Freddie Tuilagi
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Weight | 102 kg (16 st 1 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Henry Tuilagi Alex Tuilagi Anitelia Tuilagi Manu Tuilagi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fereti Tuilagi (born June 9, 1971 in Apia, Samoa) is a former Samoan rugby union footballer who previously played rugby league for Halifax Blue Sox and St Helens. He plays as a wing or centre. His first name is often anglicised to Freddie, his surname pronounced "Tuilangi".
Tuilagi is the oldest of seven brothers: Henry, Olotuli, Alesana, Anitelea, Vavae and Manu[1]. All but Olotuli have played for Leicester Tigers with the youngest two still in the Academy.
International career
Freddie gained his first international experience playing for Samoa on the 1991 tour to New Zealand. He was also selected for Samoa’s 1991 Rugby World Cup squad but did not play in any of the matches.
Between 1992 and 1995 he toured with Samoa to Australia and South Africa, and was included in their 1995 Rugby World Cup squad. He played against South Africa in the quarter final.
Rugby league
After the 1995 world cup, Tuilagi turned professional for the Halifax Rugby League team, making 57 Super League appearances for them in two years, scoring an impressive 26 tries. In 1999 he joined St Helens RL and made 35 appearances, scoring eleven tries.
Northern hemisphere rugby union
He left St Helens in June 2000 and signed for Leicester Tigers, also making his return to the Samoa national side. He toured with them in the summer of 2002. He was also selected to tour New Zealand, but was prevented from doing so by an injury, which also denied him a place in national side's world cup squad. In the 2003-4 season his younger brother Henry also signed for Leicester, and his younger brother Alesana joined the following season. In 2004-5 season Tuilagi signed for Cardiff Blues[2]. Unfortunately injury limited the number of times he was able to play for Cardiff and was released early[3] In 2005-6 season Tuilagi played for Castres Olympique in the French Top 14.
Post playing career
Since retiring from playing, Tuilagi has acted as an agent for several players - mainly Samoans playing abroad through his company Global Bro Sports[4].
References
- ^ "Meet the Tuilagis - A brotherhood of tigers". The Independent. 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
- ^ Cardiff announce signing of Tuilagi
- ^ Cardiff announce release of Tuilagi
- ^ Global Bro Sports player representation
External links
- Leicester profile
- Saints Heritage Society profile
- Planet rugby stats
- Manu Samoa supporters website
- Pacific Islanders Rugby Teams supporters website