Paul Tito (born 9 June 1978) is a retired 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. He played in the

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

position.

Playing career

Tito attended

New Plymouth Boys' High School New Plymouth Boys' High School is a single-sex boys' state secondary school in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The school currently caters for approximately 1300 students, including 210 boarders, on its site. The school often collaborat ...

and represented New Zealand at U19 level in 1997, U21level from 1998–1999, and the New Zealand Māori in 2000–2001 and 2003. He played for the

Waikato Chiefs The Chiefs (; formerly known as the Waikato Chiefs and officially called the Gallagher Chiefs for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, Waikato. The team competes in the Super Rugby Pacific c ...

and

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

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 ...

, and played for

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

in the

Air New Zealand Cup An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

. He played 100 games for the province. Tito, who was out of contract at the end of the

2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rug ...

, bolstered the

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

squad following that year's World Cup. On arrival in the Welsh capital he was given the job of turning the Blues failing line out around which he did with ease. He was appointed captain the following season replacing

Xavier Rush Xavier Joseph Rush (born 13 July 1977, in Auckland) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer. He is a former All Black number eight and second row, and played professional rugby in Wales for Cardiff Blues where he is the former captain. C ...

who had stood down from the role. In his first season as captain he steered the region to the EDF Energy Cup Final, beating

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

by 50–12 on 18 April 2009 and he won the Man of the Match award for his efforts. After a season full with injuries, Tito decided to retire at the end of the 2011/12 season.

Coaching career

Tito moved into coaching and has worked with: * the Taranaki Bulls * Pau in France * the

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 ...

* the

Wellington Lions The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named Wes ...

. He was in charge of the forwards for the

Georgia national rugby union team The Georgia national rugby union team, nicknamed The Lelos, is administered by the Georgia Rugby Union, Georgian Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Rugby Europe International Championships, Rugby Europe Championship, and the Rugby W ...

, under head coach

Levan Maisashvili Levan Maisashvili is a Georgian professional rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia and the Black Lion side that participates in the EPCR Challenge Cup and Rugby Europe Super Cup. While coach of the Georgian national team during ...

, in 2022 when they beat Wales. In December 2022 he replaced

Ben Afeaki Ben Tu'umoe Paul Afeaki (born 12 January 1988) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer. His regular playing position was prop. He represented the Chiefs in Super Rugby and North Harbour in the ITM Cup between 2010 and 2014 and also mad ...

in the

Auckland Blues The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established b ...

coaching group as an assistant under

Leon MacDonald Leon Raymond MacDonald (born 21 December 1977) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer, and former head coach for the Auckland Blues rugby team, who played 56 tests for the national team, the All Blacks. He played as a first five-eighth ...

. In 2024 Tito was appointed Head Coach for the New Zealand schools side.

References

External links

Cardiff profile
* 1978 births Cardiff Rugby players People educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union locks Barbarian F.C. players Māori All Blacks players Taranaki rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Wales Rugby union players from Manawatū-Whanganui Chiefs (Super Rugby) players {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub