Kirisi Kuridrani (born 12 December 1991), formerly Kirisi Nasiganiyavi, is an Australian rugby union player of Fijian descent. He is currently signed to Japanese club Honda Heat and previously played for the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby. His usual position is wing.
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| Birth name | Kirisi Nasiganiyavi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 12 December 1991 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Brisbane, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 99 kg (15 st 8 lb) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Ipswich Grammar School Marsden State High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Nemani Nadolo (brother) Tevita Kuridrani (cousin) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Family and early life
Kirisi Nasiganiyavi was born in Brisbane, where his father Isei Nasiganiyavi played rugby for Queensland. He is the younger brother of Nemani Nadolo (who was named Ratu Nasiganiyavi before he adopted their mother's maiden name of Nadolo in 2009)[2][3] and a cousin of Tevita Kuridrani;[4] in 2011 he adopted the Kuridrani family name.
During his junior career he was selected for several representative teams, including Queensland Under-16s.[2] He attended Marsden State High School and Ipswich Grammar, and represented Queensland at the Australian Schools Rugby Championships in 2008 and 2009.[5][6]
Rugby career
In 2010, he played colts rugby for GPS Old Boys and was chosen for the Brisbane Under-19 team later that year.[7] He was selected for the Fiji Under-20 team and played in the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina,[8] and scored a try against New Zealand in the opening pool game.
Chris Kuridrani briefly switched codes at the start of 2011. He played rugby league in the Toyota Cup for the Brisbane Broncos for five rounds before returning to play Premier Rugby with GPS and train with the Queensland Reds squad.[1][9] He was selected as an injury replacement for the Australia Under-20 team at the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Italy, and scored a try in the semi-final against New Zealand.[10][11]
He was a member of the ARU's National Academy in 2013,[12][13] and participated in the Pacific Rugby Cup, including playing one match for the Brisbane Academy against his brother, Nemani Nadolo, who played for Fiji Warriors.[14]
He currently plays for Counties Manukau in the Mitre 10 Cup.[15]
On the 12 November 2019 he was selected in the Highlanders squad for the 2020 Super Rugby tournament.
Reference list
External links
- statistics on It's Rugby