Anitelea "Andy" Tuilagi (born 5 June 1986) is a

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 ...

n international

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. His position is either

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

. He is part of the famous Tuilagi rugby family, with his older brothers

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, Freddie,

Alesana Alesana ( ) is an American post-hardcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The group was founded by Shawn Milke, Dennis Lee, Patrick Thompson, Steven Tomany and Daniel Magnuson during the fall of 2004, and is currently signed to Revival Record ...

, and younger brothers Vavae and

Manu Manu may refer to: Religion Proto Indo European Mythology * Manu (Indo European Mythology) one of the mythical duo Manu and Yemo Ancient Mesopotamia * Manu the Great, a Chaldean god of fate Hinduism *Manu (Hinduism), Hindu progenitor of mank ...

all also having played international rugby. He has played club rugby for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

, in the

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 ...

, and a season loan at Leeds Tykes, now

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 whe ...

, in

National Division One 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 ...

. Tuilagi made his Leicester début at Welford Road against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

as a replacement. Following a loan period at Leeds, Tuilagi ended his contract with

to join

full-time. On 19 August 2008 Tuilagi was confirmed as the last signing that would be joining

Guinness 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

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

on a four-year contract. On 13 June 2011 Sale Sharks announced that Tuilagi had been released from his contract after three years and on 29 November 2011 he joined Newport Gwent Dragons. He made his debut against

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

on 4 December 2011. He left Newport Gwent Dragons at the end of the 2012-13 season after turning down a new contract. On 8 May 2014, Antielea returned to England as signed for

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the

on a two-year contract from the 2014-15 season, where he will join with his brother,

Alesana Tuilagi Alesana "Alex" Tuilagi (born 24 February 1981) is a former Samoans, Samoan rugby union, rugby player. He is a retired rugby player, currently residing in Fogapoa Savaii and has appeared numerous times for his national team Samoa national rugby u ...

International career

Tuilagi became the youngest player to play for Samoa at aged 19 years and 27 days when he made his debut in July 2005 against

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 ...

, where he scored a try to also become the youngest player ever to score for Samoa. He was named in 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 ...

squad, but was forced out of the tournament through injury. Since then he has been dropped out of favour in international rugby, his last call up coming in 2014 after 5 years out of the side.

References

External links

Leeds profileSale profile
*
Newport Gwent Dragons squad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuilagi, Anitelea 1986 births Living people Dragons RFC players Samoan expatriate rugby union players in England Samoan expatriate rugby union players in Wales Leeds Tykes players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Sale Sharks players Samoa international rugby union players Samoan rugby union players 21st-century Samoan sportsmen Rugby union players from Apia Tuilagi family 2007 Rugby World Cup players Stado Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby players Samoan expatriate rugby union players in France