Aleki Lutui (born 1 July 1978) in Tofoa, Tonga, is a

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

player. His position is hooker. He is currently playing club rugby for

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

. He previously played for Chiefs in the international

Super 14 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

competition, as well as the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

in the

Air New Zealand Cup An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

. He was also the top try scorer for the

in the 2002 National Provincial Championship (now, the

). He has appeared numerous times for his national team

. He made his debut for

in March 1999 in a match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He played for

in their 2001 Pacific Rim campaign and later in the year toured Scotland and Wales. On June 5, 2004, he captained

for the first time in a match against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. In June 2005 he captained

in four matches; two against both

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. He went on tour with the

Pacific Islanders rugby union team The Pacific Islanders was a combined international rugby union team that played from 2004 to 2008. It represented Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji, Samoa national rugby union team, Samoa and Tonga national rugby union team, Tonga; Niue Rugby Un ...

in 2004 for a series of Tests against a number of southern rugby nations. He was included in the Pacific Nations tour to Europe in late 2006 and also played in the game against England at Twickenham in 2008. Lutui joined Worcester in September 2006 on a two-year deal. The Tongan international was a former police officer before he took up rugby. He has been a key figure for previous clubs in

. He has since become an important player

Sixways Sixways Stadium is a stadium in Worcester, England. It is currently used for rugby union and association football matches and is the home stadium of Premier 15s side Worcester Warriors Women, football side Worcester Raiders and West Midland ...

with his all-action displays and eye for the try line. Lutui, a powerful ball carrier and hitter, was named in the Tonga squad for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

in France, the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

in New Zealand and the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

in England. On the 24 April 2013, Lutui signed a two-year deal which will bring him to

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. However, on 20 June 2014, Lutui left Edinburgh to return to the Premiership to join

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

for next season's campaign. For the 2015–16 season, Lutui signed for

playing in

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

, joining a strong contingent of

n players.

External links

Gloucester profileWorcester Warriors Profile
a
Worcester Warriors Profile
o
PacificIslanders.co.nz

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lutui, Aleki 1978 births Living people Pacific Islanders rugby union players Rugby union players from Haʻapai Rugby union hookers Tonga international rugby union players Tongan police officers Tongan rugby union players Bay of Plenty rugby union players Worcester Warriors players Gloucester Rugby players Edinburgh Rugby players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players Tongan expatriate rugby union players in England Tongan expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Rugby union players from Gloucestershire Ampthill RUFC players 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players