Orene Ai'i
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| Date of birth | 23 September 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Apia, Upolu, Samoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 81 kg (179 lb; 12.8 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Orene Ai'i (born 23 September 1979) is a Samoan-born, New Zealand rugby union player who played as a first five-eighth and fullback for the Blues in Super Rugby and Northland in the ITM Cup. He is currently a player and assistant backs coach for the LA Giltinis in Major League Rugby (MLR).
Professional career
[edit]Ai'i made his professional rugby debut in 2000 against the ACT Brumbies.
He previously played for Toyota Verblitz in Japan and Toulon in France.
Starting in August 2016, he played fly-half/fullback for the San Francisco Rush in PRO Rugby, America's first professional rugby league.
Ai'i re-joined the Blues as an injury cover after his contract with Toyota Verblitz was completed.[1][2]
Match Fit
[edit]Ai'i was drafted in Season 4 of Match Fit: Union vs. League in 2024 as a cover for Piri Weepu in the beach rugby game in Piha Beach. He scored a hat-trick and helped Union to win over League.[3]
Honours
[edit]- 2003 Super Rugby champion – Blues
- IRB Sevens World Series player of the year – 2004-05 season
References
[edit]- ^ David Long (5 July 2012). "Orene Ai'i answers call for injury-stricken Blues". Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ David Long (3 July 2012). "Orene's back and Blue". Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ "Match Fit Season 4 Ep 3 | SPORT | ThreeNow". www.threenow.co.nz. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
External links
[edit]- Orene Ai'i at the World Rugby Men's Sevens Series
- Orene Ai'i at ESPNscrum
- Orene Ai'i at ItsRugby.co.uk
- The Blues: Orene Ai'i
- New Zealand rugby union players
- Samoan rugby union players
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Blues (Super Rugby) players
- Auckland rugby union players
- Northland rugby union players
- Hurricanes (rugby union) players
- RC Toulon players
- Toyota Verblitz players
- Rugby union fullbacks
- Rugby union fly-halves
- Samoa international rugby sevens players
- People educated at Otahuhu College
- New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan
- New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France
- Rugby union players from Apia
- San Francisco Rush players
- New Zealand international rugby sevens players
- LA Giltinis players
- Samoan emigrants to New Zealand
- New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in the United States