Henry Fa'afili (born 30 May 1980) is a Samoan-born New Zealand former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

and

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played representative rugby league (RL) for New Zealand Secondary Schools, the New Zealand

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

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 ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, and at club level for

Auckland Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

and the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington ...

( Heritage No. 1055), as a , or , he switched codes in 2007, and played representative rugby union (RU) for

, and at club level for

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

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 ...

and Connacht Rugby, as a

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 e ...

, or

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 eccentri ...

Early years

Fa'afili was born in

Apia, Samoa Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

. He was educated at both

Manurewa High School , motto_translation = Rise to the Heavens , type = State co-ed secondary (year 9–13) , established = 1960 , address = 67 Browns RoadManurewaAuckland 2102New Zealand , coordinates = , principal = Pete Jones , roll = ...

and De La Salle College, Mangere East. He represented both the New Zealand Secondary Schools team and the

in 1998.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

, 1998. p. 181

New Zealand Warriors

He made his début for the

in the Australasian

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

in 2000.

Warrington Wolves

Fa'afili signed for the

in 2004, and made his début on Sunday 8 August 2004, and whilst at the Warrington Wolves he scored many tries from high cross field kicks from

Lee Briers Lee Paul Briers (born 14 June 1978) is a professional rugby league coach who is on the coaching staff of the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL, and a former Wales international rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Gr ...

. He scored 73 tries in 97 appearances for the Warrington Wolves. He was the top try-scorer in the Super League for the 2007's

Super League XII Engage Super League XII is the official name for the year 2007's Super League season in the sport of rugby league. The 2007 season kicked off on the weekend of 2 February 2007 at the Galpharm Stadium. For the first time, the league had a stagge ...

. He left the Warrington Wolves at the end of 2007 season because of salary cap restraints. Fa'afili played his last match for the Warrington Wolves in the 34–26 victory over the

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

on Friday 14 September 2007.

Harlequins Rugby League

After scoring 38 tries in 94 games for the Warriors, Fa'afili netted 72 in 92 at the Warrington Wolves and was Super League's top try scorer for the 2007 season, he was signed by Harlequins RL.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/mobile/rugby_league/super_league/london/6980403.stm However he was tapped up to sign for Biarritz and left manager Brian McDermott and chairman Ian Lenagan furious.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7045072.stm

Biarritz Olympique

Fa'afili agreed what was initially seen as a short-term deal with French

side Biarritz. He was initially meant to play there short-term but ended up staying longer.

Leeds Carengie

He joined Leeds Carnegie ahead of the 2010–11 English Premiership season but left after one season when the club were relegated.

Connacht Rugby

Henry joined Connacht in the summer of 2011 as part of Head Coach Eric Elwood's squad, joining fellow Samoan

Ray Ofisa Ray Ofisa Treviranus (born 22 March 1980), commonly known as Ray Ofisa, is a Samoan former professional rugby union player. He primarily played as a flanker Ofisa spent most of his professional career with Irish provincial side Connacht, earni ...

. He left after one season

International career

Fa'afili has also represented New Zealand in rugby league at international level on several occasions, scoring a hat-trick against Great Britain in 2003 at Ewood Park, Blackburn during the Tri-Nations. His last appearance for New Zealand was against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

in June 2006 at St Helens. He also represented Samoa in the 2000 World Cup. He has also been capped internationally in rugby union for

References

External links

Henry Fa'afili official player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fa'afili, Henry 1980 births Biarritz Olympique players Connacht Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Junior Kiwis players Leeds Tykes players Living people Manurewa Marlins players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Ireland New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Warriors players People educated at De La Salle College, Māngere East People educated at Manurewa High School Rugby league wingers Samoa international rugby union players Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan emigrants to New Zealand Samoan rugby league players Samoan rugby union players Souths Logan Magpies players Sportspeople from Apia Warrington Wolves players