Salesi Ma'afu, is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n 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...

 footballer. Ma'afu was selected to the Qantas Wallabies squad in 2009 and again in 2011 after having appeared for Australia A in 2007 and 2008. His younger brother, Campese Ma'afu

Campese Ma'afu

Campese Ma'afu, is a Fiji professional Rugby union footballer. Ma'afu was selected to the Fijian National squad in 2010. His older brother, Salesi Ma'afu plays for the Australian Wallabies...

 plays for Fiji

Fiji national rugby union team

The Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked sixteenth in the world by the IRB as of 26...

.

Early life and professional playing career

Ma'afu was educated at Granville and Ashfield Boys’ High Schools in Sydney and played rugby league as a youngster in the Balmain district before starting up with rugby, aged 11. Ma’afu first made his mark at representative level in the NSW Under-19 side in 2001 and 2002, later featuring in the Waratahs Academy through 2004 and 2005. In 2006, he was signed by the ACT Brumbies, making his Super Rugby debut a year later. Ma'afu made the Australia A squad the same year, ending his year with a late-season appearance for the British Barbarians club during its 22-5 win over the new Rugby World Cup holders, South Africa. In the NSW club competition

Shute Shield

The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final...

, after spending two years with Warringah

Warringah Rugby Club

Warringah Rugby Club is a rugby union club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales. Only located 25 km from the city centre, the club is close to many magnificent beaches, the Sydney Academy of Sport and Narrabeen Lake. The club currently competes in the New South Wales Rugby...

, in 2009 Ma'afu returned to West Harbour

West Harbour RFC

The West Harbour Rugby Football Club is a team in the Shute Shield, the premier club rugby union football competition in New South Wales.The club is based in Concord in the Inner West of Sydney, and play their home matches at Waratah Stadium, Concord Oval...

, where he plays alongside his brother, Campese.

In May 2011. Ma'afu signed to play with the Western Force

Western Force

Western Force is a rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia playing in the international Super Rugby competition. They first competed in the 2006 season and finished with the wooden spoon in that year, however their performances greatly improved in 2007. In 2008 they finished in 8th...

, in Super Rugby.

Test career

Ma'afu first test cap was in 2010 against Fiji, where he had the unusual challenge of marking his brother, who was also playing on debut. The pair became just the fourth set of brothers to oppose each other in Tests, and the first to achieve this feat when both were on debut. Subsequent tests in 2010 against England, Ireland, and South Africa completed a strong year for the prop. In 2011 Ma'afu was selected in the Wallabies squad for the Rugby World Cup

2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...

, held in New Zealand.