Atunaisa Moli (born 12 June 1995) 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 ...

player who currently plays as a

Prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for the in

Super Rugby 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 ...

. He has represented the New Zealand national rugby union team the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. Starting his career as a Tighthead Prop, Moli converted to Loosehead Prop during his professional career. Moli made his debut for New Zealand in 2017, earning a recall in 2019 after a spell of injury and made their team for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

Early career

Moli was born in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

town of Gisborne, but attended

Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough Boys' College is a state single-sex secondary school in Blenheim, New Zealand. The school was established as Marlborough High School in 1899 (renamed Marlborough College in 1919). The school in its current form was established in 1963 ...

in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

town of Blenheim. He is of Tongan descent. While attending college, he represented

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

at under 16 and at under 18 level before moving to

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

after graduation and representing them at under 19 level.

Senior career

Moli debuted for Waikato during the

2015 ITM Cup The 2015 ITM Cup season was the tenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 13, when Southland hosted Auckland. It involved the top fourteen rugby uni ...

in a match against on 14 August after starring as a school boy. Hindered by a foot injury, he only played 6 games during his first season of provincial level rugby, 2 of which were from the start.

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

again saw him make 6 appearances, this time however, they were all from the start as he began to make the number 1 jersey his own. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Moli made his debut for against at

Lansdowne Park Lansdowne Park is a urban park, historic sports, exhibition and entertainment facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by the City of Ottawa. It is located on Bank Street adjacent to the Rideau Canal in The Glebe neighbourhood of central Ott ...

in Blenheim. Moli missed the

2020 Mitre 10 Cup The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the 15th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour (National Provincial Championship), North Har ...

with injury as the Mako went on to win their second premiership title in a row. He played for the Mako during the

2021 Bunnings NPC The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the 16th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top 14 rugb ...

but again suffered an injury before the end of the season.

Super Rugby

After just 6 games at provincial level, Moli made the Chiefs Super Rugby squad for the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

, debuting in a match against the in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

. A season ending injury to

Nepo Laulala Nepo Eti Laulala (born 6 November 1991) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Gloucester in the Premiership Rugby. Born in Samoa, he represented New Zealand at the international level from 2015-2023, after qualifying on ...

meant that he received more game time during his debut season than he might have otherwise expected, playing 10 times and scoring 1 try. He was retained by the side for the

2017 Super Rugby season The 2017 Super Rugby season was the 22nd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the second season featuring an expanded ...

. Moli missed the whole

2018 Super Rugby season The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participate ...

due to a leg injury. He forced his way back into the first choice team during the

2019 Super Rugby season The 2019 Super Rugby season was the 24th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. The 2019 season was the second season using the ...

, establishing himself as one of the Chiefs best performers during the season. After over a year injured Moli returned to the Chiefs side in Round 2 of the

Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in Australia and Sky (New Zealand), Sky Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in New Zealand) was a professional men's rugby union club competition in Australia and New Zealand. It fea ...

competition, coming off the bench in a 40-19 win for the side - however that was the only match he played during the

2021 Super Rugby season The 2021 Super Rugby season was the 26th season of Super Rugby, an annual men's international rugby union tournament organised by SANZAAR, involving teams from Australia and New Zealand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was wholly reg ...

International

Moli represented New Zealand Schools in 2013 and was a member of the New Zealand Under 20 teams which competed in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...

s. He appeared 5 times as New Zealand finished third in 2014 and made another 5 appearances, this time as captain as the Kiwis lifted the title in 2015 with a 21-16 victory over England in the final. Moli was selected as a non playing "Apprentice" in the All Blacks squad for the

2017 Rugby Championship The 2017 Rugby Championship was the sixth edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, Sout ...

. Moli was only the third New Zealander to be selected for the All Blacks as an apprentice, following

Ardie Savea Ardie Suemalo Savea (born 14 October 1993) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a Number 8 or Flanker for Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby and Wellington in the Bunnings NPC. He was named the 2023 World Rugby Player of th ...

who was an apprentice in 2013 and

Jordie Barrett Jordan Matthew Barrett (born 17 February 1997) is a New Zealand-born rugby union player who currently plays as a centre or fullback for Irish side Leinster in the United Rugby Championship. He represents New Zealand internationally. He previous ...

who held the title in 2016. After injuries to Joe Moody and

Owen Franks Owen Thomas Franks (born 23 December 1987) is a New Zealand rugby player who currently plays for Crusaders (rugby union), Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition. His usual position is tighthead prop. Franks has previously represented the Can ...

, the All Blacks coaches had to seek more depth for the end of year tour. This meant that after starting in a 31-22 loss against the All Blacks for the Barbarians coached by

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans prev ...

on 4 November, Moli joined the All Blacks squad again, making his debut for New Zealand against a French side 10 days later, replacing

Tim Perry Timothy D. Perry (born June 4, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player. Following his college career with Temple he played professionally for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association and Liga ACB. Playing career Per ...

with 23 minutes left. Moli was one of six players to make their All Blacks debut in the 28-23 win. In 2019, Moli was recalled into the All Blacks squad, named to play Argentina at Jose Amalfitani Stadium (Estadio Velez Sarsfield) in Buenos Aires on Saturday 20 July as part of

The Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are traditionally the four highest ran ...

. He made his test debut in the 60th minute of the game, replacing Ofa Tu'ungafasi. With experienced props,

Karl Tu'inukuafe George Zvi Karl Tu'inukuafe (born 21 February 1993) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player who has played for the in Super Rugby, and for North Harbour in the Mitre 10 Cup. His position of choice is loosehead prop. He has previously repr ...

and

, axed from the team, Moli also earned an appearance off the bench against Australia during a 26-47 loss. In August 2019, Moli was named in the All Blacks squad for the

. Moli earned his first start for the All Blacks in the sides 63-0 win over Canada, lasting the whole 80 minutes of the test. Moli played one more test during the competition, coming off the bench against Wales in the Bronze Final, with New Zealand winning 40-17 to claim third place.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moli, Atunaisa 1995 births Living people Atu Moli Barbarian F.C. players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Marlborough Boys' College Rugby union players from Gisborne, New Zealand Rugby union props Tasman rugby union players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen University of Waikato alumni Waikato rugby union players 2019 Rugby World Cup players Western Force players