Tupou Vaa'i

Tupou Vaa'i

Full name	Tupou Paea'i Okalani Vaa'i
Date of birth	(2000-01-27) 27 January 2000
Place of birth	Auckland, New Zealand
Height	200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	118 kg (260 lb; 18 st 8 lb)
School	Wesley College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, Flanker Current team Taranaki, Chiefs Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2018– Taranaki 16 (20) 2020– Chiefs 58 (45) Correct as of 22 June 2024 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2019 New Zealand U20 6 (10) 2020– New Zealand 36 (15) Correct as of 8 November 2024

Tupou Paea'i Okalani Vaa'i (born 27 January 2000) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a Lock for the Chiefs in Super Rugby and Taranaki in the Bunnings NPC.

Career

Early career

Vaa'i was born in New Zealand to a Tongan family. In his youth career, he played for the Wesley College first XV and was Head Prefect, captaining the team in his last year of school. Vaa'i went on to play for the top representative team in secondary school, and was selected to play in the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championships for New Zealand.

Vaa'i debuted for Taranaki as an 18-year-old against Auckland, in 2018 His Chiefs debut came in 2020, when the team was short on locks, having lost Michael Allardice and Laghlan McWhannell to season-ending injuries. Although Vaa'i was not originally contracted to the team at the start of 2020, he was promoted to a starting role following an injury to Naitoa Ah Kuoi. Vaa'i was one of the Chiefs' better performers in their winless Super Rugby Aotearoa season and was named in the North Island team, for New Zealand's 2020 North vs South rugby union match.

In September 2020 Vaa'i was named in Ian Foster's first ever All Blacks squad.

Vaa'i debuted for New Zealand on 11 October 2020, replacing Patrick Tuipulotu off the bench, in the 75th minute, in a 16-16 draw against Australia. Vaa'i became the first player born in the 21st century to represent New Zealand in international rugby.

The following week, with Sam Whitelock ruled out due to concussion symptoms, Vaa'i made his first start for New Zealand, with the All Blacks going on to beat Australia 27-7. Following Tuipulotu's illness ahead of Bledisloe IV a fortnight later, Vaa'i was restored to the matchday 23, accompanying debutants Will Jordan, Asafo Aumua, and Cullen Grace on the bench. He scored his debut test try shortly after coming on, in the 78th minute. Vaa'i ended the 2020 season having played four tests for his country.

2021

Vaa'i became a regular starter for the Chiefs in 2021, finishing the season with a total of 19 Super Rugby caps. He played for the team in the Super Rugby Aotearoa final, which was lost to the Crusaders by 13-24.

He did not feature in the 2021 mid-year tests due to injury, but played three tests for New Zealand during the 2021 Rugby Championship. Vaa'i was used as a replacement off the bench in wins over Argentina and Australia, before starting his first test of the year on 18 September. This was a 36-13 win against Argentina, where Vaa'i played all 80 minutes of the match and scored two tries.

Statistics

Club	Year	Competition	GP	GS	TRY	CON	PEN	DGL	PTS	WL%
Taranaki	2018	Bunnings NPC (incl. Ranfurly Shield)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	33.33	0	0
	2019		6	5	1	0	0	0	5	50.00	0	0
	2020†		3	3	3	0	0	0	15	66.67	0	0
	2021†		2	2	0	0	0	0	0	100.00	0	0
Chiefs	2020	Super Rugby Pacific	7	5	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0
	2021		12	12	2	0	0	0	10	66.67	1	0
	2022		13	13	2	0	0	0	10	69.23	0	0
Career			46	40	8	0	0	0	40	54.35	1	0

Updated: 12 June 2022 Source: Tupou P O Vaa'i Rugby History

List of international test tries

Try	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	6 November 2020	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia	Australia	22–24 (Lost)	Australia Tour

Updated: 21 June 2021 Source: Tupou P O Vaa'i Statsguru

External links

• Tupou Vaa'i at ESPNscrum
• Tupou Vaa'i at ItsRugby.co.uk
• Tupou Vaa'i at All Blacks.com