Wycliff Palu

Wycliff Palu (born 27 July 1982), known as Cliffy Palu, is an Australian former professional rugby union footballer of Tongan descent. He played for the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby and represented in 58 tests. He attended Balgowlah Boys High School.

Career

A hard running backrow player Palu made his provincial debut in a match against a Samoan side in 2003 after which he had a stint at NRL side St. George Illawarra Dragons before returning to Rugby Union. He played for the New South Wales Waratahs in their first trial match of pre-season 2005, against the Crusaders, in which he was awarded the man-of-the-match award. After his good performances during the Waratahs' pre-season, he made his Super 12 debut in week one of the 2005 season against the Chiefs. He was then injured in the week six loss against the Crusaders which saw him out for a lot of the season.

Palu sustained a shoulder injury midway through the 2006 Super 14 season, as he came off the bench in a semi-final against the Hurricanes. Palu was then included in the Wallabies' 2006 mid-year squad.

Palu was named at number eight for the opening Tri-Nations match against New Zealand on 18 July 2009, after he recovered from a hand injury which forced him to miss all of Australia's matches earlier in the year.

Palu suffered a knee-ligament injury against the Crusaders in April 2010, then a hamstring injury during trials in early 2011. He spent eleven months in recovery, and played only six Super Rugby matches for the Waratahs in the 2011 season. He played in two pool matches for Australia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand but a recurrence of his hamstring injury playing against the ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament.