Ruki Tipuna (born 11 May 1983) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

rugby union footballer who has played for

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is th ...

side

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

Bay of Plenty Steamers Bay of Plenty (often known as the Bay of Plenty Steamers) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. The union was originally established in 1911, with the National Provincial Championship establishe ...

, the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm, storm system characterized by a Low-pressure area, low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, Beaufort scale, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms tha ...

Portadown RFC Portadown RFC is an Irish rugby union team based in Portadown, County Armagh. They play in the Kukri Ulster Championship 1, the top level of Junior rugby in Ulster. The club colours are blue and white. History Origins In February 1879, the Iri ...

and

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

. His position is at scrum-half. Tipuna has also represented the

New Zealand Sevens The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record twelve World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team has been o ...

and New Zealand Māori teams. In August 2011, Tipanu joined the

on a short term contract, before joining

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

in November. He immediately became first choice scrum-half at Bristol. On 28 March 2014, Tipuna made his move to the

with

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football C ...

on a two-year contract from the 2014-15 season.

References

External links

Scarlets sign Ruki TipanuBristol sign Ruki TipunaBristol Rugby profilearchive link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tipuna, Ruki 1983 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Bay of Plenty rugby union players Wellington rugby union players Bristol Bears players Newcastle Falcons players Scarlets players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand international rugby sevens players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Wales Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in Wales Rugby union scrum-halves People from Tauranga Male rugby sevens players