Shannon Paku (born 23 September 1980) is a former 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 notably played for the Hurricanes in the

Super 14 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, and for the

Wellington Lions The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named West ...

in the Air New Zealand Cup. Considered a utility back, Paku covered 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 ...

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 eccentricity ...

and the

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

positions.

Career

Paku started his career representing Wairarapa Bush and had also played for the Manawatu Under-16s and Secondary School teams. He played for the Wellington province between 2000 and 2008. In 2003, he was signed to the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. He returned to

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 ...

and to play for the Hurricanes for the 2004 season. Paku joined French club

US Montauban US Montauban ( oc, Union Esportiva Montalban) is a French rugby union club that currently competes in Rugby Pro D2, the second level of the country's professional league system. They have also competed at the top level, Top 14, in the past, most ...

for the 2008–2009 season. Paku has also represented the New Zealand Māori rugby union team and was a member of the 2001 New Zealand Under 21 squad that won the International Under 21 tournament, as well as winning the Churchill Cup in 2006 with the NZ Māori. Shannon had been strongly linked with a move to

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

for the start of the 2010–2011 season after his

were relegated from the Top 14 league for a punishment due to financial irregularities. This did not happen. Paku played for the

Manawatu Turbos The Manawatu Rugby Football Union (MRU) is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. Founded in 1886, Manawatu is one of New Zealand's oldest rugby unions. In 1892, the MRU, amongst other ...

in the 2010

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

Personal

Since retiring in 2011, Paku has become an owner of a milk truck business.

References

External links

Hurricanes profile
1980 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Masterton Expatriate rugby union players in France Māori All Blacks players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Wellington rugby union players Manawatu rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Blues (Super Rugby) players Rugby union wings People educated at Hato Paora College {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub