Manasa Mataele
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Manasa Moala Mataele (born 27 November 1996) is a Fijian and Tongan
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. He played for
Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...
in the
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 was signed by the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
in 2016 and has played for them until 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 ...
. He signed for the Chiefs in 2025. Mataele plays predominantly as a winger.


Career

Mataele was born in
Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...
, Fiji. He attended Marist Brothers High School in Suva. In 2010, he represented the school in the Junior Boys Boys Long Jump in the Coke Light Games and he won a silver medal with a jump of 5.87m. In 2011, he won silver again in the same category jumping 6.00m. In 2013, he took part in 2 events including the Boys Long Jump Intermediate division where he again won a silver medal jumping 6.70m. He was also part of the Intermediate 4x100 metre relay team that won gold. His school was up against Queen Victoria School who had the services of Sevuloni Reece, a winger that plays for
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 ...
in the Mitre 10 Cup. He also represented Marist in rugby. In July 2014, he represented Marist in the Southern Zone Secondary Schools rugby competition. He played at centre and scored a try in the under-18 final helping Marist to win the title. He also scooped the man of the match award. He was selected in the Fiji Under-18 side for the Tri Nations matches against Australia and New Zealand Under-18 sides. He scored 2 tries in their 50–15 loss to Australia. His performance for the team saw him getting invited by the Taranaki Rugby Academy to join them as a development player and he played in their sevens and Under-19 teams. In September 2015, he helped Taranaki beat defending champions, Wellington in the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under-19 tournament. He scored two-tries in that game. In August 2016, he was a surprise inclusion in the Taranaki team named for the
2016 Mitre 10 Cup The 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season was the eleventh season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 18, when North Harbour (National Provincial Championship), North Ha ...
. Later in that month, he made his debut against
Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...
scoring a 50m try in their 55–28 win. He played alongside his uncle, Seta Tamanivalu who as a youngster, lived with Mataele's family as Tamanivalu's family were from the west (
Lautoka Lautoka (, ) is the second largest List of cities and towns in Fiji#List, metropolitan area in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of ...
) and he studied at Lelean Memorial School which was based in Suva. In November 2016, he was signed by the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
and he would join his uncle, Tamanivalu and Fijian winger, Jone Macilai-Tori at the club 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 ...
. He made his Super Rugby debut on 18 March 2017 against 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 ...
. He scored a try in the 33–24 win. Mataele made his international debut for Fiji on 10 July 2021, replacing Nemani Nadolo off the bench, in a 23-57 loss to New Zealand.


Personal life

While staying in New Zealand, he did a Diploma in Building Construction and Architectural Technology at the
Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) is the largest tertiary education institution in Taranaki, New Zealand. History On 1 April 2020, WITT became a subsidiary of Te Pūkenga (the New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology) alon ...
. His favourite player growing up was
Joe Rokocoko Josevata Taliga "Joe" Rokocoko (pronounced , born 6 June 1983) is a New Zealand former professional rugby union player, who played as a wing. Born in Fiji, Rokocoko grew up in New Zealand and played for the Blues and Auckland. He later played f ...
. Manasa married Black Fern and Matatu rugby player Martha Mataele (nee Lolohea).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mataele, Manasa 1996 births Living people Rugby union wings Rugby union players from Suva People educated at Marist Brothers High School, Fiji Fijian rugby union players Fiji international rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Taranaki rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Western Force players 21st-century Fijian sportsmen Chiefs (Super Rugby) players