Aki Seiuli (born 22 December 1992) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

born

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player of Samoan heritage who currently plays as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

and the Samoan national side. He previously played for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

; and the New Zealand sides - in domestic

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

- and the - in the international

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Born in Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island, Seiuli moved to the town of

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

, which lies roughly halfway between Christchurch and Dunedin, in 2002 and attended

Timaru Boys' High School Timaru Boys' High School (also known as TBHS), established in 1880, is a single sex state (public) secondary school located in the port city of Timaru, South Canterbury, New Zealand. TBHS caters for years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 19 years). At th ...

there. He captained the school's first XV rugby side in his final year before going on to play once for

South Canterbury South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the Souther ...

in the

Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the countr ...

while he was still a college student. He later moved to

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

and turned out for the Taieri Eels with whom he won the Dunedin Premier Club Championship in 2012.

Professional career

Success in local club rugby saw Seiuli earn a spot in the Otago squad for the

2012 ITM Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. After debuting in a match against local rivals in week 3 of the competition , he went on to play 7 times throughout the year as the Razorbacks reached the Championship final before being thrashed 41-16 by . He once again featured 7 times in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, with every appearance from the replacements bench before becoming much more of a regular in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. Injury to fellow loosehead Craig Millar meant that he started all 10 of Otago's games in what proved to be a difficult year which ended up with them finishing in 6th place on the championship log and missing out on the playoffs completely.

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

brought about an upturn in Otago's form with a 3rd place log finish and an appearance in the Championship semi-finals before being downed 34-14 by , however Millar's return from injury meant that Seiuli found himself once again playing largely from the replacements bench, making just 2 starts from 10 appearances. It was a pattern which continued through

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Seiuli starting 3 games in the number 1 jersey to Millar's 9 as the men from Dunedin topped the Championship log before surprisingly losing out at home to in the final which consigned them to another season of championship rugby in 2017. Seiuli was not named in any of the five New Zealand

franchise's squads ahead of the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

, however an injury crisis in the Highlanders front row saw him called into their set-up to provide short-term cover. He made the bench for the Highlanders clash with the on 16 May 2014, but remained an unused replacement and in the end didn't make any appearances during the year. Seiuli once again found himself in the Super Rugby wilderness in 2015 before injuries once again provided him with an opportunity in

. A season-ending injury suffered by

Brendon Edmonds Brendon Edmonds (born 28 November 1990) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played as a prop for in the ITM Cup and the in Super Rugby. Career Hailing from the Hawke's Bay Region, Edmonds played during the 2006-2008 seasons for the ...

in April 2016 saw Seiuli brought in as back up to

Daniel Lienert-Brown Daniel Lienert-Brown (born 9 February 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a loosehead prop for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Early career Born and ...

and Craig Millar. He finally made his Super Rugby debut in an impressive 26-13 victory over the in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

on 7 May 2016 and went on to play 7 times in total during the year as his side reached the tournament semi-finals before going down to the in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. Tony Brown replaced the bound

Jamie Joseph James Whitinui Joseph (born 21 November 1969) is a New Zealand-born Japanese former rugby union player and current rugby union coach. A flanker, Joseph represented Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, ...

as Highlanders head-coach ahead of the

2017 Super Rugby season The 2017 Super Rugby season was the 22nd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the second season featuring an expand ...

and having worked with Seiuli before at provincial level, he saw fit to promote him to the franchise's senior squad ahead of his first campaign in charge. On 11 September 2019, Seiuli moved to Scotland to sign for

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

competition from the 2019-20 season. Seiuli stated: "Glasgow play a great brand of rugby, and that really drew me here. I’m really looking forward to getting out in front of the crowd here at Scotstoun. Hearing them at the Sale Sharks game was awesome – they’re on another level, and the atmosphere was incredible." He made his competitive debut for the Warriors on 30 November 2019, becoming Glasgow Warrior No. 308. Of the Glasgow move he told the Warrior Nation in a Q & A: "I’m loving it. The team is a great bunch of guys and the fans have been so welcoming since I came to Glasgow." He was nominated for the Glasgow Warriors Player of the Season award in 2019-20. On 20 July 2021 he signed with

Super Rugby Statistics

International career

On 29 May 2021 Seiuli was named in the

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

international squad - alongside his then team-mate at

TJ Ioane TJ Ioane (9 May 1989 in Samoa) is a Samoa international rugby union player. He plays as a flanker for Glasgow Warriors in the Pro14 on loan from Premiership Rugby side London Irish. Rugby Union career Amateur career Ioane moved from Samoa to ...

- to play the Maori All Blacks and Tonga in the summer of 2021. Both Seiuli's parents are Samoan, and his father was reportedly very keen for his son to represent Samoa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seiuli, Aki 1992 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Rugby union props South Canterbury rugby union players Otago rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Timaru People educated at Timaru Boys' High School Glasgow Warriors players Dragons RFC players Samoan rugby union players Samoa international rugby union players