Full name | Nacenieli Saumi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 3 September 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Nadroga, Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Ratu Kadavulevu School, Lodoni | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Position(s) | Fly-half, Centre, Full-back | ||
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Senior career | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
1996–98 1998–03 2003–09, 2010–11 |
Redruth Penzance & Newlyn Plymouth Albion |
? 123 107 |
? ? 209 |
Correct as of 13 March 2011
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National team(s) | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
1995 | Fiji Sevens | () |
Nat Saumi (born 1970), real name Nacenieli, is a retired Fijian rugby union player who is currently a coach. A versatile back, Nat could play at fly-half, centre or full-back. Despite having offers to play Premiership rugby, Nat spent his career in England playing for south-west clubs, most notably with Penzance & Newlyn (now known as Cornish Pirates) and Plymouth, whom he also coached. An outstanding points scorer both in terms of kicking and tries, Nat became one of the most prolific points scorers of all-time in National League 2 South with over 700 points, including a divisional record of 374 points in a season, achieved in 2001 while playing for Penzance-Newlyn. As well as playing club rugby, Nat has also represented Fiji Sevens, Barbarians and Cornwall with whom he won the Bill Beaumont Cup back in 1999.
In 1996 after a spell representing international sevens for his country Fiji, Nat moved to England to play for Redruth, then competing in tier 3 of the English rugby union system. After a couple of seasons at Redruth, who would be relegated in this time, he would drop a division to play for local rivals, Penzance & Newlyn (now known as the Cornish Pirates), winning South West Division 1 in his first season and gaining promotion to tier 4 as well as winning the Cornwall Cup. While Redruth had been traditionally seen as Cornwall's top club, they were on the decline, as would become evident the next season, when Penzance & Newlyn became the highest ranked Cornish club in the English league system with a 2nd-placed finish, just missing out on a second successive promotion (Redruth finished in 5th place). Nat's form with his club side (which included winning a successive Cornwall Cup) would see him called up by Cornwall for the County Championships in 1999. In front of a crowd of 25,000 at the final at Twickenham Stadium, Nat played a key role, taking over kicking duties in the latter stages of the game and scoring a number of points, including the final conversion, in a 24–15 victory against Gloucestershire, in what would be Cornwall's first victory in the competition since 1991.