Roland Suniula (born December 17, 1986) is an American 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 ...

player who plays for the Austin Elite 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 eccentricit ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Of ...

(MLR). He previously played for the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play i ...

in the MLR and the

Ohio Aviators The Ohio Aviators are an American rugby union team that played professionally in the short lived PRO Rugby competition. They are based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area, and played their home games at Memorial Park in Obetz, Ohio. They are ...

as a centre in

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...

. He is the brother of

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

and

Shalom Suniula Shalom Suniula (born June 5, 1988) is a former rugby league and rugby union player, who played for the Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby (MLR), and for the United States national rugby sevens team. He played rugby union for the United St ...

, who have also represented the United States Eagles rugby union (both sevens and XV's).

Early life

In 2004, Suniula graduated from

Kelston Boys' High School Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") (Te kura tuarua o nga tamatane o kerehana) is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High Scho ...

which has produced several

New Zealand All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

players.

Professional Rugby Career

Suniula played for North Harbour between 2005–2008. He debuted for the U.S. Sevens team in October 2008 in their NAWIRA RWC 7s Qualifier event and has appeared in 13 IRB tournaments. He played with the

Chicago Griffins The Chicago Griffins RFC rugby union team was founded in 1973. The team competes in the National Division I Midwest League, USA Rugby's top tier, after the demise of the USA Super League and play their home games at Riis Park in Chicago, Illinois ...

for the 2012 Rugby Super League season. Suniula signed with

FC Auch Gers Football Club Auch Gers is a French rugby union club based in Auch in Midi-Pyrénées most recently playing in the promotion-eligible pool of Fédérale 1. In recent years, they have mainly bounced between the first-level Top 14 and Pro D2. In a f ...

for the 2012-13

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as 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 i ...

season. After one season with team he joined

CS Vienne CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

where he made 18 appearances for the team during the 2013-14 season. In May 2014, Suniula signed a two-year deal with an option for a third with

RC Chalon Racing Club Chalonnais, also known simply as RC Chalon is a French rugby union club from Chalon-sur-Saône. They competed in Fédérale 1, the third level of the French league system, in the 2009–10 season, but recent financial troubles saw t ...

another

Fédérale 1 Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 2 ...

side. In 2016, Roland signed to play for the

in the inaugural season of

US

On April 17, 2016, he scored the first try for Ohio against the

Denver Stampede The Denver Stampede were an American rugby union team that played in the short lived PRO Rugby competition. The Stampede was one of the five teams that began play in PRO Rugby's 2016 inaugural season. The team played its home matches at the Uni ...

. During the 2016–17 season, Roland played for Ohio's Columbus Rugby Club, as well as a coach for the Tiger Rugby Academy. In September 2017, Roland played with Misfits Rugby in Colorado's Aspen Ruggerfest. He also played for

Rugby Reggio Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby unio ...

in Emilia,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the Italian Eccellenza League for the 2018 season. In 2018, Roland played with his brother Andrew for Austin Elite and in 2019, he currently plays with his brother Shalom for the

in the MLR.

References

External links

Scrum.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suniula, Roland 1986 births Living people Rugby union centres United States international rugby union players American Samoan rugby union players Austin Gilgronis players North Harbour rugby union players American Samoan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France American Samoan expatriate sportspeople in France American Samoan emigrants to New Zealand United States international rugby sevens players People from Pago Pago Ohio Aviators players Pan American Games medalists in rugby sevens Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Seattle Seawolves players Rugby sevens players at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 2011 Rugby World Cup players