Will Genia facts for kids
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| Birth name | Sanchez William Genia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 17 January 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 81 kg (12 st 11 lb; 179 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Brisbane Boys' College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sanchez William Genia (born 17 January 1988) is a famous professional rugby union player. He plays as a scrum-half for the Kintetsu Liners team in Japan. Before this, he played for the Queensland Reds (2007–2015) and Melbourne Rebels (2018–2019) in Super Rugby. He also played for Stade Français in France from 2015 to 2017.
Will Genia was born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. He played for the Australian national team from 2009 to 2019. He played his first international match against New Zealand and went on to play 110 games for his country. Many people, including former New Zealand scrum-half Justin Marshall, thought he was the best player in his position in the world.
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Early Life and Family
Will Genia grew up in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. When he was 12 years old, he moved to Brisbane, Australia, to go to Brisbane Boys' College. He lived at the school from 2000 to 2005.
He started playing rugby there and was very good. In 2005, he played for the Australia 'A' Schoolboys team. In 2006, he was part of the Australian Under 19 team that won the IRB World Championship.
Will's father, Kilroy Genia, was a government minister in Papua New Guinea. His mother, Elizabeth Genia, worked at the Bank of Papua New Guinea. His older brother, Frank Genia, also plays international rugby for the Papua New Guinea team. Even though Will has lived in Australia for a long time and played for Australia, he is not an Australian citizen.
Rugby Union Career Highlights
Will Genia joined the Queensland Reds team at the end of 2006. He played his first game for the Reds against Japan.
Starting His Super Rugby Journey
In 2007, at just 19 years old, Will Genia made his Super 14 debut for the Reds. He played in 11 out of 13 matches that season. In 2008, he played seven more Super Rugby games. He was also chosen as the main scrum-half for the Australian Under 20 team in the 2008 Junior World Cup.
In 2009, he played eight Super Rugby matches and scored four tries. He then joined the Wallabies (Australia's national team) for the 2009 Tri Nations. He played his first international game against the All Blacks on 18 July 2009. He started in several big games, including against the Springboks and the All Blacks.
Leading the Reds and Wallabies
In 2010, Will Genia became the captain of the Reds when the usual captain was injured. His teammates voted him the best player of the year, and he also won the fans' choice award.
In 2011, he won the Pilecki Medal again and was named the Australian Super Rugby Player of the Year. He became the 78th captain of the Wallabies when he led the team against the United States at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He was even nominated for the 2011 IRB Player of the Year award.
In 2012, he signed a new three-year deal to stay with the Reds. However, he got a knee injury in September 2012 and missed many games.
Moving Overseas and Retirement
After the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Will Genia moved to France to play for Stade Français. In 2017, he signed with the Melbourne Rebels for the 2018 and 2019 Super Rugby seasons.
On 24 November 2018, Will Genia reached a huge milestone. He became only the 10th Wallaby player to play 100 Test matches for Australia. This happened in a game against England at Twickenham Stadium in London.
On 12 July 2019, Will Genia announced that he would retire from international rugby after the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He then signed to play for Kintetsu Liners in Japan.
Super Rugby Statistics
| Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Cons | Pens | Drops | Points | Yel | Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Reds | 10 | 2 | 8 | 241 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | Reds | 7 | 1 | 6 | 246 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | Reds | 8 | 4 | 4 | 396 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | Reds | 13 | 13 | 0 | 1030 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | Reds | 18 | 18 | 0 | 1433 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | Reds | 17 | 17 | 0 | 1360 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | Reds | 12 | 12 | 0 | 906 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Reds | 13 | 13 | 0 | 981 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | Reds | 16 | 16 | 0 | 1269 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Rebels | 9 | 9 | 0 | 568 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Rebels | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1014 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 137 | 119 | 18 | 9444 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 127 | 0 | 0 | |
Beyond Rugby
Will Genia is an ambassador for The Kokoda Track Foundation. This organization helps people in Papua New Guinea.
Awards and Achievements
- Queensland Reds
- Super Rugby: 2011 (Won the championship with the Reds)
- Super Rugby Centurion (Played 100 Super Rugby games)
- Australia
- Tri-Nations: 2011
- The Rugby Championship: 2015
- Wallabies Captain 2011-2013
- Test Rugby Centurion (Played 100 international Test matches)
See also
In Spanish: Will Genia para niños
