Sione Tuitupu Lauaki (22 June 1981 – 12 February 2017) was a Tongan-born 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 ...

footballer who played for

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

. He previously played for the New Zealand national team, 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 ...

. His brother, Epalahame Lauaki, is a 2nd row

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer previously playing for

Auckland Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

competition. He died on 12 February 2017.

Early career

He attended Waitakere College in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

where he made the first XV in 1998. He later moved to Kelston Boys High School, where he also played in the first XV. He played his club rugby for Waitemata Rugby Football and Sports Club and was instrumental in their Gallaher Shield win in 2003. He was the fourth All Black to come from the Waitemata club after Adrian Clarke, Ken Carrington and Michael Jones.

Professional career

Pacific Islanders

While playing for the combined Pacific Islanders team in 2004 he scored test match tries against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He was one of the two Pacific Islanders rugby union team players picked for the All Blacks, the other being winger, Sitiveni Sivivatu.

All Blacks

He has played loose forward for the

, with whom he made his debut in 2005 against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. His final match for New Zealand was in 2008 against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. During his time with the All Blacks he was capped 17 times and scored three tries.

Super 14

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 played for the Chiefs. He racked up 70 caps for the team, having scored 14 tries during his Super Rugby career. Lauaki went on to play for

ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French professional rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two t ...

at the start of the 2010–11 Top 14 season. He later moved to

Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais (AB, ), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'' in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which competes in the Top 14, the top tier of the National Rugby League (France), French league system. ...

. In February 2012 during routine tests, Lauaki was diagnosed with renal failure and cardiovascular problems. As a result, the club signed him off for the rest of the season.

Death

Lauaki died on 12 February 2017, aged 35, due to heart and kidney problems.

References

External links

NZ Rugby History profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauaki, Sione 1981 births 2017 deaths Tongan rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players Waikato rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Aviron Bayonnais players ASM Clermont Auvergne players Rugby union number eights Rugby union flankers Tongan emigrants to New Zealand Rugby union players from Haʻapai Pacific Islanders rugby union players Tongan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Tongan expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France People educated at Kelston Boys' High School People educated at Waitākere College 2007 Rugby World Cup players