Tasesa James Lavea (born 10 January 1980) 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 ...

coach and former professional

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 ...

and

footballer. He is of Samoan and Māori descent and heritage, and he coaches the 1st XV for

Saint Kentigern College Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. The school is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board. Established in 1953, the college is semi co-educational, with a single-gender ...

Early life

Although born in

Taihape Taihape is in the Rangitikei District of the North Island of New Zealand. It serves a large rural community. New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1, which runs North to South through the centre of the North Island, passes through the town ...

, Lavea grew up 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 ...

and was educated at

Papatoetoe High School Papatoetoe High School (PHS) is a secondary school (years 9–13) in Papatoetoe suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. History Papatoetoe High School was established in 1956. In February 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, cases of CO ...

, then St Kentigern College where he played for three seasons in the 1st XV. He was an age-group representative between the ages of 14 and 16, and played for both the Auckland and New Zealand Secondary Schools teams in 1998. He also excelled in cricket.

Career

Lavea played

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

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 ...

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 ...

from 2004 to 2006. He also played at

inside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

for the Chiefs in the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

seasons. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

he rejoined the Blues. At provincial level, Lavea played for

in the National Provincial Championship from 2003 through to 2007. He joined Counties Manukau in 2008. He played for French Top 14 team

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 ...

between 2009 and 2011. He was a replacement in the final as Clermont won the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

title in 2009–10.

Switch to Rugby League

Following secondary school, Lavea played for the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

and was then scouted by

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

(despite never having played rugby league until signing), switching codes to play in Australia. Having won the 1999 Premiership, the

travelled to England to contest the

2000 World Club Challenge The 2000 World Club Challenge was contested by 1999 NRL season premiers, the Melbourne Storm and 1999's Super League IV champions, St. Helens. The match was played on 22 January at JJB Stadium, Wigan before a crowd of 13,394. The Melbourne St ...

against

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

Champions

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

, with Lavea playing from the interchange bench in the victory. Thanks to his prodigious goal-kicking skills, in 2000 he was the Melbourne Storm's leading points scorer (190 points) and was named 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 ...

Rookie of the Year. After a quieter second season, in 2002 Lavea left Melbourne for the

Northern Eagles The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team that competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by forming a joint venture with the North Sydney Bears and th ...

but was hampered by injury and hardly featured in the team.

Test Matches and Rugby League World Cup

Lavea was a member of New Zealand's 2000 World Cup squad. Between 2000 and 2001, he played 4 test matches for the Kiwis in his usual rugby league position of stand-off. In the match against

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

on 2 November 2000, Lavea's haul of 32 points (2 tries and 12 goals) broke the previous Kiwi record of 26 points (set by Henry Paul).

Return to Rugby Union

Lavea returned to New Zealand in 2003 and switched codes once again to play rugby union, signing with

. His NPC debut was in that year, against

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

. He then made his

debut in 2004 against the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * ''Reds'' (film), a 1981 American film starring and directed by Warren Beatty * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists duri ...

and was part of the Blues for three seasons. In 2007 Lavea joined the Chiefs through the player draft, with whom he played two seasons, and in 2008 moved provinces from Auckland to

Counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

. In 2009 he returned to the Blues, however he made only four more appearances for the side in his final season of

. He played a final season for Counties 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 ...

before moving to France. Following a mixed

Super 14 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 ...

season in 2006, Lavea was named in the

New Zealand Māori rugby union team New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. Due to an injury sustained in club rugby, he had to withdraw from the team before the

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada national rugby union team, Canada, England Saxons, England, the United States national rugby union te ...

tournament even began. The New Zealand Māori went on to take the title. Lavea was again selected as

's principal

as the province prepared to defend its Air New Zealand Cup title. In September 2006, Lavea was named in the

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subreg ...

team (representing

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 ...

) to tour the United Kingdom and Ireland in November 2006. When the Pacific Islanders squad left for the UK on 2 November 2006, Lavea was not part of the squad. He withdrew from the team because Ian Foster, head coach of the Chiefs, requested for him to stay in New Zealand for pre-season training.Tusi Pisi called into Pacific Islanders
Lavea's played for Auckland in the 2007 Air NZ Cup, at the conclusion of which he moved to Counties Manukau. Since Lavea signed for

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 ...

in 2009. He mostly plays as a second choice at fly-half behind Brock James. He was called by Samoa national team for the first time in November 2010.

Statistics

Super Rugby Caps: 26 (

19, Chiefs 7)
Super Rugby Points: 50 (7 tries, 3 conversions, 3 penalties)

: 30 (3 tries, 3 conversions, 3 penalties)
Chiefs: 20 (4 tries)

Debut: 2004 vs

Chiefs Debut: 2007 vs

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

Provincial Caps: 35
Provincial Points: 35 (7 tries)

Debut: 2003 vs

Rugby League Test Caps: 4
Rugby League Test Points: 48 (3 tries, 18 goals)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavea, Tasesa 1980 births Living people 2011 Rugby World Cup players 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen ASM Clermont Auvergne players Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players Counties Manukau rugby union players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Māori All Blacks players Melbourne Storm players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Northern Eagles players Pacific Islanders rugby union players People educated at Papatoetoe High School People educated at Saint Kentigern College People from Taihape Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Manawatū-Whanganui Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Manawatū-Whanganui Sale Sharks players Samoa international rugby union players Samoan expatriate rugby league players in France