Anitelea "Andy" Tuilagi (born 5 June 1986) is a

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 ...

n international

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. His position is either

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. He is part of the famous Tuilagi rugby family, with his older brothers Henry, Freddie,

Alesana Alesana ( ) is an American post-hardcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The group was founded by Shawn Milke, Dennis Lee and Patrick Thompson during the fall of 2004, and is currently signed to Revival Recordings and Artery Recordings. Alesa ...

, and younger brothers Vavae and

Manu Manu may refer to: Geography *Manú Province, a province of Peru, in the Madre de Dios Region ** Manú National Park, Peru **Manú River, in southeastern Peru * Manu River (Tripura), which originates in India and flows into Bangladesh *Manu Temp ...

all also having played international rugby. He has played club rugby for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

, in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

, and a season loan at Leeds Tykes, now Yorkshire Carnegie, in National Division One. Tuilagi made his Leicester début at Welford Road against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

as a replacement. Following a loan period at Leeds, Tuilagi ended his contract with

to join Yorkshire Carnegie full-time. On 19 August 2008 Tuilagi was confirmed as the last signing that would be joining

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

on a four-year contract. On 13 June 2011 Sale Sharks announced that Tuilagi had been released from his contract after three years and on 29 November 2011 he joined

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

. He made his debut against

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 ...

on 4 December 2011. He left Newport Gwent Dragons at the end of the 2012-13 season after turning down a new contract. On 8 May 2014, Antielea returned to England as signed for Newcastle Falcons in the

on a two-year contract from the 2014-15 season, where he will join with his brother,

Alesana Tuilagi Alesana "Alex" Tuilagi (born 24 February 1981) is a former Samoan rugby player. He is a retired footballer, currently residing in Fogapoa Savaii and has appeared numerous times for his national team Samoa. He previously played for Parma in Ital ...

International career

Tuilagi became the youngest player to play for Samoa at aged 19 years and 27 days when he made his debut in July 2005 against

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 ...

, where he scored a try to also become the youngest player ever to score for Samoa. He was named in the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

squad, but was forced out of the tournament through injury. Since then he has been dropped out of favour in international rugby, his last call up coming in 2014 after 5 years out of the side.

References

External links

Leeds profileSale profileManu Samoa supporters websiteNewport Gwent Dragons squad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuilagi, Anitelea 1986 births Living people Dragons RFC players Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in Wales Leeds Tykes players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Sale Sharks players Samoa international rugby union players Samoan sportspeople Samoan expatriate rugby union players Samoan expatriate sportspeople in England Samoan expatriate sportspeople in Wales Samoan rugby union players Sportspeople from Apia Tuilagi family