Name Christian Lealiifano | Role Rugby union player | |
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Rugby hq arvo tea with christian lealiifano
Christian Lealiifano (born 24 September 1987), is a New Zealand-born Australian rugby union player of Samoan heritage. His surname is spelled Leali'ifano when using Samoan diacritics. He currently plays for Ulster in the Pro14 and his usual position is inside centre or fly-half. In August 2016, two weeks after the Brumbies were knocked out of the Super Rugby finals, Lealiifano was diagnosed with leukaemia. He has resumed playing, and has recently signed for Ulster, who play in the Guinness Pro14.
Contents
- Rugby hq arvo tea with christian lealiifano
- Rugby HQ Christian Lealiifano micd up
- Early life
- Rugby union career
- Super Rugby Statistics
- References
Rugby HQ - Christian Lealiifano mic’d up
Early life
Lealiifano was born in Auckland and moved with his family to Melbourne when he was seven years old. He attended Peter Lalor Secondary College and played rugby union for the Australian Schoolboys team in 2004 and 2005.
Lealiifano joined the Brumbies rugby academy program in 2006. Later that year he was selected for the Australian Under 19 and Under 21 rugby teams. He played fly-half for the Australian Under 19 rugby team that won the IRB World Championship in 2006.
Rugby union career
In 2007, Lealiifano signed with the Brumbies on a rookie contract. He played for the Australian Sevens rugby team, and for the Canberra Vikings in the Australian Rugby Championship in 2007.
Lealiifano made his Super Rugby debut in 2008 against the Crusaders in Christchurch. He played fly-half in 2008 and 2009, before shifting to inside centre when Matt Giteau returned to the Brumbies in 2010. Lealiifano played six Super 14 games for the Brumbies in 2010 before being sidelined with a knee injury (rupture to his posterior cruciate). He recovered by July to play in the ITM Cup for Waikato in 2010, and he played fourteen matches for the Brumbies in 2011.
In 2012, Lealiifano was named Man of the Match by Super Rugby officials for eight out of the ten Super Rugby games he played. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken ankle in his tenth game which ended his season and any chance of being selected for the Wallabies in 2012.
Lealiifano's Test debut for the Wallabies lasted less than one minute. On 22 June 2013, he was knocked out attempting to tackle the British and Irish Lions centre Jonathan Davies in Brisbane.. In August 2017, Lealiifano signed for Irish Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup side Ulster on a 5-month loan deal.