Isaia Walker-Leawere Explained

Isaia Walker-Leawere
Birth Date:16 April 1997
Birth Place:Ruatoria, New Zealand
Height:1970NaN0
Weight:1220NaN0
School:Gisborne Boys' High School
Relatives:Kele Leawere (father)
Position:Lock
Currentclub:Hurricanes, Hawke's Bay
Years1:2015
Clubs1:Poverty Bay
Apps1:1
Points1:0
Years2:2016–2018
Clubs2:Wellington
Apps2:22
Points2:25
Years3:2018–
Clubs3:Hurricanes
Apps3:69
Points3:10
Years4:2019–
Clubs4:Hawke's Bay
Apps4:36
Points4:20
Repyears1:2016–2017
Repteam1:New Zealand U20
Repcaps1:12
Reppoints1:15
Repyears2:2018–
Repteam2:Māori All Blacks
Repcaps2:12
Reppoints2:20
Clubupdate:19 August 2024
Repupdate:6 July 2024

Isaia Walker-Leawere (born 16 July 1997) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the in Super Rugby and in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition.[1] [2]

Early life and career

Walker-Leawere hails from Ruatoria, in the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. He's the son of Kele Leawere, who played as a lock for Fiji.

He attended and played First XV rugby for Gisborne Boys' High School.[3] In 2014 and 2015, he played for the U18 team.[4] [5]

As an 18-year-old, Walker-Leawere played one game for in the Heartland Championship (on 29 August 2015 against).

Senior career

In 2016, Walker-Leawere moved to Wellington after being contracted by the Wellington Rugby Football Union.[6] Before he had even played a single game of Mitre 10 Cup for the Lions, he was called into the wider training squad for the final weeks of the 2016 Super Rugby season.[7]

On 11 August 2016, Walker-Leawere was named in the Lions squad.[8] He made his Mitre 10 Cup debut against, nine days later.[9] He went on to play three seasons for Wellington.

The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union announced on 7 June 2019 that Walker-Leawere had signed a three-year contract to play his provincial rugby for Hawke's Bay.[10] He made his Magpies debut against on 11 August 2019.

Meanwhile, in November 2017, the announced that Walker-Leawere had signed a two-year deal with the franchise, and named him in their squad for the 2018 Super Rugby season.[11] [12] He missed the first part of the season as he was initially recovering from shoulder reconstruction surgery and then suffered a knee injury. He made his Super Rugby debut for the Hurricanes against the, on 30 June 2018.[13] He has since re-signed with the Hurricanes multiple time, most recently recommitting to the franchise until the end of the 2024 season.[14]

International career

In 2014, Walker-Leawere was named in the New Zealand Barbarians Schools' team that played matches against Australian Schools and Fiji Schools.[15] The following year, he was named in the New Zealand Secondary Schools team for a three-match international series in Australia.[16] He started in all three games and scored two tries.

On 10 May 2016, Walker-Leawere was named in the New Zealand Under-20 squad for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in England.[17] He played all 5 games in a campaign that saw New Zealand finish at a disappointing 5th place.[18]

In 2017, he enjoyed more success with the New Zealand Under 20 team. He was named in the squad for the 2017 Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship, which that year consisted of tests against Australia, and .[19] He played in two of the three games, and New Zealand retained the Oceania title.[20]

On 8 May 2017, Walker-Leawere was named in the New Zealand Under-20 squad for the 2017 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Georgia.[21] He played in all New Zealand's games and scored a try in the record 64-17 win over England in the final. New Zealand claimed its 6th World Rugby U20 Championship title that year.[22]

In 2018, Walker-Leawere - who is of Ngāti Porou descent - was a member of the Māori All Blacks squad that toured the United States, Brazil and Chile.[23] He made his Māori All Blacks debut on 3 November 2018 against the USA and scored two tries in that game.[24] In July 2019, he was named in the squad again for a two-test series against Fiji.[25] On 5 December 2020, he played for the Māori All Blacks in a one-off match against Moana Pasifika in Hamilton.[26]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Isaia Walker-Leawere Hurricanes Player Profile . Hurricanes . 27 December 2020.
  2. hbmagpies . C-EgO2Ph29V . 31 July 2024 . Squad 2024 . 1 August 2024.
  3. Web site: Rising star . Gisborne Herald . 1 September 2015. 27 December 2020.
  4. Hurricanes U18 team named . Hurricanes. 22 July 2014 . 26 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150128113351/http://hurricanes.co.nz/news/2014/07/11/hurricanes-u18-team-named . 28 January 2015 . dmy-all.
  5. Canes U18 team named for Crusaders clash . Hurricanes. 11 July 2015 . 23 December 2020.
  6. Web site: Capital rugby clubs injection of talent as academy allocates seven young stars . Stuff New Zealand . 10 December 2015. 28 December 2020.
  7. Web site: 'Izzy from Gizzy' get Hurricanes call up . Te Ao Māori News . 7 July 2016 . 28 December 2020.
  8. Baumann and Lousi add bulk to young Lions . Wellington Lions . 11 August 2016 . 28 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160813010027/http://www.wellingtonlions.co.nz/news/baumann-and-lousi-add-bulk-to-young-lions/ . 13 August 2016 . dmy-all.
  9. New-look Lions named to play Hawke's Bay . Wellington Lions . 19 August 2016 . 28 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160823154420/https://www.wellingtonlions.co.nz/news/new-look-lions-named-to-play-hawkes-bay/ . 23 August 2016 . dmy-all.
  10. Web site: The new and old for Magpies Mitre 10 Cup Campaign . Hawke's Bay Rugby Union . 7 June 2019 . 28 December 2020.
  11. Hurricanes 2018 squad announced . Hurricanes . 1 November 2017 . 28 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20171101020339/https://www.hurricanes.co.nz/the-canes/news/single/item/hurricanes-2018-squad-announced/ . 1 November 2017 . dmy-all.
  12. Meet the Hurricanes final four 2018 signings . Hurricanes . 3 November 2017 . 28 December 2020.
  13. Hurricanes squad named to face Brumbies . Hurricanes . 28 June 2018. 28 December 2020.
  14. Hawke’s Bay duo recommit to Hurricanes through 2024 . Hurricanes . 27 June 2022 . 26 February 2023.
  15. New Zealand Schools and Barbarian Schools teams named . allblacks.com . en . 24 September 2014 . 27 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141007232304/http://www.allblacks.com/News/26011/new-zealand-schools-and-barbarian-schools-teams-named . 7 October 2014. dmy-all .
  16. Web site: NZ Schools and Barbarians Schools teams named for international games . Te Ao Māori News . 14 September 2015. 28 December 2020.
  17. NZ squad named for World Rugby Under 20 Championship . allblacks.com . en . 10 May 2016 . 27 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160706054317/http://www.allblacks.com/News/29146/nz-squad-named-for-world-rugby-under-20-championship . 6 July 2016. dmy-all .
  18. Web site: NZU20 finish with big win over Australia . allblacks.com . en . 26 June 2016 . 27 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160627233426/http://www.allblacks.com/News/29372/nzu20-finish-with-big-win-over-australia . 27 June 2016. dmy-all .
  19. Final squad for Oceania U20 tournament named . allblacks.com . en . 18 April 2017 . 23 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170419064100/http://www.allblacks.com/News/30648/final-squad-for-oceania-u20-tournament-named . 19 April 2017 . dmy-all.
  20. Web site: NZ Under 20's retain Oceania title . allblacks.com . en . 7 May 2017 . 27 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170508111415/http://allblacks.com/News/30745/nz-under-20s-retain-oceania-title . 8 May 2017. dmy-all .
  21. NZ Under 20's named for Rugby World Championship . allblacks.com . en . 8 May 2017 . 27 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20201222071133/https://www.allblacks.com/news/nz-under-20s-named-for-rugby-world-championship . 22 December 2020 . dmy-all.
  22. Web site: Under-20s triumph in record win over England . allblacks.com . en . 19 June 2017 . 27 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170716002651/http://www.allblacks.com/News/30987/under-20s-triumph-in-record-win-over-england . 16 July 2017. dmy-all .
  23. Maori All Blacks squad named for historic tour . allblacks.com . en . 15 October 2018 . 27 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190917014722/https://www.allblacks.com/news/maori-all-blacks-squad-named-for-historic-tour/ . 17 September 2019.
  24. Maori All Blacks team named to face USA Eagles, Chicago . allblacks.com . en . 2 November 2018 . 27 December 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190917014648/https://www.allblacks.com/news/maori-all-blacks-team-named-to-face-usa-eagles-chicago/ . 17 September 2019.
  25. Maori All Blacks Squad named for two-match series against Fiji . allblacks.com . en . 3 July 2019 . 28 December 2020.
  26. Sky Preview: Māori All Blacks v Moana Pasifika . allblacks.com . en . 4 December 2020. 28 December 2020.

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