Saia Fainga'a (born 2 February 1987) is an Australian professional

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 ...

footballer.

Family and early life

Saia Fainga'a was born in

Queanbeyan, New South Wales Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Q ...

, and started playing rugby union at the age of 11 or 12 at the

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...

club. He was a member of the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

Academy from the age of 14 and attended

St Edmund's College, Canberra , motto_translation = Christ is My Light , patron = Edmund Ignatius Rice , city = Canberra , state = Australian Capital Territory , country = Australia , coo ...

, where he was selected for the Australian Schools team in 2003 and 2004. Saia's twin brother

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...

, and younger brothers Vili and Colby are also professional rugby union players. The Fainga'a's are of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n English and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent.

Career

Fainga'a made his Super 14 debut in 2006. He was fast-tracked into the Brumbies' side due to injuries in the squad, and played his first senior match for the Brumbies against the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

in Cape Town. Later that year he captained the Australian Under 19s team to win the IRB World Championship in Dubai. Fainga'a went on to earn 27 super rugby caps at the Brumbies from 2006 to 2008. In 2008, Saia and his twin brother Anthony signed on to play with the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competition ...

for the 2009 season. He made his Test debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 2010 against Fiji in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. He played in all 18 matches of the Reds 2011 Super Rugby title-winning season, and was selected alongside his brother Anthony in the Wallabies squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, where Australia took third place. On 2 June 2017 it was announced he would move to England after signing for newly promoted Premiership side

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

. He was released ahead of the 2020–21 season.

Reference list

External links

Wallabies ProfileReds Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fainga'a, Saia 1987 births Australian rugby union players Indigenous Australian rugby union players Australian people of Tongan descent Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Queensland Reds players Rugby union hookers Twin sportspeople People from Queanbeyan Living people Queensland Country (NRC team) players London Irish players Rugby union players from New South Wales