Anthony Tuitavake (born 12 February 1982 in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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 ...

footballer. He plays as a

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 ...

or on the

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 ...

. Tuitavake, of

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 ...

n descent, is a fast attacking centre.

Career

He had a great season in 2005 for both the Highlanders (

Super 12 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 ...

) and North Harbour (

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship (NP ...

), before being signed by the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

in 2006, with whom he remained until 2009. He played for the world champion New Zealand Under 19 side in 2001 and for the New Zealand Under 21 team in 2002. Tuitavake is also a former

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 ...

representative, winning a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

gold medal in 2002 in Manchester and then a world title the following year. Tuitavake was named in the 2008 All Blacks squad; making him All Black number 1072. He made his All Black debut, starting in the 14 jersey, on 7 June against Ireland. In 2009, Tuitavake signed a two-year deal with Japanese club NEC Green Rockets, with whom he debuted in the 2010–11 season. In 2013, Tuitavake signed up with top French club

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

for the 2013–14 season. In the summer of 2016, he joined the Top 14 side

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...

Honours

2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup The 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the second edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual pan-European rugby union competition for professional clubs. It is also the 20th season of the Challenge Cup competition in all forms, ...

: winner ( Montpellier Herault Rugby).

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuitavake, Anthony 1982 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Highlanders (rugby union) players North Harbour rugby union players Green Rockets Tokatsu players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games New Zealand male rugby sevens players Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for New Zealand Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand international rugby sevens players People educated at Massey High School Commonwealth Games gold medallists in rugby sevens Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Rugby union centres Rugby union wings New Zealand rugby union players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen