Melani Nanai

Melani Nanai

Personal information
Full name	Melani Nanai Vai
Born	3 August 1993 Apia, Samoa
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 ^1⁄2 in)
Weight	90 kg (14 st 2 lb)
Club information
Playing position	Fullback / Wing
Current club	Auckland / Blues
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Pts)^†
2014–	Auckland	13	(15)
2015−	Blues	13	(15)
Representative team(s)^‡
2013	Samoa Under-20	5	(15)
* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 26 October 2015. † Appearances (Points). ‡ Representative team caps and points correct as of 11 December 2014.

Melani Nanai (born 3 August 1993) is a Samoan rugby union player who currently plays as a wing for Auckland in the ITM Cup.^[1][2][3]

Career

Nanai made his first ventures in senior rugby in the Auckland region of New Zealand, representing them in sevens rugby as well as winning the World 10s Championship with the Blues.^[4] His fast and elusive running at that level saw him called up to the Auckland ITM Cup team in 2014 and he made 5 appearances without scoring any tries.^[2] This was enough to earn him a spot in the Blues wider training group for the 2015 Super Rugby season.^[5][6]

International career

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.^[7][8]

References

1. "Melani Nanai Auckland Player Profile". Auckland Rugby. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
2. "Melani Nanai itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
3. "Melani Nanai ESPN Scrum Player Profile". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
4. "Former player of the year included in Aukland Sevens’ squad for Twickenham series". London 24. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
5. "Blues 2015 Squad Naming" (PDF). All Blacks.com. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
6. "Melani Nanai Blues Player Profile". Blues Rugby. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
7. "Melani Nanai Scoresway Player Statistics". Scoresway. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
8. "JWC 2013:Pool C: Samoa (Team Profile)". In at the side. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2014.