Tevita Tameilau (born January 22, 1990) is an American rugby player who plays as a loose forward for the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby (MLR) and also for the United States national rugby union team.
| Birth name | Tevita Tameilau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | January 22, 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Redwood City, California, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 270 lb (120 kg; 19 st 4 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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He previously played for the Glasgow Warriors in the Guinness Pro14.
Tameilau is the son of Moses Similai, who played rugby internationally.[2]
Amateur career
editTameilau played for U.S. youth teams, and played in the 2007 U19 World Cup and 2008 Junior World Championship.[3] Tameilau attended San Francisco City College, then went on a religious mission, then played American football with the NCAA Division II West Texas A&M Buffaloes.[3]
Professional career
editIn 2015, Tameilau decided to again focus on rugby. He played for SFGG in the Pacific Rugby Premiership, and then trained with the Taranaki Rugby Academy.[4] In early 2016, he signed for the San Francisco Rush, North America's first professional rugby competition.
In early 2016, Tameilau was predicted to be the breakout player of the year for the U.S.[3] Tameilau debuted for the U.S. national team in the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship.
Tameilau was drafted to Currie in the Scottish Premiership for the 2018-19 season.[5]
In November 2019, Tameilau was released by Glasgow Warriors. Following this, he was signed by the San Diego Legion on 12 November 2019.[6]
Rugby league
editIn 2020 Tameilau played in the California Rugby League for the East Palo Alto Razorbacks.
References
edit- ^ "David TAMEILAU, Third Row". ITS Rugby. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ "The Eagle Journey for Pen Green Alum Tameilau", Goff Rugby Report, February 6, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Eagles Picked To Play Argentina", February 5, 2016.
- ^ 20 Domestic Players to Benefit from PRO Rugby, Americas Rugby News, November 12, 2015.
- ^ "Tennent's Premiership clubs decide pro-player draft | Scottish Rugby Union". Archived from the original on 2018-09-02. Retrieved 2018-09-02.
- ^ "San Diego Legion Signs Tevita Tameilau". 13 November 2019.