Nasi Manu
Encyclopedia
Nasi Manu is a professional rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player. He represents the Highlanders in the Super 15 competition and Canterbury
Canterbury Rugby Football Union
The Canterbury Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in a substantial part of the Canterbury region, in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand...

 in the ITM Cup, playing at Flanker
Flanker (rugby union)
A flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Flankers play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside, or openside flankers; numbers six and seven respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they flank each set of forwards...

 or number 8.

Provincial Rugby

Manu made his debut for Canterbury
Canterbury Rugby Football Union
The Canterbury Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in a substantial part of the Canterbury region, in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand...

 in the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup
2007 Air New Zealand Cup
The 2007 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Thursday 26 July 2007, and the Final, in which Auckland defeated Wellington, was held on Saturday 20 October....

 scoring a try on his debut against Counties Manukau
Counties Manukau Rugby Union
The Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union is the governing body of rugby union in the Franklin district of New Zealand. The Steelers colours are red, white, and black horizontal bands. The 'Steelers' moniker is a reference to the nearby Glenbrook steel factory...

 at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland.

After missing the start of the 2010 ITM Cup
2010 ITM Cup
The 2010 ITM Cup was the 34th provincial rugby union competition, the fifth since the competition reconstruction in 2006 and the first under the new sponsor of ITM , involving the top 14 provincial unions of New Zealand...

 with a knee injury, Manu was in excellent form through the latter part of the season, culminating in strong performances in the semi-final and final as Canterbury won the ITM Cup.

In the 2011 ITM Cup
2011 ITM Cup
The 2011 ITM Cup is the 35th provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand, the sixth since the competition reconstruction in 2006 and the second under the new sponsor of ITM ....

, Manu started every match as Canterbury won the title for the 4th consecutive season.

Super Rugby

Manu earned a Crusaders contract for the 2008 Super 14 season
2008 Super 14 season
The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' home fans. The 2008 season was the third of the expansion,...

 at the age of just 19, and emerged as a regular performer for the club, making 12 appearances and 2 starts as the Crusaders rampaged to the Super 14 title.

In 2009
2009 Super 14 season
The 2009 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2009 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 30 May, when the Bulls won their second Super Rugby title with a decisive 61–17 victory over the Waikato Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. The 2009 season...

, however, Manu was unable to build on the success of his freshman campaign, and was limited to only 4 appearances and one start.

Looking for more playing time, Manu shifted to the Highlanders for the 2010 Super 14 season
2010 Super 14 season
The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, featured a total of 94 matches, with each team playing one...

. However, his season ended up being a total write-off as, after winning the starting job at number 8 in the preseason, he suffered a knee injury early in the season-opening contest against the Crusaders and was ruled out for the remainder of the competition.

In 2011, Manu managed to stay healthy and put in an excellent campaign, starting every match at number eight for the Highlanders.

International Play

Manu was a member of New Zealand’s squad on their run to the world Under-19 title in 2007 and Under-20 title in 2008. He also was part of the New Zealand Secondary Schools in 2005 and 2006.

Personal

Manu is the nephew of the former Auckland and Wallaby loose forward Daniel Manu and is the cousin of David Manu and Sika Manu
Sika Manu
Sika Manu is a professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL. He was a member of the World Cup winning New Zealand team who beat Australia in the 2008 World Cup Final...

 of the Melbourne Storm. His younger brother Vaka Manu had a short stint with rugby in NSW playing for the Sydney University Rugby Club. And youngest brother Taniela Manu plays representative rugby for Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

 age groups.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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