Ben Tapuai (born 19 January 1989) is an Australian professional

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player for The Sharks, who plays in the

United Rugby Championship 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 ...

. Tapuai grew up in Melbourne and is of

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 heritage. His playing position is centre.

Early career

In 2005 Tapuai was part of the World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament in Japan. In 2006 Tapuai was part of the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players ...

squad that toured Fiji and

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 ...

, along with Robert Horne. Both Tapuai and Horne continued in the Schoolboys in 2007, and Tapuai was selected at inside centre (No.12) ahead of fellow Queensland representative James O'Connor. Notably, he played schoolboy rugby with four other players that would go on to play professional rugby, including three other wallabies. His school team mates included

James Slipper James Slipper (born 6 June 1989) is an Australian rugby union player who plays at prop. Slipper formerly captained the Queensland Reds, now playing for ACT Brumbies. Slipper made his debut during the 2010 Super 14 season. In June 2010 Slipper ca ...

Rob Simmons Robert Ruhl "Rob" Simmons (born February 11, 1943) is an American politician and retired U.S. Army colonel who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, representing Connecticut's second congressional d ...

and

Luke Morahan Luke Morahan (born 13 April 1990) is an Australian rugby player currently playing for the Bristol Bears in the Premiership Rugby, English Premiership since 2017. Morahan's main position is on the Wing (rugby union), wing, however, he does also p ...

. In 2008 Tapuai represented the Australian Under 20s in Japan, and played in the

2008 IRB Junior World Championship The 2008 IRB Junior World Championship was the first annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. All players who were twenty years of age or under on 1 January 2008 were eligible for selection. This competition repla ...

in Wales. His Under-20 teammates included Liam Gill and Chris Feauai-Sautia. Tapuai is a product of Sunnybank. In 2011 Tapuai he and his brother Rex Tapuai formed a strong partnership at inside (No.12) and outside centre (No.13) to help the 'Dragons' win the final of the

Queensland Premier Rugby Queensland Premier Rugby is a semi professional club rugby union competition in Queensland, Australia. Nine clubs play in the competition, eight of which are from Brisbane with one club from the Gold Coast. The premiership has been contested ...

competition.

Career

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Tapuai made his

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 ...

debut for the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

against the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

while still in the Queensland state academy program. He played four games for the Reds in that season. Tapuai played few games for Reds in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, and coach

Ewen McKenzie Ewen James Andrew McKenzie (born 21 June 1965) is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played for Australia's World Cup winning team in 1991 and earned 51 caps for the Wallabies during his tes ...

said Tapuai had struggled to get through 80 minutes and needed to work on his fitness. Regarding Tapuai's versatility, McKenzie said, "He can play No.10, 12 and 13. He's probably better suited to No.13 but it depends on the centre combination." In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, under a full contract he played in 10 of the Reds 18 games, including the final, and formed a strong combination with Wallaby centre

Anthony Fainga'a Anthony Fainga'a (born 2 February 1987) is an Australian former professional rugby union footballer. His usual position is centre. Family and early life Anthony Fainga'a was born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, and started playing rugby leagu ...

. In 2011 Reds acknowledged Tapuai's emerging talents - strong defence, straight ball running and accurate left boot, and he received the Reds award for Most Improved Player. Later in 2011, Tapuai made his debut for the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

, in Australia's 60–11 win against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. This was a non-cap match, and he went on as a replacement for

Berrick Barnes Berrick Steven Barnes (born 28 May 1986) is a former Australian professional rugby union footballer. His usual position is fly-half or inside centre. He is currently signed with Japanese Top League club Panasonic Wild Knights, but previously pl ...

. A week later he made his test debut for Australia against

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 ...

, in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, called on to replace Adam Ashley-Cooper.Wallabies profile, 2011
/ref> In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

"Tapuai started in the Reds first eight games ... until he sustained a broken collarbone in a tackle by

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

centre

Juan de Jongh Juan Leon de Jongh (born 15 April 1988) is a South African rugby union footballer. He was one of the stars of Vodacom WP's ABSA Currie Cup campaign in 2009 and he made his debut against the . He became the first choice inside centre for the Stor ...

in Brisbane." Against the Waratahs, in Round 18, Tapuai left the bench to replace Faingaa in the 78th minute. In 2012 here was speculation Tapuai would sign with 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 ...

for

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 ...

. He said, "I was contemplating going, but at the end of the day I stuck at it and stuck with the Reds ... but in saying that it would be awesome to go back to Melbourne and to finish off there, but I haven't even thought of that." On 2 November 2016, Tapuai left Western Force to join English club Bath 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 ...

with immediate effect. On 6 March 2018, Tapuai agrees a deal to join Premiership rivals Harlequins from the 2018–19 season. He was a replacement in the Premiership final against Exeter on 26 June 2021 as Harlequins won the game 40-38 in the highest scoring Premiership final ever. On 25 July 2021, Tapuai would move to South Africa to sign for Durban-based

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

in the

ahead of the 2021-22 season. He made his debut for the Sharks on 20 November 2021 when he started against the Cheetahs, in a match that formed part of the Toyota Challenge. He later made his URC debut on 22 January 2022 when starting for the Sharks in an away match against the Lions.

Super Rugby statistics

References

External links

Reds ProfileWallabies Profile
(2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapuai, Ben 1989 births Australian rugby union players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australia international rugby union players Queensland Reds players Brisbane City (rugby union) players Rugby union centres People from Brisbane People educated at the Southport School Living people Bath Rugby players Australian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Western Force players Perth Spirit players Harlequin F.C. players Sharks (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Brisbane