Todd Stanger Clever (born January 16, 1983) is an American retired

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 it ...

player. He became the first American to play

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 ...

. At the international level, he was a member of the United States national team, served as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and is the most capped player in United States rugby union history.

Early life and education

Clever was born on January 16, 1983, in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by lan ...

. He grew up in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

and attended

Santa Teresa High School Santa Teresa High School (also referred to as STHS) is a public high school located in the suburban Santa Teresa neighborhood of southern San Jose, California. The school is a member of the East Side Union High School District and serves studen ...

.Universal Sports, Todd Clever bio, http://www.universalsports.com/rugby/athletes/athlete=267557481/bio/index.html He attended college at the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

and played for the club rugby team, where he was named a three-time collegiate All-American (2002–04).

Club rugby career

National Provincial Championship

Clever began his professional career in New Zealand in 2006 when he joined North Harbour in the National Provincial Championship.

Super Rugby

He played with the South African

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; ad ...

franchise in the 2009

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 ...

. Clever is the first American player to ever play in the Super 14 and scored the first try for an American in Super 14 against the Hurricanes on March 28, 2009. Clever played for the Lions against the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

Top League

Clever joined

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes Japanese whisky. I ...

of Japan in June 2010. In March 2012 Clever and

won the Japan

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

final over Panasonic. He then went on to play for the BGC APBs which won the 2012 Hong Kong 10s tournament. In March 2012 Clever signed a contract with

NTT Communications Shining Arcs Urayasu D-Rocks, commonly known as the D-Rocks, or the Shining Arcs, is a rugby union team owned by NTT Communications and is part of Japan's Rugby League One competition, currently in Division 2. Given the name, the team is based in Urayasu Ci ...

another

club. He confirmed that he would be leaving the Shining Arcs after the 2015 season to rejoin his former club OMBAC to compete in the 2015 Pacific Rugby Premiership.

English Premiership

On September 17, 2015, Clever moved to England to join top professional club

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is th ...

for the 2015–16 season. He played one season for the Falcons, earning 6 caps.

Major League Rugby

In 2016, Clever signed on as both a co-owner and player for

Austin Elite Rugby The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby. History On September 19, 2019, after extensive polling at t ...

, an independent newly-professional club and one of the founding members of

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

, launched in 2018.

Pacific Rugby Premiership

In 2017, Clever won a PRP Title with

Old Mission Beach Athletic Club RFC Old Mission Beach Athletic Club Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in San Diego, California. OMBAC RFC is directly affiliated with the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club. The rugby team plays at The Little Q Rugby Field, adjacent to Qua ...

Austin Huns: 2017 USA D1 Club National Championship

In May and June 2017, Todd Clever played with the Austin Huns Rugby Football Club and assisted the

Austin Huns The Austin Huns Rugby Football Club is a Men's Rugby Club United States, American rugby union team based in Austin, Texas. In June 2017 they became U.S. Division 1 National Champions beating New York Athletic Club RFC 27-23 in the final match. Hi ...

in winning their first D1 Club National Championship with a 27 - 23 victory over the New York Athletic Club on June 3.

International rugby career

Youth internationals

Clever was introduced to the United States setup in July 2000 when he joined the U19 national team for their Australian tour. He was named to the team for the 2002 IRB FIRA/AER Junior World Championships in February 2002, with his last appearance for the U19's coming in their loss to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

USA Eagles

Clever made his international debut against in August 2003, at the age of 20. Clever played for the US during the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, where he intercepted a pass against South Africa that led to

Takudzwa Ngwenya Takudzwa Ngwenya (born 22 July 1985) is a former rugby union player who played on the wing for the United States national rugby union team and Biarritz Olympique in the Top 14. He made his mark in the 2007 Rugby World Cup with tries against Sout ...

scoring the try of the 2007 World Cup. Among other accolades, Clever was named the 2008 USA Rugby Men's Player of the Year by World Rugby Shop. Clever played in the 2009

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

that saw the Eagles clinch the Bowl by beating Georgia. Clever further led the Eagles to success in 2009 by beating Uruguay in a home-and-away series to clinch a berth into the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Clever captained the team during the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

, starting three matches. He was chosen as the North American Player of the Decade and the Ruggamatrix USA Player of the Decade for 2000–2009. For many years Clever was the captain and face of the United States national team. On July 19, 2015, one day after a loss to Samoa in the Pacific Nations Cup, USA Rugby announced that Todd Clever was released from the Eagles roster due to "multiple squad conduct violations." After the Eagles finished their World Cup campaign, Clever published a letter explaining his version of the events. He claims that he had received permission to attend the ESPY awards show with Scott Lavalla as long as they were back and ready to train the following day. However the schedule was altered when Clever and Lavalla had left and they both missed an early morning gym session. Lavalla was dropped to the bench and Clever was dropped from the match day squad for their upcoming PNC match. Following this incident Clever also missed a morning jogging session, and this prompted Tolkin to kick Clever off the team. Tolkin did not recall Clever to the World Cup squad. Instead Clever spent a week training with the

Barbarians F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

Originally Clever was going to retire following the 2015 World Cup, but this incident motivated Clever to continue playing professional rugby. Following poor results at the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was on ...

, USA Rugby parted ways with Mike Tolkin. Newly appointed head coach John Mitchell reintegrated Clever with the team immediately as well as reinstating him as captain of the squad. He became the most capped player in United States history on June 25, 2016, in the United States'

2016 mid-year rugby union internationals Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

match against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. On June 21, Clever announced his international retirement and his last game was the Eagles 52–16 win over Canada which caused the United States to qualify for 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 ...

as Americas 1.

USA Sevens

Clever has also played for the US national rugby sevens team. In late 2009, Clever scored what was deemed the try of the day in George. In the final match of the day for the US against Scotland, Clever leaped over an injured player and physio and glided into the try zone for a consolation try.

Personal life

Clever was featured in ''

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...

s 2015 ''

The Body Issue ''The Body Issue'' is an edition of '' ESPN The Magazine'' that features dozens of athletes in nude and semi-nude photographs, which is intended to rival the annual Swimsuit Issue from ''Sports Illustrated''. The first issue debuted on October 19 ...

'' and was the first rugby player in the edition's history. On August 31, 2020 he announced his engagement to

Maya Stojan Maya Stojan (born 28 June 1986) is a Swiss actress based in the United States. She is known for her recurring roles on ''Castle'' and ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D''. Biography Maya Stojan was born in 1986 and raised in Geneva, Switzerland, where ...

on various social media.

Training

Over his career, Clever's training has included lower body and rotational power, foundational based lower body strength training to improve force production and attempt to lower risk of injuries, and rugby-specific Energy System Development.

Awards and honors

*U-19 National Team Member (2000–2002) *3-time College All-American (2002–2004) *USA Eagles (7s) *USA Eagles (XVs) *Captain USA Eagles (XVs) *First American to play in the Super 14 *First American to score a try in the Super 14 *2006 ARN Player of the Year *2008 USA Rugby Men's Player of the Year *2009 RUGBYMag.com Player of the Year *2009 RUGBYMag.com Overseas Performer of the Year *North American Rugby Player of the Decade 2000–2009 *RuggaMatrix USA Player of the Decade 2000–2009
/ref>

International tries

References

External links

USA Rugby player profile

Newcastle Falcons player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clever, Todd American rugby union players 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Palm Springs, California Sportspeople from San Diego Sportspeople from San Jose, California Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players North Harbour rugby union players Rugby union flankers Tokyo Sungoliath players Urayasu D-Rocks players University of Nevada, Reno alumni United States international rugby union players American expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in South Africa American expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand American expatriate sportspeople in Japan American expatriate sportspeople in South Africa United States international rugby sevens players Santa Teresa High School alumni Austin Gilgronis players Newcastle Falcons players