Amanaki Lelei Mafi (born 11 January 1990) is a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n-born, Japanese professional

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 currently plays as a number 8 for the Japanese Sunwolves,

Japan national rugby union team The Japan national rugby union team, often known as the Cherry Blossoms, Sakura, and more recently The Brave Blossoms (''ブレイブ・ブロッサムズ - Bureibu burossamuzu'') is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has ...

and the Bath Rugby Union team for a short period of time.

Debut

Mafi represented Tonga U20 in the 2009 Junior World Cup, before moving to

Hanazono University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan that belongs to the Rinzai sect (specifically the Myōshin-ji temple complex, which it is next to). The university and the neighborhood are named for Emperor Hanazono, whose donated his palace to make Myōsh ...

in Japan in 2010. After a breakout first season in the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

for

NTT Communications Shining Arcs Urayasu D-Rocks, commonly known as the D-Rocks, or the Shining Arcs, is a rugby union team owned by NTT Communications and is part of Japan's Rugby League One competition, currently in Division 2. Given the name, the team is based in Urayasu Ci ...

, Mafi was named in both the

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

squad for the 2014 November tests. He opted to play for Japan though, and made an immediate impact which was noted as 'pretty special' by coach Eddie Jones. Mafi was then sidelined for eight months with a career-threatening dislocated hip injury but recovered just in time to make it back into the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

squad, where he again impressed. Following the 2015–16 Top League season, he moved to England to join for

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

on a short -term loan deal where he was described as a 'sensation', However his stay was ended early in controversial circumstances following an altercation with the club's medical officer. Mafi made four appearances for Japan, including scoring two tries, at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and played an important role in the team's historical 34–32 win over the Springboks by providing the winning pass that secured the biggest upset of the tournament.

Career

Before Mafi's 2014 call up for the Brave Blossoms for his senior international debut against Romania he played in Japan's Kansai Collegiate Rugby Championships. In 2016, Mafi joined Bath Rugby Team on a short-term contract and made immediate impact with four tries in his first four matches. In August 2016 Mafi signed to join the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

to train for 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 ...

. On November 19, 2016, Mafi won the

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in Japan's 33–30 loss to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at the Principality Stadium in the Under Armour Autumn Series. On May 30, 2017, Mafi was named to be in the Brave Blossoms Rugby Union team that represents Japan in international rugby union competitions. In July 2018 Mafi was charged with assault with intent to injure after allegedly assaulting teammate

Lopeti Timani Lopeti Timani (born 28 September 1990) is a Tongan professional rugby union player. His usual position is second row or number 8. After two seasons with the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby, he signed on to play for the Melbourne Rebels in 2014. H ...

at a party in Dunedin. He was subsequently selected for the 2019 Rugby World Cup while still awaiting trial. In December 2019 he pleaded guilty to assault, but avoided a conviction after paying Timani NZ$50,000.

Super Rugby Statistics

References

1990 births Living people Japanese rugby union players Japan international rugby union players Urayasu D-Rocks players Bath Rugby players Rugby union number eights Expatriate rugby union players in England Tongan expatriate sportspeople in Japan Rugby union players from Haʻapai Japanese expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Melbourne Rebels players Sunwolves players Yokohama Canon Eagles players Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Australia Tongan expatriate sportspeople in Australia Tongan expatriate sportspeople in England Naturalized citizens of Japan Japanese expatriate sportspeople in England Naturalised sports competitors 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players {{Japan-rugbyunion-bio-stub