Alipate Tuilevuka ("Pate" for short) (born 11 July 1980 in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 who played his club career with Old Puget Sound Beach. Tuilevuka played the wing, centre or flyhalf. He is the current head coach for the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR).

College

Tuilevuka played for Brigham Young University in 2006 where he achieve All-American honors.

Club career

Following his collegiate career with BYU, Tuilevuka moved to Ireland where he played for Galwegians RFC. Having made appearances for the 'A' side, Tuilevuka was included in the

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

match day squad for their match against the Glasgow Warriors on 5 October 2007. However, he failed to made an appearance for the side. He was a member of the 2012 Old Puget Sound Beach team that lost to

New York Athletic Club RFC The New York Athletic Club Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in New York City that is affiliated with the New York Athletic Club. Sponsorship American Rugby Premiership Club honors * Rugby Super League Champions: 2005, 2008, 2010, ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

final, having gone undefeated in the regular season.

International

Tuilevuka achieved the last of his ten caps in a victory over Russia on 5 June 2010. He was selected to tour with the USA Eagles squad for the Autumn 2010 tour of Europe, during which started on the wing against a Scotland A side.

Coaching career

Having worked as a skills coach with the Seawolves since 2019, in April 2021 it was announced that Tuilevuka would become the director of rugby as well as oversee the academy and Pacific Northwest rugby development.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuilevuka, Alipate 1980 births Living people American rugby union players United States international rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Suva