Ere Enari

Ereatara Enari (born 30 May 1997) is a rugby union player, who currently plays as a halfback for the  in Super Rugby and for  in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition. He was born and raised in New Zealand, but has represented Manu Samoa internationally, for which he is eligible due to his Samoan heritage.

Early career

Enari was born in Auckland, but grew up in Gisborne and Palmerston North. He attended Tū Toa until his last year of school moving to Saint Kentigern College in Auckland. After school, he moved to New Zealand's South Island to attend Lincoln University where he played Hawkins Cup rugby and won the championship in 2015, 2016 and 2017.  During this time he also attended the  Academy.

Senior career

Enari was first named in the Canterbury squad ahead of the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup.  Initially, he was expected to be 3rd choice halfback for the defending champions, however, season-ending injuries to first-choice Mitchell Drummond and his replacement Alby Mathewson saw Enari thrust into the starting number 9 jersey at 19 years old.  He made 9 appearances, 7 of them from the start, as Canterbury retained their Mitre 10 Cup Premiership title which was their eighth success in nine seasons. On a pre-season training contract with the Crusaders in preparation for the NZ U20’s tour in 2017, Enari made his Super Rugby debut in a round 1 victory against the Brumbies. He went on to play another 8 games between 2018-2020.

On 15 October 2021, Moana Pasifika announced via its social media accounts that the new Super Rugby franchise had signed Enari for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season. On 4 March 2022, he made his debut for Moana Pasifika in their inaugural Super Rugby game against the .

After three seasons with Moana Pasifika, Enari joined the . On 12 November 2024, he was named their squad  for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.

International

Enari was a New Zealand Schoolboys representative in 2014 and also turned out for New Zealand Universities in 2015 touring Japan.  He was involved with the New Zealand Under 20 team in 2016 where he worked with his future Canterbury head coach, Scott Robertson Missing out on World Cup selection in 2016, Enari became Vice Captain in 2017 and was a part of one of the most dominant Junior World Cup victories in decades. Unbeaten in the tournament and winning the final against England 64-17.

On 2 June 2022, Enari – who is of Samoan and Māori descent – was named in the Manu Samoa squad for the first time. He made his international debut for Samoa on 2 July 2022 against Australia A in their first game of the 2022 Pacific Nations Cup, which they won 31–26.

References

 External links 
 NZ Rugby History profile




Category:1997 births
Category:Living people
Category:Rugby union players from Auckland
Category:People educated at Saint Kentigern College
Category:New Zealand people of Samoan descent
Category:Sportspeople of Samoan descent
Category:New Zealand rugby union players
Category:Samoan rugby union players
Category:Samoa international rugby union players
Category:Rugby union scrum-halves
Category:Canterbury rugby union players
Category:Crusaders (rugby union) players
Category:Hawke's Bay rugby union players
Category:Moana Pasifika players
Category:21st-century New Zealand sportsmen
Category:2023 Rugby World Cup players
Category:Hurricanes (rugby union) players