Semisi Naevo


Ratu Meli Semisi Naevo Saukawa is a Fijian rugby union player. He plays as a flanker. His nickname is Mountain Bear; as such, he enjoys eating. His father, Joeli Lesavua, and two brothers, Apenisa and Manoa Naevo, are also Fiji reps.

Career

He plays sevens for Fiji. He is a strong tackler with good line-out skills, he also has the speed for sevens. His ball-hunting skills earned him his first cap in the 2006 Pacific 5 Nations tournament where he stalked the Samoans from the side of the scrum to help Fiji win 23–20. He has made an excellent name for himself in the Fiji sevens team with outstanding performances in his first outing in Argentina and Wellington, 2002. He is a member of the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens team, his speed and aerial skills made him a menace. He was bestowed with the captaincy role for the last two tournaments of the 2005–06 IRB 7s Series, and it was fitting that he lifted the London Sevens trophy and also the IRB sevens trophy.

Commonwealth Games

He was also part of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester where Fiji won the silver medal when they were defeated by New Zealand in the final after Fiji were reduced to 5 men for most of the game.
Semisi was also part of the 2006 Commonwealth Games where they won a bronze medal.

2007 RWC

Naevo was also part of the Fiji 15's team that reached the Quarter-finals of the Rugby Union World Cup in 2007.