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by | Mar 16, 2018 | Hosta

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Damian Te We Wehi Oa Te Rangi Karauna (born 6 March 1975) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former professional player. He represented New Zealand in rugby sevens and won four Sevens World Series.

Early life

Karauna grew up in Mangakino, a small town on banks of the Waikato River.[1]

Playing career

A utility back, Karauna moved to Hamilton in 1996 to play rugby for Hautapu. He made an early impact in rugby sevens, named player of the tournament in Waikato's 1996 national title-winning team. This performance got the attention of national coach Gordon Tietjens, who called him up for that year's Fiji Sevens.[2]

Karauna made 50 appearances for the Waikato XV between 1996 and 2000, scoring eight tries during the 1998 season, six of which came in successful Ranfurly Shield defences.[3]

Called up by the Hurricanes in 1999, Karauna took the field in seven Super 12 fixtures, serving as back up to Jason O'Halloran and Alama Ieremia.[3] He competed for the Chiefs in the 2000 Super 12 season and had two years with the Bay of Plenty, before finishing his career overseas. After two seasons in Fukuoka, Karauna played with Welsh club Ospreys in the 2005–06 season.[2]

Coaching

Karauna remained at Ospreys in 2006 as a video analyst and later began working with their age-grade system. He left in 2012 to take up a position as skills coach under Gordon Tietjens with the New Zealand Sevens team and the following year aided the side as they won the Rugby World Cup Sevens.[4]

From 2016 to 2018, Karauna was head coach for the Japan Sevens team, overseeing their qualification for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens and the 2018–19 World Sevens Series.[5]

Karauna joined Moana Pasifika as an assistant coach in 2022.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Kia ora: Mangakino - Travel News". NZ Herald. 17 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b Strang, Ben (17 June 2014). "Fortune favours the hard grafter Karauna". Stuff.co.nz.
  3. ^ a b "Damian Karauna - Hurricanes". www.hurricanes.co.nz.
  4. ^ "Damian Karauna leaves Ospreys for NZ Sevens role". BBC Sport. 2 November 2012.
  5. ^ "NZ's Karauna appointed Japan sevens coach". SBS News. 11 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Damian Karauna appointed as Moana Pasifika Backs Coach". moanapasifika.co.nz. 11 November 2022.
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