Full name Melani Nanai Vai 2014– Auckland Height 1.94 m Years Team Role Rugby Player | Current club Auckland / Blues Name Melani Nanai Playing position 2015− Blues Weight 90 kg | |
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Born 3 August 1993 (age 30)
Apia, Samoa ( 1993-08-03 ) | ||
Melani Nanai: Ten of the best
Melani Nanai (born 3 August 1993) is a Samoan rugby union player who currently plays as an outside back for Auckland in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Blues in the international Super Rugby competition.
Contents
- Melani Nanai Ten of the best
- One on one with melani nanai sky tv
- Early career
- Senior career
- Super Rugby
- International
- Super Rugby statistics
- References
One on one with melani nanai sky tv
Early career
Born and raised in Samoa, Nanai came to New Zealand to attend high school at De La Salle College in the southern part of Auckland. He later returned home to his native Samoa at the end of his 5th form in 2009 before returning to New Zealand in 2011. He worked packing boxes and doing dispatch in East Tamaki while playing club rugby, first for Otahuhu and latterly for Manukau Rovers where he came under the wing of All Black legend, Frank Bunce.
Senior career
Although not initially named in the Auckland squad for the 2014 ITM Cup, Nanai's impressive form at club level for Manukau Rovers saw him break into their top team and make 5 appearances during the campaign which ended with him being named development player of the year. A first team squad member in 2015, Nanai scored 3 tries in 6 games as Auckland finished as Premiership runner-up, going down narrowly to Canterbury in the final and this time he was named as Auckland's rookie of the year. 2016 was not such a good year for Auckland, as they finished 5th on the log, while Nanai's try scoring and appearance stats were the same as the previous year, 3 tries in 6 matches.
In addition to playing for Auckland at provincial level, he has also represented them in sevens rugby as well as winning the World 10s Championship with the Blues.
Super Rugby
Just 5 appearances at provincial level were enough to convince Auckland-based Super Rugby franchise the Blues to name him in their wider training group for the 2015 Super Rugby season. He enjoyed a hugely impressive debut campaign playing at Super Rugby level, making 13 starts in the outside back positions and scoring 3 tries. Tana Umaga replaced Sir John Kirwan as Blues head coach ahead of the 2016 Super Rugby season and he promoted Nanai to their first team squad. Again he was a regular through 2016, mostly in the fullback position vacated by Charles Piutau and this time he scored 5 times in 11 appearances.
International
Nanai was a member of the Samoa Under-20 team which competed in the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship in France where he scored 3 tries in 5 appearances.
He also played in the number 15 jersey for the Barbarians in their 31-31 draw against South Africa at Wembley Stadium on 5 November 2016. He scored the game's opening try in the 4th minute.