Ahsee Tuala (born 23 August 1989) is a Samoan

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 ...

player who plays as a fullback for

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

side

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

Early career

Tuala was born in Samoa, but moved to New Zealand with his family aged 2 years old and grew up in South Auckland.

Club career

Tuala began his senior rugby career in New Zealand with the Counties Manukau Steelers, debuting during the

2009 Air New Zealand Cup The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was the 33rd provincial rugby union competition, the fourth since the competition's reconstruction in 2006, involving the top 14 provincial unions in New Zealand. It ran for 15 weeks from 30 July to 7 November. It was ...

season while only 20 years old. His ability to play in several positions across the backline saw him become an integral part of the Steelers squad and earn over 50 ITM Cup caps. He was also involved in the Chiefs Development squads in both 2010 and 2011. On 3 February 2015, Tuala signed for English club

in the

until the end of the 2014-15 season. However, he signed a new deal with Northampton, making his move permanent at

Franklin's Gardens Franklin's Gardens (currently known for sponsorship purposes as cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens) is a purpose-built rugby stadium in Northampton, England. It is the home stadium of Northampton Saints and Loughborough Lightning. The stadiu ...

. It could be said that while Tuala has been at Saints for two season now, his breakthrough year was this past season (2016/17). The full back secured his place within the starting lineup on a weekly basis while

George North George Philip North (born 13 April 1992) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Pro D2 club Provence Rugby. Born in England, he grew up in Wales and represented Wales at international level between 2010 and 2024, as we ...

was away on international duty and retained that on the wing's return, crossing the whitewash five times that season for Saints. Teaming up with the rest of Saints' backline to form a formidable force when firing, Tuala was awarded Saints' Supporter' Breakthrough Player of the Year award at the 2016/17 End of Season Awards, pipping newcomers

Nic Groom Nicholas James Groom (born 22 February 1990) is a South African rugby union player. He plays as a scrum-half. Career A winner of the Varsity Cup with UCT in 2011, Groom received a swift call up to the Stormers side at the tail-end of the Supe ...

and Juan Pablo Estelles to the post. Most recently Tuala helped Saints secure a place in

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pr ...

, scoring the match winning try as Saints beat

Stade Francais Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...

by one point to clinch the final top-tier European spot.

International career

Despite being born in Samoa, Tuala's early international experience came with New Zealand. He was a member of the New Zealand Under-20 wider squad in 2009 and the

New Zealand sevens The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record 14 World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team played for the ...

wider training group in 2012. However, in January 2012 it was announced that Tuala had withdrawn from the New Zealand sevens squad to focus on gaining international recognition with his native

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 ...

. His ambitions were realized 2 years later when he was named in the Samoan squad for the

2014 end-of-year rugby union tests The 2014 end-of-year rugby tests, also known as the 2014 autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were international rugby union matches predominantly played between visiting Southern Hemisphere countries and European nations. Brazil, Cana ...

and made his international debut on 14 November 2014 in a 23-13 victory over in

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

, France. Most recently Tuala was called up, alongside fellow Saint Ken Pisi, to the Samoan squad for the 2017 internationals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuala, Ahsee 1989 births Living people Samoan rugby union players 21st-century Samoan sportsmen Samoa international rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Counties Manukau rugby union players Northampton Saints players Samoan emigrants to New Zealand 2019 Rugby World Cup players Samoan expatriate rugby union players in England