also has the speed for sevens. His ball-hunting skills earned him his first cap in the 2006 Pacific 5 Nations tournament where he stalked the

Samoans Samoans or Samoan people ( sm, tagata Sāmoa) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language. The group's home islands are politically and geographically divided between th ...

from the side of the scrum to help Fiji win 23–20. He has made an excellent name for himself in the Fiji sevens team with outstanding performances in his first outing in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, 2002. He is a member of the 2005

Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport ...

team, his speed and aerial skills made him a menace. He was bestowed with the captaincy role for the last two tournaments of the 2005–06 IRB 7s Series, and it was fitting that he lifted the

London Sevens The London Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held at Twickenham Stadium in London. It is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. London was added to the World Series for the first time in 2001. For many years the London Sevens was the l ...

trophy and also the IRB sevens trophy.

Commonwealth Games

He was also part of the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

where Fiji won the silver medal when they were defeated by

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 ...

in the final after Fiji were reduced to 5 men for most of the game. Semisi was also part of 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 ...

where they won a bronze medal.

2007 RWC

Naevo was also part of the Fiji 15's team that reached the Quarter-finals of the Rugby Union World Cup in 2007.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Naevo, Semisi 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Nadi Fijian rugby union players Rugby union flankers Fiji international rugby union players Pacific Islanders rugby union players Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Fiji Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Fiji Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Male rugby sevens players Rugby sevens players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Fijian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Fijian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Fijian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Green Rockets Tokatsu players Counties Manukau rugby union players Fiji international rugby sevens players I-Taukei Fijian people Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of Fiji Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games