Christian Loamanu (born 13 May 1986 in Tatakamotonga,

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 ...

) is a Tongan-born Japanese

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 plays at

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 ...

but can also play

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 ...

and fullback. Loamanu's grandfather Tevita Sitanilei played scrum half for the Tongan national rugby union team, whilst his brother Sitani has played for the

Tongan national rugby league team The Tonga national rugby league team ( to, timi līki ʻakapulu fakafonua ʻa Tonga) represents Tonga in rugby league football. They are currently the IRL Men's World Rankings, second ranked team in the world. The team was formed to compete in ...

. Loamanu left his native

at the age of 15 to move to Japan on a scholarship. He made his debut for the

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 ...

against in April 2005 aged 18 years and 338 days old and became the youngest player of all time to play for Japan (a record since broken by

Yoshikazu Fujita Yoshikazu Fujita (藤田慶和, born 8 September 1993 in Kyoto) is a Japanese international rugby union player. After impressing the coaches with his form playing for the Japan sevens team, Fujita was selected for the Japan national rugby uni ...

). A few days after his second cap against , Loamanu was banned for a year from the Japan team after getting embroiled in a fight involving female professional wrestler

Mika Akino , better known as Akino, (born October 24, 1973 in Tokyo, Japan) is a female Japanese ''joshi wrestler'', signed to Oz Academy. Billed from Honshū, she started late in the sport and didn't debut until the age of 24. Trained by Mariko Yoshida, s ...

in Tokyo's

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...

nightspot district. He was recalled in 2007 and scored a hat trick on his return to the side against and he played at the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

later that year. He joined

Toshiba Brave Lupus Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo is a Japanese rugby union team in the Top League. They are based in Fuchu, Tokyo, as is their local rival Suntory Sungoliath. They won the second ever Top League championship in the 2004-5 season and the Microsoft Cup i ...

in 2008 and won 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 ...

with them, but in February 2009 Loamanu tested positive for

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

and was banned for life from playing rugby in Japan by the JRFU whilst his club Toshiba Brave Lupus withdrew from the All Japan Championship after the incident. In 2011 Japan coach John Kirwan appealed for the ban to be withdrawn before the

but the request was turned down by the JRFU who said Loamanu "was not suitable to represent Japan". After being exiled from Japanese rugby, Loamanu moved to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

for the 2009/10 season and spent three seasons there. He was released in 2012, and he joined Benetton Treviso after his former coach John Kirwan suggested the move. In May 2014, Loamanu has signed for English club

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 ...

where he will compete 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 ...

from the 2014–15 season. The Japanese Rugby Union decided to lift his indefinite ban in November 2014. On 22 June 2016, Loamanu returned to France as he signed for

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

, competing in the

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

from the 2016–17 season. As of February 2019, he plays for and coaches an amateur team in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

References

External links