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

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer.

Family and early life

Saia Fainga'a was born in

Queanbeyan, New South Wales Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern 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 Queanbeyan-Pale ...

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

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern 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 Queanbeyan-Pale ...

club. He was a member of the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 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 feral horses which inh ...

Academy from the age of 14 and attended St Edmund's College, Canberra, where he was selected for the Australian Schools team in 2003 and 2004. Saia's twin brother Anthony, 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, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

n English and

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

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) and the academic team 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 tra ...

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 based in Brisbane 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 ...

for the 2009 season. He made his Test debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 2010 against Fiji in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. 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 that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

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

Reference list

External links

*
Wallabies ProfileReds Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faingaa, Saia 1987 births Australian rugby union players Indigenous Australian rugby union players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Queensland Reds players Rugby union hookers Sportspeople from Queanbeyan Living people Queensland Country (NRC team) players London Irish players Rugby union players from New South Wales 2011 Rugby World Cup players People educated at St Edmund's College, Canberra Australian expatriate rugby union players in England 21st-century Australian sportsmen