Roland Suniula (born December 17, 1986) is an American 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 who plays for the

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 ...

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 ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). He previously played for the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2017. The Seawolves won two MLR championships in 2018 and 2019, and los ...

in the MLR and the Ohio Aviators as a centre in

PRO Rugby The Professional Rugby Organization, known as PRO Rugby, was an American professional rugby union competition. PRO began play in April 2016 with five teams and ceased operations by January 2017. The competition was sanctioned by USA Rugby and b ...

. He is the brother of

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

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 State ...

, 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") () 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 School (formed in 1954) became too large fo ...

which has produced several New Zealand All Blacks players.

Professional Rugby Career

Suniula played for

North Harbour North Harbour or North Harbor may refer to: Canada * North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on St. Mary's Bay * North Harbour, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on Placentia Bay * 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 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 Occitania (administrative region), Occitania most recently playing in the promotion-eligible pool of Fédérale 1. In recent years, they have mainly bounced between the first-le ...

for the 2012-13

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 ...

season. After one season with team he joined CS Vienne 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 the ...

another

Fédérale 1 The championnat de France de rugby à XV de 1re division fédérale (), a.k.a. Fédérale 1 (), is a French rugby union club competition, it is the elite of amateur rugby in France. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Français ...

side. In 2016, Roland signed to play for the Ohio Aviators 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 Univ ...

. 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 The Valorugby Emilia, previously known as Rugby Reggio, is a professional Italian rugby union team based in Reggio nell'Emilia, in the Emilia-Romagna region. They currently play in the Top12, after gaining promotion from winning Serie A in the 201 ...

in Emilia,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the Italian Eccellenza League for the 2018 season. In 2018, Roland played with his brother Andrew for

and in 2019, he currently plays with his brother Shalom for the

in the MLR.

References

External links

* {{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 American expatriate rugby union players in France American Samoan expatriate sportspeople in France American Samoan emigrants to New Zealand United States international rugby sevens players Sportspeople from Pago Pago Ohio Aviators players Seattle Seawolves players Rugby sevens players at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in rugby sevens 2011 Rugby World Cup players FC Auch Gers players RC Chalon players CS Vienne players