Isaia Walker-Leawere
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| Born | 16 April 1997 Ruatoria, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 197 cm (6 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 122 kg (269 lb; 19 st 3 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Gisborne Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative | Kele Leawere (father) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Isaia Walker-Leawere (born 16 July 1997) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition.[1][2]
Walker-Leawere hails from Ruatoria, in the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. He's the son of Kele Leawere, who played as a lock for Fiji.
He attended and played First XV rugby for Gisborne Boys' High School.[3] In 2014 and 2015, he played for the Hurricanes U18 team.[4][5]
As an 18-year-old, Walker-Leawere played one game for Poverty Bay in the Heartland Championship (on 29 August 2015 against Thames Valley).[3]
Senior career
In 2016, Walker-Leawere moved to Wellington after being contracted by the Wellington Rugby Football Union.[6] Before he had even played a single game of Mitre 10 Cup for the Lions, he was called into the Hurricanes wider training squad for the final weeks of the 2016 Super Rugby season.[7]
On 11 August 2016, Walker-Leawere was named in the Wellington Lions squad.[8] He made his Mitre 10 Cup debut against Hawke's Bay, nine days later.[9] He went on to play three seasons for Wellington.
The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union announced on 7 June 2019 that Walker-Leawere had signed a three-year contract to play his provincial rugby for Hawke's Bay.[10] He made his Magpies debut against Manawatu on 11 August 2019.
Meanwhile, in November 2017, the Hurricanes announced that Walker-Leawere had signed a two-year deal with the franchise, and named him in their squad for the 2018 Super Rugby season.[11][12] He missed the first part of the season as he was initially recovering from shoulder reconstruction surgery and then suffered a knee injury. He made his Super Rugby debut for the Hurricanes against the Brumbies, on 30 June 2018.[13] He has since re-signed with the Hurricanes multiple time, most recently recommitting to the franchise until the end of the 2026 season.[14]