Piula Faʻasalele
| File:Piula Fa'asalele.jpg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Piula Fa'asalele | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 22 January 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Porirua, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 120 kg (18 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | De La Salle College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Piula Fa'asalele (born 22 January 1988 in Porirua, New Zealand) is a Samoan professional rugby union player who currently plays for Castres in the Top 14.
Early life
Fa'asalele was born in Porirua but moved to South Auckland at an early age where he attended De La Salle College and made the New Zealand Schools side in 2005. Also attending De La Salle with Fa'asalele were Japanese rugby players and very close friends Male Sa'u and Hendrik Tui where they all played together in the Under 15 team. He is also a cousin of former Hurricanes and current Samoan international Faifili Levave. At De La Salle College, Fa'asalele was also the deputy head boy in 2005.
Career
Stade Niortais (2008-2009)
In 2008 with a successful grassroots season with his club Ardmore Marist Fa'asalele was named in the Template:Rut Counties Manukau squad for the upcoming Air New Zealand Cup competition.
However, he left New Zealand before playing in the Air New Zealand Cup to join Niort a club in France where he played in the Fédérale 1 competition to further develop his game.
Atlantique Stade Rochelais (2009-2012)
In 2009 Fa'asalele joined La Rochelle playing in the Pro D2
On 23 May 2010, Fa'asalele was part of the La Rochelle side that secured promotion to the Top 14 with a 32-26 victory over Lyon in the 2009–10 Pro D2 Playoff Final.
Castres Olympique (2012-2016)
In the 2011–12 off season Fa'asalele joined Castres after his La Rochelle side at the time failed to gain promotion back to Top 14.
This signing later paid off as the Castres were later crowned 2012–13 Top 14 champions with a 19-14 victory over a star studded Toulon team.
On 31 May 2014, Fa'asalele and his Castres met Toulon in a rematch of the 2012–13 Top 14 Final. However, Castres ended up going down 10-18 to a very strong Toulon side.
On 21 January 2016 Fa'asalele signed a multi year deal to join rival French side Stade Toulousain at the end of the 2015/2016 Top 14 season. He will reunite with former team mate Joe Tekori at Toulouse [1]
International
On 15 June 2013, Fa'asalele made his international debut for the Manu Samoa against Italy at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, South Africa coming off the bench replacing Jack Lam in jersey number 23. To date Fa'asalele has made 5 appearances for his national side.
Honours
2006 Under 19 Rugby World Championship Runner-up
2012–13 Top 14 Champion
References
- ^ "Piula Fa'asalele Stats". It's Rugby.
External links
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