Andrew Suniula (born 1 May 1982) is a former

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

player who played

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 ...

as a

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 eccentricity ...

for the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

(USA Eagles XV's). He last played for the

Austin Gilgronis 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 the ...

and is now their Rugby Operations Director and a member of the coaching staff.

Early career

Suniula began playing professional

with

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

during the 2005–06 season, playing in eight times for the club.

Rugby league

Suniula switched to play

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

for the

Auckland Lions The Auckland Lions were a rugby league club that had teams in both the New Zealand Bartercard Cup and the NSWRL Premier League. They were mostly drawn from the Mt Albert Lions Rugby League club. Mt Albert had a proud tradition in Auckland and had ...

in the 2007 Bartercard Cup, scoring a try in the Grand Final. There he was spotted by

Noel Cleal Noel Harvey "Crusher" Cleal (born 16 October 1958) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A destructive for the Manly Sea Eagles, he also represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series and the Austra ...

and signed by

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

. Suniula played for Manly in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. Suniula played and in rugby league.

Rugby union

Andrew Suniula Churchill Cup 2010 vs Russia

After four years in rugby league, Suniula returned to union with the Chicago Griffins in 2010. The following season he joined

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 ...

side

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates () are a professional rugby union team who play in the RFU Championship, Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. The Cornish Pirates team are the 'First XV' o ...

, appearing 16 times for the club during the 2011–12 season. Suniula returned to Chicago Griffins the following season before joining his first top flight professional rugby union side when he signed for the London Wasps for the 2013–14 season. He made five appearances for the club during his brief one-year stint. Suniula joined

CSM București Clubul Sportiv Municipal București, commonly known as CSM București is a Romanian professional multi-sports club based in Bucharest. Departments Active branches: *Athletics *Basketball *Dancesport *Handball *Judo *Scrabble *Volleyball Defunct ...

for the 2015

Romanian Rugby Championship The Liga Națională de Rugby () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in Romania. In the 2023 season there are 14 teams competing. The competition was established in 1913 and is governed by the Romanian Rugby Federation. ...

season. In 2018, Suniola signed for

Austin Elite 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 the ...

and quickly became team captain, but by 2019 he was semi-retired and was succeeded as captain by Ben Mitchell.

International career

Suniula represented the United States in rugby union from 2008 to 2016 and played 39 tests including four matches in the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and 2015 World Cups.

Personal life

His brothers,

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

and

Shalom ''Shalom'' ( ''šālōm'') is a Hebrew word meaning ''peace'' and can be used idiomatically to mean ''hello'' and ''goodbye''. As it does in English, it can refer to either peace between two entities (especially between a person and God or b ...

, have also represented the United States in rugby union. Suniula has been tattooed by internationally renowned artist Steve Ma Ching, who also tattooed rugby players

DJ Forbes Derek Jamie "DJ" Forbes (born 15 December 1982) is a New Zealand former rugby union player and captain of the All Blacks Sevens team. Forbes is part Samoan, and also played rugby fifteens as a loose forward for Counties Manukau. Forbes was b ...

and

Sonny Bill Williams Sonny William Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the cou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suniula, Andrew 1982 births American Samoan rugby union players Chicago Griffins RFC players American Samoan rugby league players Auckland rugby league team players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Cornish Pirates players Living people United States international rugby union players Rugby league wingers Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles players CSM București (rugby union) players American Samoan expatriate rugby union players American Samoan expatriate rugby league players American expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby league players in Australia American Samoan expatriate sportspeople in Australia American Samoan expatriate sportspeople in England American Samoan emigrants to New Zealand United States international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players San Diego Breakers players Austin Gilgronis players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players Rugby union centres Rugby union wings