Jordan Uelese

Jordan Uelese is an Australian professional rugby union player for Montpellier Hérault Rugby in Top 14, having previously played for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby. He has been capped for the Australian national team. His usual position is hooker.

Early life

Uelese is of Samoan descent and was born in Wellington in New Zealand, where he started playing rugby for the Oriental Rongotai Club. He moved with his family to Melbourne in Australia at the age of eleven and lived in the suburb of South Morang. He attended Marymede Catholic College in South Morang, before moving in 2011 to St. Kevin's College in Toorak on a rugby scholarship. As a teenager he was a loose forward before switching to hooker, the position he played for the Rebels Under-20 side in the National Championships.

Uelese was selected for the Australia Under 20 team two years in a row, playing at the World Rugby Championships in Manchester in 2016 and then in Georgia in 2017. Uelese made his Super Rugby debut in the opening round of the 2017 season against the Blues as a replacement for Patrick Leafa in a defeat for the Rebels, becoming the third 'home-grown' player for the Rebels. In September 2017 he made his international debut for Australia against the Springboks in a 23–23 draw at nib Stadium in Perth.