Samu Wara (born 24 January 1986) 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 ...

footballer. His regular playing position is on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

Background

Samu Wara 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 ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia.

Career

Wara was born and raised in

Leichhardt, New South Wales Leichhardt () is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leichhardt is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and is the administrative centre for the local government ...

, where he played junior rugby league. He went on to play

NSWRL Premier League The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

with

Balmain Ryde Eastwood Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

in 2007. He joined South Sydney's feeder club

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in Cammeray on Sydney's North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The club currently competes in the NSW Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL s ...

in 2008, where he played in the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

in 2008 and 2009. Wara made the NSW Cup Team of the Year in 2008. Wara made a total of 45 appearances for Norths and scored 18 tries. He switched codes in 2010 to play rugby union with

Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney's north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sy ...

, and was selected to join the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

academy by then coach

Andy Friend Andrew Friend (born 24 April 1969) is an Australian rugby union coach and former player. He completed his most recent post as Director of Rugby for Irish province Connacht at the end of the 2022/23 URC season. He was previously head coach of the ...

. Wara was included in the Brumbies squad for 2011, but Friend was sacked at the start of the season and Wara did not get to play in the senior team. Wara joined the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...

and made his franchise debut in Week 1 of the

2012 Super Rugby season The 2012 Super Rugby season was the second season of the 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 tea ...

against the

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. He went on to earn 9 caps over the season for the Force. After a brief stint playing in Port Macquarie in 2013, Wara joined French

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 ...

club Oyannax for the 2013–14 season.

Reference list

External links

It's Rugby
stats * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wara, Samu 1986 births Australian people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers players Australian expatriate rugby union players in France Living people New South Wales Country Eagles players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Oyonnax Rugby players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Sydney Rugby union wings Western Force players Fiji international rugby union players Northern Suburbs Rugby Club players Footballers who switched code Rugby league players from Sydney 21st-century Australian sportsmen