Ben Volavola (born 13 January 1991) is a Fijian Australian international

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. He most recently played for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

in England's

Premiership Rugby 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 ...

. He has previously played for

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 ...

in the French

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

competition; for Bordeaux Bègles,

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...

and

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

in the

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 ...

;

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

clubs such as the , , and the . Volavola typically plays as either a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

or full back.

Early life

Volavola was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He moved to

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

with his Fijian parents at one-years-old and remained in Fiji until he was eight-years-old, returning to Sydney in 2000 with his mother and younger brother. He is of Fijian descent on his mother's side of the family and

Indo-Fijian Indo-Fijians () are Fijians of South Asian descent whose ancestors were Girmitiyas, indentured labourers. Indo-Fijians trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent. Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of Fiji's ...

descent on his father's side. He is the grandson of former

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

Mayor,

Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to r ...

Peni Volavola, and of the former Suva netball representative Vasiti Mea Naqova. Upon his return to Australia, Volavola began secondary schooling at St George Christian School (2004), Endeavour Sports High School (2005–2008) and later

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(2009–2010). In 2012, he completed his Certificate III and IV in Fitness at the Australian Institute of Fitness in 2012. He also finished a Business Diploma with the Australian Vocational Training Academy.

Rugby career

Super Rugby

His performances for Southern Districts in the Shute Shield have earned him a spot in the Extended Playing Squad for the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumbi ...

. He represented Australia Under 20 in the

2011 IRB Junior World Championship The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship was the fourth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby' ...

in Italy. Volavola signed for the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

in the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

to replace a number 10 exodus at the Crusaders with

Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a New Zealand retired rugby union player. Carter played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in test match rugby, a ...

, Colin Slade and

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch (magazine), ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literatu ...

who are moving to play rugby in Europe as well as confirming his eligibility to join

for the upcoming

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

. He signed a two-year deal. After getting picked by Fiji for the upcoming 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, he intends to make the 10 jersey which was worn by former Fijian flyhalf,

Nicky Little Nicky Tyrone Little (born 13 September 1976) is a former professional rugby union footballer. He plays at fly-half. He is a nephew of All Blacks centre Walter Little, but represents Fiji at international level. Career He has scored 652 point ...

who Volavola regards as one of his heroes. His parents, Dinesh Shankar and Ema Volavola have been supportive of their son's decision to represent Fiji. He came off the bench against

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing is ...

on his debut in the 2015 mid-year rugby union internationals as Fiji had given the match,

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

status. He started at 10 for

against

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 ...

in the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup scoring 15 points (3 conversions and 3 penalties). He was named one of Fiji's 31 man squad for the Rugby World Cup 2015 which was hosted in England and Wales. He played all 4 matches, against all three of the biggest teams in Fiji's group; England (lost 35–11), Australia (lost 28–13) and Wales (lost 23–13) and the last against Uruguay where Fiji won 45–17. In January 2017, he signed for Australian super rugby side,

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria that competed in the Super Rugby competition. The Rebels made their debut in SANZAAR, SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. T ...

. He played for one season before leaving the club.

Europe

In October 2017, after playing all of his professional career in the

, NRC, and

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mi ...

Volavola signed for French

club Bordeaux Bègles. Confirmation was released in November 2017. He joined Fijian teammate Peni Ravai. In June 2018, Volavola signed for his 2nd French club,

as a backup to injured playmaker Pat Lambie. On 10 May 2020, Volavola sign for

side

ahead of the 2020–21 season. On 26 August 2024, Volavola was signed by

in England's

. He departed after one season and making 10 appearances.

Super Rugby statistics

Personal life

In October 2017, Volavola was seen with actress

Shailene Woodley Shailene Woodley (born November 15, 1991) is an American actress. She first gained prominence for her starring role as Amy Juergens in the ABC Family teen drama series '' The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (2008–2013). She then starr ...

on multiple occasions. The duo later posted several photos of each other on social media, confirming their relationship, and in January 2018, Woodley posted a picture of Volavola saying "damn I love him". In April 2020, it was reported that the relationship with Woodley had ended. He married Kristine Phipps on June 24, 2022, at Sydney, Australia. They have a son born in 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Volavola, Ben 1991 births Australian rugby union players Fijian rugby union players Australian people of Indo-Fijian descent New South Wales Waratahs players Greater Sydney Rams players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Sydney People educated at Newington College Leicester Tigers players Living people Fijian people of Indian descent Fijian people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Australian people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Sportspeople of Indian descent Crusaders (rugby union) players Canterbury rugby union players Melbourne Rebels players Union Bordeaux Bègles players Racing 92 players USA Perpignan players People educated at Endeavour Sports High School Australian sportspeople of Indian descent Fiji international rugby union players Australian expatriate rugby union players in France North Harbour rugby union players 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 21st-century Australian sportsmen