Sinali Latu (born in Tonga in 1965) is a retired

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n- Japanese rugby union player.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ), p70 He played in Japan for

Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded b ...

and also played for the

Japan national rugby union team The Japan national rugby union team, often known as the Cherry Blossoms, Sakura, and more recently The Brave Blossoms (''ブレイブ・ブロッサムズ - Bureibu burossamuzu'') is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has ...

. Now he coaches the

Daito Bunka University is a medium-size four-year university with two campuses: one at Itabashi in Tokyo and the other at Higashi Matsuyama in Saitama, Japan. The sports program is strong in rugby and distance running, with the Ekiden (駅伝えきでん relay roa ...

rugby team. Since he acquired the Japanese citizenship, he changed his full name to . He is the founder of the

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Japan-Tonga Friendship Association. He was nicknamed "Bill" (ビル) during his playing career in Japan. Viliami Sinali Latu played for Tonga's national side while attending Tonga College at the age of 19. He moved to study and play in Japan with a Tonga College school mate, Uatesoni Namoa. Latu played for at three

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

s, in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

and in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

Family

Latu's younger brother,

Tevita Latu Tevita Leo-Latu (born 3 July 1981) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Point Chevalier Pirates. He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL and the Wakefield Tr ...

, played sevens for Tonga while studying in Tonga College in 2000 before moving to New Zealand. The youngest of the Latu brothers, Kilifi, has captained the Tongan sevens team and played rugby in

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 ...

, together with his older brothers Penieli and Langakali, and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Penieli played for

in the 1995 World Cup. The Latu brothers all studied at Tonga College. They all played for

South Canterbury South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the South ...

's Celtic Rugby Club.

References

External links

* 1965 births Living people Tongan rugby union players Tongan rugby union coaches Japanese rugby union players Japanese rugby union coaches Tongan emigrants to Japan Naturalized citizens of Japan Japan international rugby union players Tongan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Tongan expatriate sportspeople in Japan Saitama Wild Knights players People from Haʻapai Japan international rugby sevens players Tonga international rugby union players Naturalised sports competitors {{Japan-rugbyunion-bio-stub