Sanchez William Genia (born 17 January 1988) is a 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 ...

player, currently playing scrum-half for the

Kintetsu Liners Hanazono Kintetsu Liners rugby team are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kintetsu Corporation which was founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Hig ...

in Japan. He had previously played

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 ...

for 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 ...

(2007–2015) and

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

(2018–2019). He also had previously played for Stade Français in France's

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

from 2015 to 2017. Born in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

, Papua New Guinea, he played 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 ...

at international level from 2009 to 2019. Genia made his test debut against New Zealand, and went on to earn 110 international caps. Former New Zealand scrum-half

Justin Marshall Justin Warren Marshall (born 5 August 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005. Marshall played for the in the Super 12 from 1996 to 2005, winning the competit ...

said Genia was "best in the world for his position".

Family and early life

Genia was born in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. He was introduced to rugby union (after playing rugby league growing up in PNG) when he moved to

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

at the age of 12 for his secondary education at

Brisbane Boys' College (Let Honour Stainless Be) , established = 1902 , type = Independent, single-sex, day and boarding , denomination = Presbyterian and Uniting Church , slogan = , headmaster = André Casson , city = Toowong , state = Queensland , count ...

, boarding at the school from 2000 to 2005. Genia played rugby for the Australia 'A' Schoolboys team in 2005, and was part of the Australian Under 19 rugby team that won the IRB World Championship in 2006. Genia's Papua New Guinean father, Kilroy Genia, is a former Cabinet Minister in the Papua New Guinean government. His

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

mother, Elizabeth Genia, was appointed assistant governor at the Bank of Papua New Guinea in 2011. His older brother,

Frankie Genia Frankie may refer to: People *Frankie (musician), indie pop musician from Los Angeles, California * Frankie Abernathy (1981–2007), American MTV Real World cast member * Frankie Adams (born 1994), Samoan New Zealand actress *Frankie Avalon (born ...

, plays international rugby union for

(Pukpuks). Despite playing 110 tests for Australia and having lived in Australia since he was 12, Genia does not hold Australian citizenship, owing to him playing professional rugby union overseas and the legal requirement for applicants to not have been absent from the country for more than 12 months in total in the four-year period, including no more than 90 days in total in the 12-month period prior to application.

Rugby union career

Genia was recruited to the

from the

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

club at the end of 2006 before their tour to Japan and obtained his first state cap for the Reds playing against Japan.

2007–2010

Genia made his Super 14 debut for the Reds as a 19-year-old against the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

in Brisbane on 3 February 2007. He shared the scrum half position with starting halfback for most of the season, appearing in 11 of 13 matches for the Reds during the season. Later in 2007, Genia played for the

Ballymore Tornadoes Brisbane City is an Australian rugby union football team based in Brisbane that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is one of two Queensland sides in the competition, the other being . Brisbane City is organised and mana ...

in the

Australian Rugby Championship The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC and also known as the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a now-defunct domestic professional men's rugby union football competition in Australia, which ...

, appearing in all 8 games played by the team for the year. In 2008, Genia added a further seven Super Rugby Caps (although only one starting) for the Reds. He was selected as the first choice scrumhalf for the Australian Under 20 team for the 2008 IRB Junior World Cup in Wales. Genia played in eight Super Rugby matches in 2009, half of which were starting appearances, and scored four tries during the tournament but missed Queensland's final two matches of the season due to an injured finger tendon. Genia was selected in the Wallabies squad for the 2009 Tri Nations and made his test debut against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

in Auckland on 18 July 2009. He came off the bench in the first four matches before getting starting berths against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in Brisbane, and against the All Blacks in Wellington. Genia then started in all five Tests of Australia's Spring Tour of Japan and Europe, before staying on at the tour's end to help the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

beat the All Blacks at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. In 2010, Genia captained the Reds, after regular captain

James Horwill James Horwill (born 29 May 1985) is an Australian former rugby union player, who has played for the Australian national side, with 61 caps to his name. He captained the Wallabies a number of times, including during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Hor ...

suffered an injury in the second match of the season. At the end of the season Genia was voted by his teammates as the 2010 players' player of the year and he won the Pilecki Medal. He was also voted the fans' player of the year, winning the People's Choice award.

2011–present

Genia won the Pilecki Medal again in 2011, and was voted the Australian Super Rugby Player of the Year by Australian rugby writers. He became the 78th Test captain of the Wallabies when he led the side against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at 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 Af ...

. He was one of two Australian nominees, alongside David Pocock, for the 2011 IRB Player of the Year award. In April 2012, he signed a new three-year deal with the Reds after turning down a lucrative offer from the

Force In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...

. In early September Genia suffered a knee injury in Australia's win over South Africa. Genia missed eight Tests in a row and didn't expect to return to domestic action until the Reds play the Bulls in Brisbane on 23 March 2013. It was rumoured that Genia was leaving Australia after 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 onl ...

, possibly going to the English Club Bath, but he left Australia at the start of the 2015-16 season to play for Stade Français. On 15 August 2017, Genia signed with the

for the 2018 and 2019 Super Rugby seasons. On 24 November 2018, Genia became just the 10th Wallaby and the second Wallabies halfback after

George Gregan George Musarurwa Gregan AM (born 19 April 1973) is a retired Australian rugby union player, and is currently Australia's most capped international player. Gregan was born in Lusaka, Zambia. He played Super 12 (now Super Rugby) for the Brumbies ...

to play 100-Tests for

; playing against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...

. On 12 July 2019, Genia announced his test rugby retirement stating that he will not play for the Wallabies after the 2019 Rugby World Cup having signed to play for

in Japan.

Super Rugby statistics

Outside rugby

Genia is an ambassador for

The Kokoda Track Foundation The Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) is an international aid organisation working in Papua New Guinea. The foundation was established in 2003 and supports the indigenous people of that country. The Foundation provides education, health, and community ...

.Ambassador: Will Genia
Kokoda Track Foundation. 2012.

Honours

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Centurion *

** Tri-Nations:

** The Rugby Championship:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

**Wallabies Captain 2011-2013 **Test Rugby Centurion

Reference list

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Genia, Will 1988 births Living people Papua New Guinean rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby union players Australian rugby union captains Queensland Reds players Brisbane City (rugby union) players Rugby union scrum-halves Papua New Guinean emigrants to Australia People educated at Brisbane Boys' College People from the National Capital District (Papua New Guinea) Rugby union players from Brisbane Stade Français players Australian expatriate rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France Melbourne Rebels players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Hanazono Kintetsu Liners players Australian people of Papua New Guinean descent