Tevita Taufuʻi (born 21 March 1988) is a Tongan rugby union player who played as a centre for Waikato and Manawatu in New Zealand's national provincial competitions and for the Tonga national rugby union team.[1][2]
| Date of birth | 21 March 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 88 kg (13 st 12 lb; 194 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Senior career
editAfter debuting for the Manawatu Turbos during the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup, the next 5 years of his career were ones of ups and downs. Making the ITM Cup squad in 3 of his 5 seasons in Manawatu, playing 16 times and scoring 3 tries. Stifled by a lack of opportunities, he headed to Waikato and played club rugby with the Melville Club.
2016 was his breakthrough year; after helping Melville to win a first Breweries Shield in 35 years in July, he was named in Waikato's 2016 Mitre 10 Cup squad. He debuted for the Mooloo in their Ranfurly Shield defence against Thames Valley on 6 June 2016 and made 11 Ranfurly Shield and Mitre 10 Cup appearances during the season, scoring 2 tries in the process.[3][4]
International
editTaufuʻi earned a call up to the Tonga squad ahead of the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals and earned his first cap as a second-half replacement in a 28–13 win over Spain on 12 November 2016.[4][5]
References
edit- ^ "Tevita Taufu'i ESPN Scrum Player Profile". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- ^ "Tevita Taufui Waikato Player Profile". Mooloo Rugby. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- ^ "Tevita Taufuʻi itsrugby Player Statistics". it's rugby. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Tevita Taufui is set for Tonga's European tour after winning Waikato club award". Rugby Heaven. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- ^ "Sport: Tonga make mass changes for November rugby tour". Radio NZ. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.