Pete Samu was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, where he began his rugby career playing for Moorabbin Rugby Club in his juniors. He later moved interstate to Brisbane and played a handful of games in the first grade for Sunnybank Rugby.
Samu also spent two seasons in England with the St Ives club in Cornwall before returning to Randwick and then making the move to New Zealand.
His performances for the Waimea Old Boys in Nelson earned him a call-up to the Tasman Mako side where he featured for the same team as his older brother and former Samoan International scrumhalf Lualua Vailoaloa.
Samu made the Tasman squad for the 2014 ITM Cup and helped his team reach the competition's final before losing out to Taranaki. He continued to impress and played for the Crusaders Knights development team in 2015, while also helping Tasman reach the semi-finals of the 2015 ITM Cup.
An outstanding year for the Crusaders Knights and Tasman saw him being named as the Knights player of the year and earned him a place in the Crusaders' senior squad ahead of the 2016 Super Rugby season.
With competition for places tough among a star-studded Crusaders line-up which featured the likes of Kieran Read and Matt Todd, Samu made only four substitute appearances during his debut season.
Samu continued to impress and was retained in the Crusaders squad for 2017, appearing in 15 of the side's 18 matches and providing a massive impact from the bench in most of those games as the Crusaders marched to their first of their three consecutive titles.
His form with the side led to a new deal with Crusaders for the 2018 season, but in May 2018 he announced he had signed for the Brumbies to make him eligible for the Wallabies.
He was called into the Wallabies squad ahead of the 2018 June Internationals to face Ireland and featured in all three tests against Ireland. Samu earned his 50th Super Rugby cap in the Brumbies quarter-final win over the Sharks in Super Rugby 2019, with injury preventing him from playing the Brumbies' final game of the year, the only game he would miss in his first season with the side.
Samu is a physical back-rower who makes storming runs and big hits. He primarily plays at number 8 but has the ability to play across the backrow. He was briefly in the Waratahs Wider Training Group before heading to Nelson in New Zealand. Samu has won two Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders and has played for the Brumbies since 2018, earning his first test start for the Wallabies against South Africa.
KG 05/04/23
Career
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Union Bordeaux Begles Blindside Flanker |
2023 - present |
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Tasman Mako Openside Flanker |
2014 - 2018 |
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Crusaders Blindside Flanker |
2016 - 2018 |
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Barbarians Blindside Flanker |
2019 - 2021 |
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Randwick RFC Openside Flanker |
|
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St Ives RFC Openside Flanker |
|
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Canberra Vikings Blindside Flanker |
2018 - 2023 |
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Australia Blindside Flanker |
2018 - 2023 |
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ACT Brumbies Blindside Flanker |
2019 - 2024 |
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Australia A Blindside Flanker |
2023 - 2024 |
