Ahsee Tuala

Ahsee Tuala
Date of birth (1989-08-23) 23 August 1989
Place of birth Samoa
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 103 kg (16 st 3 lb)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Fullback
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2014 Northampton Saints 28 (30)
correct as of 22 November 2016.
Provincial/State sides
Years Club / team Caps (points)
200914 Counties Manukau 51 (166)
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2014 Samoa 5 (5)
correct as of 26 November 2016.

Ahsee Tuala (born 23 August 1989) is a Samoan rugby union player who plays as a fullback.[1][2][3]

Club career

Tuala began his senior rugby career in New Zealand with the Counties Manukau Steelers, debuting during the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup season while only 20 years old. His ability to play in several positions across the backline saw him become an integral part of the Steelers squad and earn over 50 ITM Cup caps.[2] He was also involved in the Chiefs Development squads in both 2010 and 2011.[1]

On 3 February 2015, Tuala signed for English club Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership until the end of the 2014-15 season.[4] However, he signed a new deal with Northampton, making his move permanent at Franklin's Gardens.[5]

International career

Despite being born in Samoa, Tuala's early international experience came with New Zealand. He was a member of the New Zealand Under-20 wider squad in 2009 and the New Zealand sevens wider training group in 2012.[1] However, in January 2012 it was announced that Tuala had withdrawn from the New Zealand sevens squad to focus on gaining international recognition with his native Samoa.[6] His ambitions were realized 2 years later when he was named in the Samoan squad for the 2014 end-of-year rugby union tests and made his international debut on 14 November 2014 in a 23-13 victory over Canada in Vannes, France.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ahsee Tuala Counties Manukau Steelers Player Profile". Steelers Rugby. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Ahsee Tuala itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  3. "Ahsee Tuala ESPN Scrum Player Profile". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  4. "Northampton Saints sign Samoan full-back Ahsee Tuala". Sky Sports. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  5. "Northampton full-back Ahsee Tuala new contract extension". Sky Sports. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  6. "Tietjens gets reinforcements". Rotorua Daily Post. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  7. "Canada vs Samoa 14 November 2014". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.