Apollo Perelini (born 16 July 1969) is a former dual-code international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

and

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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and has

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed in the 2000s and 2010s. He played representative rugby union (RU) for New Zealand Under-21s,

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 Island, Manono an ...

and

World XV A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies, often to take part in celebration and testimoni ...

and at club level for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, North Harbour and

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the ...

, and representative rugby league (RL) for

Western 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); a ...

and at club level for St Helens, as a or .

Background

Perelini was born in

, New Zealand. He was named '

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, a ...

' because he was born on the day that the Apollo space project was launched. He is a New Zealand national.

Playing career

Perelini played for St. Helens in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

and the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

. He also played for

in the Zurich Championship and North Harbour in New Zealand. Perelini played both and in league, and as a back row player in union. In the

1991 Rugby Union World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

he played as an open side flanker, in the Samoans' four games (against Scotland, Wales, Argentina and Australia). During the World Cup he gained the nickname of 'Terminator' for his fierce, hard-hitting tackling technique. In 1994 he received an approach from St. Helens to play rugby league in England. At first he rejected it, but finally agreed. In 1995 he played for rugby league for

in the Rugby League World Cup, making him the first Samoan to play in World Cups in both codes. Perelini played for St Helens at in the

1996 Challenge Cup The 1996 Challenge Cup was the 95th staging of the Challenge Cup tournament. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Silk Cut, it was the first Challenge Cup of the summer era. The tournament featured 40 teams playing 42 gam ...

Final, scoring a try in the last minutes and helping his team to a 40-32 victory over the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

. At the end of

's first season, Perelini was named at in the 1996

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists and ...

. Apollo Perelini played at in St. Helens' 16-25 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in the 1995–96 Regal Trophy Final during the 1995–96 at

Alfred McAlpine Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of football club Huddersfield Town and rugby lea ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into t ...

on Saturday 13 January 1996. Perelini played for St Helens at in their

1999 Super League Grand Final The 1999 Super League Grand Final was the Second official Grand Final conclusive and championship-deciding game of the Super League IV season. The match was played between St. Helens and Bradford Bulls on Saturday 9 October 1999, at Old Trafford ...

victory over

, having won this they contested in the

2000 World Club Challenge The 2000 World Club Challenge was contested by 1999 NRL season premiers, the Melbourne Storm and 1999's Super League IV champions, St. Helens. The match was played on 22 January at JJB Stadium, Wigan before a crowd of 13,394. The Melbourne Sto ...

against

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 ...

Premiers the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998 ...

, with Perelini playing from the interchange bench in the loss. He also played for St. Helens at in their

2000 Super League Grand Final The 2000 Super League Grand Final was the third official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding game of 2000's Super League V. Held on Saturday 14 October 2000 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens ...

victory over

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

. At the age of 33, after finishing his rugby league playing career, he returned to rugby union to play for the

Post playing

After retiring from playing he joined the Sale's Coaching staff. In 2004 he returned to St Helens as the team's Head of Strength and Conditioning and Skills coach. Apollo helped St Helens to 4 Challenge Cup titles 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. 4 League Leaders titles 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. 1 World Club Championship 2007. 1 Grand Final Winners 2006, and also picking up the prestigious BBC sports Team Of The Year in 2006. He now lives in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

where he was formerly the Director of Sport at Repton School Dubai, a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * Private (Ryōko Hirosue song), "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private ...

. He currently runs two sporting Academies - Apollo Perelini Rugby Skills Academy (www.aprsa.com) and JETS (a female football academy), at an increasing number of venues around the emirate. Apollo is also the current head coach of the

UAE National Rugby team The United Arab Emirates national rugby union team competes in the annual Asia Rugby competitions. They were once part of the Arabian Gulf team which consisted of players from the Gulf Cooperation Countries on the Arabian Peninsula. In 2011 th ...

, a position which he started in 2015 for the UAERF. Apollo spoke about what makes the Rugby Sevens so special and the role that rugby has in the

history in the This Luxury Life podcast show.

References

External links

Saints Heritage Society profile

Apollo Perelini at New Zealand Rugby History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perelini, Apollo Living people 1969 births Dual-code rugby internationals Expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players North Harbour rugby union players Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Sale Sharks players Samoa international rugby union players Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan sportspeople St Helens R.F.C. players