Jordan Uelese (born 24 January 1997) 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 ...

player for

Montpellier Hérault Rugby Montpellier Hérault Rugby (MHR) (; ) is a French professional rugby union club, based in Montpellier, Occitanie and named after the Hérault department. The club competes in the top level of the French league system, the Top 14. They original ...

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 ...

, having previously played for the

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 ...

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 ...

. He has been capped for the Australian national team. His usual position is hooker.

Early life

Uelese was born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, where he started playing rugby for the Oriental Rongotai club. He moved with his family to Melbourne at the age of eleven and attended Marymede Catholic College in

South Morang South Morang ( mor-ANG) is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km north-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. South Morang recorded a population of 24,989 at t ...

, before moving in 2013 to St. Kevin's College in

Toorak Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Toorak recorded a population of 12,817 at the 2021 census. The name ...

on a rugby scholarship. As a teenageer he was a loose forward before switching to hooker, the position he played for the Rebels Under-20 side in the

National Championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

Career

Uelese was selected for the Australia Under 20 team two years in a row, playing at the World Rugby Championships in Manchester in 2016 and then in Georgia in 2017. Uelese made his Super Rugby debut in the opening round of the 2017 season against the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

as a replacement for Patrick Leafa in a defeat for the Rebels, becoming the third 'home-grown' player for the Rebels. In September 2017 he made his 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 ...

against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in a 23–23 draw at

nib Stadium Perth Rectangular Stadium (also known as HBF (insurer), HBF Park under naming rights) is a sports stadium in Perth, the capital of the Australian states and territories, Australian state of Western Australia. Located close to Perth (suburb), ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Super Rugby statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uelese, Jordan 1997 births Australian rugby union players Rugby union players from Melbourne Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian people of New Zealand descent Australia international rugby union players Rugby union hookers Melbourne Rebels players Melbourne Rising players Living people New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia Rugby union players from Wellington City 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players Expatriate rugby union players in France Montpellier Hérault Rugby players 21st-century Australian sportsmen