Psalm Wooching
Birth namePsalm Fa'afoisia Pulemagafa Wooching
Date of birth (1994-01-16) January 16, 1994 (age 30)
Place of birthKailua-Kona, Hawaii
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight238 lb (108 kg)
SchoolKealakehe High School
UniversityUniversity of Washington
Notable relative(s)Hero Wooching (Professional Singer)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
c. 2006 – c. 2012 Kona Bulls ()
c. 2016 – c. 2017 Seattle Saracens ()
Correct as of November 21, 2018
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017 Harlequin F.C. 10s ()
2017 Hong Kong Scottish 10s ()
2019 San Diego Legion 19 (15)
2021 Rouen ()
Correct as of 07 May 2022
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017–2018 USA Selects 6 (6)
2018– United States 5 (5)
Correct as of 10 July 2021
College football career
Washington Huskies – No. 28
PositionLinebacker
Personal information
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight238 lb (108 kg)
Career history
College
Bowl games 2015 Heart of Dallas Bowl

Psalm Fa'afoisia Pulemagafa Wooching (born January 16, 1994) is an American rugby union player who plays for the United States men's national team. He formerly played for the San Diego Legion in the Major League Rugby (MLR).

He has previously played for the USA Selects and Seattle Saracens. Prior to his career in rugby, Wooching played college football for the University of Washington Huskies, playing as a fullback and linebacker. Despite significant interest from NFL teams, Wooching announced that he would be pursuing a career in professional rugby, and not football, ahead of the 2017 NFL draft. Wooching made his debut for the United States men's national rugby team in 2018 in the Americas Rugby Championship.

Early life

Wooching is a Hawaiian of Samoan descent.[1] He first played rugby as a youth before being introduced to football in high school.[2]

College football career

Wooching redshirted his true freshman season for the Washington Huskies in 2012.[3] Originally recruited as a fullback, Wooching was eventually converted to linebacker and made contributions both on defense and special teams.[4] In his junior season (2015), he played in all 13 games and recorded two tackles in the 2015 Heart of Dallas Bowl—a 44–31 victory over Southern Mississippi.[3] In his senior season (2016), he played in all 14 games, starting 13, and had 42 total tackles, with two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.[3] Following the regular season, he received an honorable mention to the 2016 All-PAC-12 Conference Team.[5] He served as a captain for the Huskies at the 2016 Peach Bowl in that season's College Football Playoff semifinal.[3] He made three tackles and forced one fumble in that game—a 24–7 loss to the University of Alabama.[3]

On February 16, 2017, after the conclusion of his senior season with Washington, Wooching announced his intention to forego a potential career in the NFL and pursue a career in professional rugby.[2][1] In his announcement about the decision, he described rugby as his "first love" and the first sport that he ever excelled in.[6]

Club rugby career

Early career

After his announcement that he would be pursuing a career in professional rugby, Wooching participated in a tryout with French club Pau.[7] In May 2017, Wooching signed a contract for a trial at Harlequin F.C. as a member of their World Club 10s squad.[7][8] Also in 2017, Wooching had a brief stint with Hong Kong Scottish, playing as a hooker for their GFI Hong Kong Tens squad.[9] In 2016 and 2017, he played for Seattle Saracens in the CDI Premier League of the British Columbia Rugby Union.[10]

Rugby Viadana

In March 2018, Wooching signed a contract to play for Rugby Viadana in the Italian Eccellenza for the 2018–19 season.[11][12] In June 2018, it was announced that Wooching's contract with Viadana had been cancelled by mutual consent due to "physical problems".[13][14]

San Diego Legion

In late 2018, Wooching signed with the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby for the 2019 season.[15]

Rouen Normandie

In 2021, Wooching signed with Rouen of Rugby Pro D2 in France. He began playing for them in the 2022 season.

International rugby career

USA Selects

Wooching made his first appearance representing the United States in the USA Selects' 48–26 defeat to Samoa in the 2017 Americas Pacific Challenge.[16] Wooching scored his first try in international play on October 11, 2017, in a 49–36 Americas Pacific Challenge victory over Uruguay.[17] In September 2018, it was announced that Wooching had been selected for the Selects roster for the 2018 Americas Pacific Challenge.[18]

USA Eagles

Wooching made his debut with the USA Eagles on February 17, 2018, starting at flanker in the Eagles' 45–13 victory over Chile in the Americas Rugby Championship.[19] Wooching scored his first try for the Eagles as a substitute in the Eagles' 61–19 victory over Uruguay on March 3, 2018.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b Ramsay, George; Thomas, Alex (March 31, 2017). "Psalm Wooching: College football star chooses rugby over NFL". CNN. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Hamilton, Tom (April 26, 2017). "Why Psalm Wooching chose rugby over 'American dream' of the NFL draft". espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Psalm Wooching – 2016 Football Roster". GoHuskies.com. University of Washington Athletics. 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  4. ^ Jude, Adam (August 26, 2014). "Psalm Wooching's passion burns for his Samoan culture, football and rugby". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  5. ^ "Pac-12 Football Awards And All-Conference Team Announced". Pac-12 Conference. November 29, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  6. ^ Wooching, Psalm (February 16, 2017). "Family, Friends & Fans please read 💯". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  7. ^ a b DeGroote, J.R. (January 26, 2018). "Rugby: Psalm Wooching followed his passion, and it's paying off". West Hawaii Today. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  8. ^ "Former NFL prospect Psalm Wooching joins Harlequins for World Club 10s". Premiership Rugby. May 30, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  9. ^ "2017 Taikoo Place Scottish Exiles". Hong Kong Scottish Rugby Football Club. March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  10. ^ "Psalm Wooching". USA Rugby. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  11. ^ "Psalm Wooching Signs In Italy". This is American Rugby. March 26, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  12. ^ DeGroote, J.R. (March 29, 2018). "Rugby: Kealakehe grad Wooching signs pro deal in Italy". West Hawaii Today. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  13. ^ "Wooching's move to Italy cancelled". Americas Rugby News. July 2, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  14. ^ "Comunicazione riguardante il giocatore Psalm Wooching" [Communication Regarding the Player Psalm Wooching] (in Italian). Rugby Viadana. June 28, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  15. ^ "Psalm Wooching heading to San Diego". Americas Rugby News. November 19, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  16. ^ DeGroote, J.R. (October 12, 2017). "Rugby: Wooching shines for USA Selects". West Hawaii Today. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  17. ^ "USA defeat Uruguay in back-and-forth thriller". Americas Rugby News. October 11, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  18. ^ "USA Selects named for Americas Pacific Challenge". Americas Rugby News. September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  19. ^ "USA Earn Dominant Win Over Brazil". Americas Rugby News. February 24, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  20. ^ "USA claim ARC Grand Slam in Uruguay". Americas Rugby News. March 3, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
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