Mark Evander Tele'a (born 6 December 1996) is a New Zealand

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 plays as a

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 ...

for 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 Super Rugby and

North Harbour North Harbour or North Harbor may refer to: Canada * North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on St. Mary's Bay * North Harbour, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on Placentia Bay * North Harbour, ...

in the Bunnings NPC.

Club career

After showing promising form for during the

2019 Mitre 10 Cup The 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fourteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 8, when Southland hosted Northland. It involved the top fourtee ...

season, Tele'a was named in the squad for the

2020 Super Rugby season The 2020 Super Rugby season was the 25th season of Super Rugby, the international men's rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR involving teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the third tournament in i ...

. Tele'a started the campaign as the first choice left wing for the Blues. Tele'a rewarded the faith of Blues staff, impressing with his early season form. Tele'a scored 3 tries during a Round 2 fixture, as the Blues defeated the Waratahs 32-12 in rainy conditions in Newcastle. Tele'a crossed again in Round 4 vs the Bulls in Pretoria, scoring impressively to dot the ball down as two defenders forced him into touch. He continued his good form in

Super Rugby Aotearoa Super Rugby Aotearoa named the Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship purposes was a professional men's rugby union national club competition in New Zealand. Originally created to supplement the 2020 Super Rugby season, which was suspended due ...

and in mid 2020 he was chosen for 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 ...

in the

North vs South rugby union match The North vs South match, sometimes known as the Interisland match, was a longstanding rugby union fixture in New Zealand between the North Island and South Island teams. The first match was played on 30 June 1897 at Wellington's Athletic Park, a ...

. Tele'a was named in the squad for 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 ...

making his debut for the Mako in Round 1 against . Tele'a played 11 games for the Mako in the 2020 season as they went on to win their second premiership title in a row. Tele'a had a mixed

2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season The 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season (branded as Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship reasons) was a professional club rugby union tournament organised by New Zealand Rugby. Announced on 11 November 2020, the tournament was the second sea ...

but returned to form during 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, scoring a try in the final as the Blues defeated the 23-15. In Round 3 of 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 ...

Tele'a suffered a season ending injury while playing for Tasman against . The side went on to make the final before losing 23–20 to . He was part of the Blues team which won the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final.

International career

On 30 June 2022, after an impressive 2022 Super Rugby season with the Blues, Tele'a was called in to 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 ...

squad as a replacement. On 12 November 2022, he was named at 14 in the starting lineup to go up against Scotland. During his debut match he scored two tries. Tele'a was a member of the starting lineup for the All Blacks side during the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

. On 8 September, in the opening game of the World Cup against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he scored two tries, with the first try of the competition within 91 seconds of the start of the game being the fastest World Cup opening try to date. He was dropped by New Zealand ahead of their quarter-final match against Ireland due to a breach of team protocol. He returned for their semi-final clash against Argentina. He also featured in the grand final, which the All Blacks narrowly lost to the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

by a single point. Tele'a was awarded

World Rugby Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year The World Rugby Men's 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year is an award given annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. The award is given to 15s players who have played no more than one year of international rugby. Voting is assessed on int ...

at the conclusion of the World Cup.

Personal life

He qualified for three countries as Tele'a’s father is a Xhosa South African while his mother is Samoan.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Telea, Mark 1996 births New Zealand rugby union players Living people Rugby union wings North Harbour rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Tasman rugby union players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand people of South African descent New Zealand international rugby union players 2023 Rugby World Cup players People educated at Massey High School