Henry Stowers

Henry Stowers (born 3 March 1995) is a New Zealand born, Samoan rugby union player who plays for the Benetton Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. His playing position is flanker.[1] He is also a Samoan international.[2][3]

Henry Stowers
Date of birth (1995-03-03) 3 March 1995
Place of birthNew Zealand
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight110 kg (240 lb; 17 st 5 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker
Current team Benetton
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Wainuiomata ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–2015
2016–2017
2018–2019
2021
2021
2022−		 Wellington
Bay of Plenty
Western Force
NHRU Wildfires
Canterbury
Benetton		 5
17
12
4
8
1		 (0)
(20)
(0)
(0)
(5)
0
Correct as of 23 Sep 2022
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
2020
2021
2022		 Western Force
Brumbies
Moana Pasifika		 7
6
10		 (0)
(0)
(10)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014
2015
2018
2019–		 Samoa U20
New Zealand U20
Samoa A
Samoa		 4
4
2		 (0)
(0)
(0)
Correct as of 26 August 2019

Biography

Stowers was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand,[4] with family from Tafagamanu and Salea’aumua in Samoa.[5] He was educated at Wainuiomata High School,[6] before moving to Scots College, Wellington.[7] He is a nephew of Samoan international George Stowers.[8]

Career

Club

Stowers played rugby in high school. In 2012 he was selected for the Hurricanes under-18 team.[9][10] He also played with the Wellington Under-19s, with whom he won the Provincial Under-19 Championship in 2014.[7] He then played with local club Wainuiomata.[7][11]

Stowers launched his professional career in 2014, playing with Wellington in the National Provincial Championship.[7] After playing 5 games with Wellington,[12] he moved to Bay of Plenty for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.[13] At the beginning of 2016, he had the opportunity to train with the Chiefs franchise , and took part in a tour in Hong Kong with the franchise's Development team.[14]

In 2018, he decided to join the Australian Western Force franchise which had just been excluded from Super Rugby , in order to compete in World Series Rugby.[15] He also competed in the National Rugby Championship (NRC), and won this competition in 2019.[5][16][17][18] The same year, his team also won Global Rapid Rugby, having finished the season undefeated.[19] After two years at the Western Force, his side returned to Super Rugby, and Stowers made his Super Rugby AU debut on 11 July 2020 against the Waratahs.[20] He played seven games during the competition, all of them as a starter.[12] Despite his substantial playing time, he was not retained at the end of the season, and left the franchise.[21]

Without a professional contract, he then joined the NHRU Wildfires , newly integrated into the Shute Shield for the 2021 season.[22] After several good performances with his new club, he was recruited during the season by the Brumbies franchise , just before the final stages of Super Rugby AU.[23][24] He played his first match in the final lost by his team against the Queensland Reds.[25][26] He then continued with Super Rugby Unlocked, and played five matches.[12]

Also in 2021, he returned to New Zealand with the province of Canterbury in the NPC.[27][28]

In 2022, for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, he joined the new Moana Pasifika franchise , which had just entered Super Rugby.[29] He immediately established himself as the team's starting third center line.[12][30][31]

International

Stowers was selected with the Samoa under-20 team in 2014, and played in the World Junior Championship.[7] He captained the team, and played in all four of his team's games, including the win over Scotland.[7][32]

The following year he planned to represent New Zealand at the Junior Championship of Oceania, but an injury prevented him from doing so.[33] Despite this, he was still selected to participate in the 2015 World Juniors in Italy.[7][34] He played in his team's three pool matches, then in the semi-final won against France. However, he did not play in the final that his team won against England.[35]

In 2018, he played in the World Rugby Pacific Challenge with the Samoa A team, of which he was immediately named captain.[36][37]

In June 2019, he was selected for the first time with the Samoa team in order to participate in the Pacific Nations Cup 2019 and prepare for the World Cup in Japan.[38] He played his first game for Samoa on 3 August 2019 against the United States.[39][40] He played two games during the PNC, but ultimately was not selected for the RWC team.[5] In 2021, he was recalled to the Samoan selection for the double confrontation against Tonga , qualifying for the next World Cup.[41] The Samoans finally manage to qualify, having won by a wide margin in both matches.[42]

References
  1. "HENRY STOWERS ALIMENTA IL PACK DEI LEONI". Benetton Rugby. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  2. "Sport: Henry Stowers to debut for Manu Samoa against USA". RNZ. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  3. "Henry Stowers learned a lot from first Manu Samoa camp". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. "Henry Time-Stowers". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  5. Thomas Airey (29 October 2019). "Dream year for Manu Samoa's Henry Stowers". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  6. Nicholas Boyack (1 November 2011). "Helping put kids on right pathway". Stuff. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  7. Steven White (17 May 2015). "New Zealand U20s Profile: Henry Stowers". Club Rugby. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  8. Mark Reason (5 June 2014). "Reason: We must play ball with our neighbours". Stuff. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  9. Tim Barton (18 July 2012). "Wellington schools packed with rugby talent". Stuff. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  10. "Family ties in this year's Hurricanes U18 Development". Voxy. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  11. Steven White (25 June 2014). "Family ties binding the Wainuiomata Premiers". Club Rugby. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  12. "Henry STOWERS". Its Rugby. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  13. "Rugby: Mitch Karpik leaving Auckland". New Zealand Herald. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  14. "HONG KONG RUGBY UNION WELCOMES CHIEFS DEVELOPMENT SQUAD". HKRU. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  15. Nick Taylor (18 April 2018). "Wallabies lure for Western Force signings". The West Australian. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  16. "Strong squad named for NRC". Western Force. 26 August 2019.
  17. "Force duo eye World Cup call-up". The West Australian. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  18. Emma Greenwood (26 October 2019). "Western Force win maiden NRC title with five-try second-half blitz". Rugby.com.au. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  19. Beth Newman (22 June 2019). "Western Force claim Pacific Series with win over Fijian Latui". rugby.com.au. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  20. "Samoa's Henry Stowers savours Super Rugby debut". RNZ. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  21. Nick Taylor (15 October 2020). "Western Force farewell 15 players in list overhaul". The West Australian. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  22. James Gardiner (25 March 2021). "Rugby union: Blue chip recruit Henry Stowers ensures Wildfires a force to be reckoned with in Shute Shield". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  23. Nathan Williamson (23 April 2021). "Brumbies sign Henry Stowers ahead of Super Rugby finals". rugby.co.au. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  24. Caden Helmers (23 April 2021). "ACT Brumbies tap into Hunter Wildfires and sign Henry Stowers for Super Rugby AU tilt". Canberra Times. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  25. Caden Helmers (5 May 2021). "ACT Brumbies coach Dan McKellar calls on Henry Stowers for Super Rugby AU final". Canberra Times. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  26. "Redemption complete! O'Connor scores to give Reds 85th minute Super Rugby title win". Fox Sports. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  27. "Former All Black Waisake Naholo signs with Canterbury for NPC". Stuff. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  28. James Gardinier (22 July 2021). "Rugby Union: Wildfires guns Henry Stowers and OJ Noa in sights of NPC clubs". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  29. "Moana Pasifika confirm further signings as squad takes shape". rugby.com.au. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  30. "Moana Pasifika hitman Henry Time-Stowers a highlight of Super Rugby Team of the Week". Stuff. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  31. "Moana Pasifika community celebrates historic first Super Rugby squad". Moana Pasifika (Press release). 22 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  32. "Rugby: NZ opens JWC with a win". Otago Daily Times. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  33. "New Zealand Under-20 squad named for Oceania Championships". Stuff. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  34. "New Zealand name established Super Rugby trio". ESPN. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  35. Daniel Schofield (21 June 2015). "England future shows promise despite World Rugby U20 Championship defeat to New Zealand". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  36. "Samoa's road to 2019 RWC". Fiji Times. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  37. Nick Taylor (13 July 2018). "Western Force duo AJ Alatimu and Henry Stowers eye World Cup call-up". The West Australian. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  38. Thomas Airey (24 June 2019). "Experience and new blood makes up Manu Samoa squad". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  39. "Sport: Henry Stowers to debut for Manu Samoa against USA". RNZ. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  40. Thomas Airey (19 August 2019). "Henry Stowers learned a lot from first Manu Samoa camp". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  41. BJ Telefoni Lima (8 July 2021). "Manu Samoa Set for First Test Since 2019 with Nine New Caps". Samoa Global News. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  42. "Samoa seal Rugby World Cup 2023 qualification with play-off win over Tonga". Rugby World Cup. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
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