Sam Tuitupou

Sam Tuitupou
Date of birth (1982-02-01) 1 February 1982
Place of birth Auckland, New Zealand
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 93 kg (14 st 9 lb) [1]
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Inside Centre
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2007–2010
2010–2011
2011–		 Worcester Warriors
Munster
Sale Sharks		 39
21
105		 (25)
(10)
(60)
correct as of 16 November 2016.
Super Rugby
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2002–2007 Blues 54 (65)
correct as of 11 June 2011.
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2004–2006 New Zealand 9 (5)
correct as of 11 June 2011.

Sam Tuitupou (born 1 February 1982]) is a New Zealand international rugby union player who plays for Sale Sharks in the English Aviva Premiership. His position is Inside Centre.

Tuitupou won world titles as captain for New Zealand at under-19 and under-21 level, during his junior career. In his senior career he achieved two Air New Zealand Cup titles, with Auckland and in the Super 14 championship with the Blues. Tuitupou also won acclaim on the international stage with his first All Blacks call-up for the clash with England at Dunedin in 2004. He played for the All Blacks between 2004 and 2006, earning nine caps.

In 2007 he signed a contract with Worcester Warriors, and left New Zealand rugby to join his new team after the completion of the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup. His contract with Worcester kept him at Sixways until June 2010. Tuitopou moved to Munster for the 2010–11 season, replacing Jean de Villiers as Munster's inside centre. Shortly after gaining his first team place he was banned for three weeks after a spear tackle on Paul Hodgson during Munster's Heineken Cup pool game against London Irish.[2][3] In his short time at Munster, he became a fan favourite, being awarded the nickname "Hacksaw Sam" by the Munster supporters. On 5 April 2011, Munster rugby announced that he would be leaving Munster at the end of the current season.[4] On 11 April 2011, Sale Sharks announced that Tuitupou had signed for two-years from the 2011–12 English Premiership season.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Aviva Premiership Rugby - Sale Sharks". web page. Premier Rugby. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  2. ↑ http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/7519.php
  3. ↑ http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/7661.php
  4. ↑ http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8889.php
  5. ↑ http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/sharks-sign-tuitupou-from-munster-500777.html#ixzz1JCXb08Yh
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.