Daniel Leo (rugby union)
Daniel Azor Leo (born 2 October 1982)[1] is a rugby union player. Born in New Zealand to Samoan parents, he won 39 caps for Samoa between 2005 and 2014. He can play in the second row or as a back row forward.[2]
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| Full name | Daniel Leo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 2 October 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Palmerston North, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 112 kg (17 st 9 lb; 247 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Auckland Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
Leo was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand and moved to Australia when he was 18. He played for Sunnybank in the Queensland Competition, as well as the Queensland Reds.
Club career
After making his debut for Samoa in 2005, he was not eligible to play for an Australian Super 12 franchise, so moved to London Wasps. He was a replacement as Wasps won the 2007 Heineken Cup Final.[3]
He later had spells with Bordeaux Begles and USA Perpignan in the Top 14, and London Irish in the Aviva Premiership.
On 21 May 2015, Leo signed for London Welsh for the 2015-16 RFU Championship season. He moved to London Cornish for 2016-17 as Player/Coach in London 2 South-West, where he helped the club to the title in an unbeaten season. In 2017-18 he moved to Bishops Stortford RFC in National League 1, before returning to London Cornish for the 2018-19 season.[4]
International career
Leo made his international debut for Samoa at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney against Australia in June 2005.[5] He was included in the Pacific Islanders squad that toured Europe in late 2006. He was also selected in the Samoa squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He went on to represent Samoa 39 times, and retired from international rugby on 28 May 2015, just 4 months before the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[6]
References
- "Dan Leo Samoa". ESPN. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- "player analysis". ESPN. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- "Heineken Cup final: Leicester 9–25 Wasps". BBC. 19 May 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- "London Welsh sign Samoa second-row Daniel Leo". Premiership Rugby. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
- "Australia (28) 74 - 7 (0) Samoa (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- Dan Leo to miss Rugby World Cup after retirement from Samoan national side
