Robert Fruean (/ˈfruːən/; born 13 July 1988, in Wellington) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer. He is a midfield back and plays outside centre (13) and sometimes on the wing. He is a former Porirua College head boy. He is of Samoan & Cook islands heritage.
In 2007, he made the NZ team for the 2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship. He led New Zealand to a championship win beating South Africa in the final. He also won the IRB Under-19 Player of the Year the same year.
He made his National Provincial Championship debut for Wellington against Auckland. He played 12 games for them scoring three tries before getting struck by illness. He subsequently underwent open-heart surgery for rheumatic heart disease, a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the heart.
He made his 2010 ITM Cup debut for Canterbury, scoring two tries against Manawatu. The next week Fruean scored three more against North Harbour.[1] He finished the season tied as the top try scorer with Lelia Masaga with 10 tries. In 2012, on the back of his third season with Canterbury, he was named ITM Cup player of the year at the New Zealand Rugby Awards.
He signed for Hawkes Bay Magpies in the ITM Cup in a two-year deal, starting from 2014. On 27 September 2016, Fruean signed for English club Bath in the Aviva Premiership from the 2016–17 season.[2] In June 2017, Fruean joined Scottish Pro14 side Edinburgh on a two-year contract, ahead of the 2017–18 season.[3]
Post retirement
Fruen became the Hillmorton High School’s First XV coach and director of rugby in 2022. As of 2023, Fruen established and coached the Horomaka Combined First XV, which includes players from Hillmorton, Hornby, Riccarton and Middleton Grange schools and Hagley Community College. This combination team enables players from those schools to play First XV school rugby while staying at their schools.
.jpg)