Fuimaono Faleomavaega Titimaea "Dicky" Tafua (born 4 October 1947) 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 former rugby union prop and the former coach of

Manu Samoa The Samoa national rugby union team represents Samoa in men's international rugby union competitions. They are governed by Samoa Rugby Union and also known as "Manu Samoa", which is thought to derive from the name of a Samoan warrior. They perf ...

and the Samoa Sevens

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

team. In November 2021 he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Samoa The Legislative Assembly (), also known as the Parliament of Samoa (), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan Parliament is composed of two parts: the O le Ao o le M ...

. He is the son of former MP Tafua Kalolo and the brother of former MP Tafua Maluelue Tafua. He took up the position of coach in 2006. He is a former international for

and captained the first Samoa team that played against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 1989. He led Samoa to win their first

Wellington sevens The New Zealand Sevens was an annual rugby sevens tournament held at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand. For the first eighteen years of its history the event was held in Wellington. The event was the third on the World Rugby Sevens Serie ...

and

Hong Kong sevens The Hong Kong Sevens ( zh, t=香港國際七人欖球賽, link=no) is a rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competiti ...

tournament in the 2006/07 season. In February 2009 it was announced that Tafua would coach

, replacing Niko Palamo. His term in the role expired in November 2011. In June 2014 Tafua was appointed interim coach of the Samoa Sevens. The appointment was made permanent in August 2014. In June 2015 his contract was not renewed. In September 2017 he was appointed Manu Samoa coach for a second time for a two-year term. In September 2018 his contract was terminated early and the position was readvertised. A subsequent claim for unfair dismissal was dismissed by the court.

Political career

In October 2021 Tafua announced he would be contesting the 2021 Aleipata-Itupa-i-Lalo by-election as a candidate for the FAST Party. He won by over 200 votes. On 15 January 2025 he was appointed Minister of Commerce, Industry and Labour following the sacking of

Leota Laki Lamositele Leota Laki Lamositele-Sio is a Samoan politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the FAST Party. Leota is a statistician, accountant and manager, who served as Director-General of the National Health Services. After running unsuc ...

. He supported prime minister

Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataafa (; born 29 April 1957) is a Samoan politician and High Chief (''Faʻamatai, matai'') who has served as the seventh prime minister of Samoa, Prime Minister of Samoa since 2021. The daughter of Samoa's first Prime Mi ...

when the FAST party split in February 2025. He resigned as a Minister in April 2025 after he was charged with dangerous driving following a car crash.

References

External links

* Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Samoa national rugby sevens team coaches 1947 births Samoa international rugby union players Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi politicians Samoan rugby union players Samoan rugby union coaches Rugby union props Samoa national rugby union team coaches Sportsperson-politicians Northern Suburbs Rugby Club players Government ministers of Samoa {{Samoa-rugbyunion-bio-stub