Atieli Pakalani (born 2 August 1989) 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 ...

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. He is nicknamed the 'Tongan Hitman', and his usual position is on the

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 ...

. Pakalani played

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 ...

for the NSW Waratahs in 2011. In 2017 Pakalani joined

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 ...

Biography

Pakalani attended secondary school at

Tamaki College Tamaki College is co-educational Secondary School in Glen Innes, Auckland, New Zealand. Originally constructed on two sites, it was planned to create a separate boys and girls colleges when the roll reached 1400. The separate sites in Glen Inne ...

in New Zealand. He joined

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

team

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 2009 on a two-year deal. He also captained the Tongan Under 20 team at the

2009 IRB Junior World Championship The 2009 IRB Junior World Championship (known as the 2009 IRB Toshiba Junior World Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the second annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaces the now def ...

. In 2014 Pakalani represented Australia 7s at the time committing him to represent Australia only. In 2016 he was successful in an application to use a loophole in World Rugby's eligibility laws to allow him to represent Tonga and on 1 July 2017 he made his international debut for in a 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifier against . Pakalani competed for

at the

2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the eighth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens organised by World Rugby. The 2022 tournament, comprising 24 men's and 16 women's teams as previously, was played over three days in one venue in September. It ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Reference list

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pakalani, Atieli Tongan rugby union players Rugby union wings 1989 births Living people New South Wales Waratahs players Auckland rugby union players Tongan emigrants to New Zealand Tongan expatriate rugby union players in Australia People educated at Tamaki College Rugby union players from Tongatapu Leicester Tigers players Tonga international rugby union players Peñarol Rugby players Rugby sevens players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 2019 Rugby World Cup players Eastwood Rugby Club players Tongan expatriate rugby union players in England US Carcassonne players Tongan expatriate rugby union players in France