Akapusi Qera (born 24 April 1984) is a Fijian 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 ...

player. A Flanker or No.8. He is married to wife Phillipha Talei and together they have four children. Qera is also from a Christian sporting family; his father was an international cricketer for Fiji and his brother also played international rugby for Fiji. He is also a first cousin of Fiji test international Viliame Veikoso. Qera is a current test international and 15's captain for Fiji Qera has also represented the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

. Whilst playing for

Pertemps Bees Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Portway, Birmingham. There have been three rugby clubs, each one a separate legal entity, that have borne the "Birmingham & Solihull" name: * Birmingham & Solih ...

during the 2006–2007 season he was voted Fiji rugby player of the year. Later in the season he was nominated for Fiji sportsman of the year, finishing second to golfer

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( ; born 22 February 1963) is a Fijians, Fijian professional golfer. In 1982, Singh turned professional and played on the local Asia Golf Circuit. However, his early career met with controversy, as he was accused of numerous rules ...

. A key player for Fiji during their

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

campaign in France, he scored three tries and was later voted third in the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

player of the season awards for 2007–08. Since his debut season at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, Qera has gone on to captain the Fijian national side and also be awarded the Gloucester Player of the Year award in 2010.

Club career

Qera's first professional club were Colonial Cup side Coastal Stallions whom he played for during the 2005–2006 season. During his time with the Stallions, Qera made numerous representative appearances for the Fiji U21 side and Fiji Warriors before progressing to the test squad in 2005. In total Qera made seven appearances for the Stallions scoring seven tries. Qera then relocated to play professional club rugby in England for the

. During the 2006–2007 season at

he was the club's top try scorer and the highest scoring forward in

National Division One The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

. Qera moved to

, who play in the

, at the start of the 2007–08 season. He scored his first try for the club against Bourgoin in a 51–27 victory for

Kingsholm Kingsholm is an area of Gloucester, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is home to Kingsholm Stadium, which hosts Gloucester Rugby and other international matches. It is also home to a Church of England school, Kingsholm Primary Sch ...

. On 17 January 2008, Qera signed a new contract with

until 2010. On 19 April 2008 Qera scored a hat-trick in Gloucester's Guinness Premiership match versus Leeds Carnegie. In May 2008 Qera was nominated for the Guinness Premiership Player of the Year award for 2007–08, eventually finishing in third place behind England internationals Olly Barkley and

James Simpson-Daniel James David Simpson-Daniel (born 30 May 1982 in Stockton-on-Tees) is a former English rugby union footballer who played Wing (rugby union), wing or centre for Gloucester Rugby. He attended Red House School & Sedbergh School in the Yorkshire Dale ...

. Dean Ryan (then Gloucester head coach) said of Qera's debut Premiership season, "Akapusi's impact on the Premiership last season was tremendous and he produced a number of world class performances". In July 2008 Qera had surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament and as a result he missed the start of the 2008–2009 season. Qera marked his return from injury with a try, coming off the bench to score in the corner in Gloucester's 24–22 win over London Wasps in March 2009. As a result of injury he made just 6 appearances for Gloucester during the season. On 24 January 2010 Qera scored his second hat-trick for Gloucester in the Heineken Cup win over Newport Gwent Dragons. He finished the 2009–2010 season with 10 tries from 31 first team appearances, proving his world class scoring rate and was Gloucester's second top overall try scorer for the season. He was voted Gloucester Rugby player of the season for 2009–2010. After suffering from

Bell's Palsy Bell's palsy is a type of facial paralysis that results in a temporary inability to control the facial muscles on the affected side of the face. In most cases, the weakness is temporary and significantly improves over weeks. Symptoms can vary f ...

towards the start of the season Qera scored his first try of the campaign against

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

. Further scores came against

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 ...

in both the LV Cup and Premiership fixtures in February. He completed the season with 20 appearances in all competitions. During the 2011–2012 season, Qera crossed the try-line against

, Harlequins, London Wasps and Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership as well as against Toulouse in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. In February 2012 he signed a two-year contract extension at Gloucester and also received his first call up for the

for their summer internationals, making his debut against England at Twickenham. Qera finished the club season having made 24 appearances in all competitions for Gloucester and was named in The Rugby Paper's Premiership XV. A permanent fixture in the Cherry and Whites side during throughout the season, Qera crossed for scores against both London Irish and Leicester Tigers in the Premiership. He then scored in consecutive matches against London Welsh (in the LV Cup), Sale Sharks (for which he was awarded Premiership try of the week), Saracens and Harlequins. In total he made 29 appearances and was included in the 6-man shortlist for Premiership player of the season (won by Leicester and England hooker Tom Youngs). Qera made six first team appearances in for the 2013–2014 season. On 14 December 2013, it was announced Qera would leave Gloucester mid-season in the 2013/14 season as he signed a contract to join

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

in the French

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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

under the 'Medical Joker' rule, effectively on 1 January 2014. On 14 June 2014, Qera will leave Toulouse to join Top 14 rivals

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

from the 2014–15 season. On 1 June 2017, Qera signs for another French club, which is

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

, newly promoted to the Top 14 from the 2017–18 season. On 12 December 2018, Qera returns to England to sign for Hartpury College, based near his old club

, in the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

for the remainder of the 2018–19 season.

International career

Qera had represented Fiji at U19 and U21 level before making his full Fiji debut against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

in 2005. He was included in the Fiji sevens training squad for 2006–2007 but was unable to attend due to his

contract. In 2007 he was named Fiji Rugby Player of the Year. Qera made an impressive impact at the

. After scoring in the non-cap warm up match against

SC Albi Sporting Club Albigeois is a professional French rugby union club playing the third-level Nationale. During the past years it went back and forth between Top 14, the highest level of the French league system and the second-level Rugby Pro D2. ...

, he crossed for two tries in his side's 31–35 win over

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Qera then played in the game against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

four days later and also played and scored the opening try in the 38–34 victory over

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. This win clinched Fiji's qualification to the quarter-finals in which they lost 37–20 to the eventual World Champions

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In 2008 Qera played in the summer test against Samoa, starting from the bench. He also expressed a desire to represent Fiji at the

Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) was the former quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it consisted of men's and women's tournaments, and was the highest level of competition in the sport ...

, however ultimately did not participate. In 2009 Qera captained the national side against Scotland during Fiji's European tour. After missing the 2010 summer tests, Qera made his first appearance in a year for Fiji in the November test against France in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. He then played in the subsequent tests against Wales and Italy. In June 2011, Fiji head coach Sam Domoni named Qera in the 43-man training squad for 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 World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

to be held in New Zealand. After starting at flanker in summer tests against Japan and New Zealand, Qera was handed the captaincy for the home test versus Tonga due to the resting of World Cup captain

Deacon Manu Deacon Tehanakore Manu (born 18 February 1979 in New Plymouth, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born retired Fijian rugby union footballer. He played as a prop for the Scarlets in the Pro12, having signed from the Chiefs in 2006. He was also the ...

. A surprise non-starter in Fiji's opening pool game, a 49–25 victory versus Namibia, Qera came off the bench to make his first appearance of the tournament. He subsequently started at flanker in the defeat to South Africa, before featuring off the bench in the final pool games against Samoa and Wales. Qera received his first call-up to the

in the summer of 2012 and after making his debut against England also featured in the fixtures versus Ireland and Wales. He originally opted to miss Fiji's 2012 European tour in favour of playing for Gloucester, however was a late inclusion to the Fiji squad ahead of their test versus England. In May 2013 Qera was named in the Flying Fijians squad for the Pacific Nations Cup and captained the side in the 20–8 victory over Japan and 20–18 loss to Canada. In the Canada fixture Qera scored his first test try since 2007. He has also played in non-cap matches against Australia A,

and the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

twice.

International tries

European Club statistics

Stats correct as of June 2012

Awards

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qera, Akapusi 1984 births Living people People educated at Lelean Memorial School Fijian rugby union players Rugby union flankers Gloucester Rugby players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Stade Toulousain players Fiji international rugby union players Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. players Fijian expatriate rugby union players in England Fijian expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union players from Suva Rugby union players from Sigatoka I-Taukei Fijian people People educated at Whanganui City College People educated at Suva Grammar School 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players Barbarian F.C. players 21st-century Fijian sportsmen