Daniel Tonga Faleafa (born 13 February 1989) is a Tongan

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 plays in the flanker and occasionally lock position for the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

based

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 ...

side,

Colomiers Colomiers (; oc, Colomèrs; Languedocien dialect: ''Colomièrs'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southwester ...

. Faleafa also represents

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 ...

at international level.

Early years

Daniel Faleafa attended Mt Roskill Grammar School and Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland. He played for the

New Zealand national schoolboy rugby union team The New Zealand Schools rugby union team, commonly referred to as the New Zealand schoolboys rugby team, is composed of secondary school students in New Zealand. Many of the players have gone on to play for professional clubs or provinces or for ...

in 2007.

Playing career

Daniel Faleafa is a powerful and athletic backrower who is very adept at playing lock due to his brilliant lineout ability. He started off as a member of the Auckland Rugby Academy and in 2009 was a key member of the

New Zealand national under-20 rugby union team The New Zealand Under 20's Rugby Team are the representative Rugby Union team from New Zealand. They replace the two former age grade teams Under 19s and Under 21s. Their first tournament was the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship, which they won ...

that won 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 ...

. Daniel joined Northland in on loan in 2009 where he played 1 ITM Cup game before returning to Auckland to make another 2 ITM Cup appearances that same season. Faleafa joined Northland full-time from 2010 and made 15 appearances over the next three seasons.

International career

Faleafa is a former New Zealand representative at Secondary School and Under-20 level. In 2013 he was named to play for Tonga in the

2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2013 Pacific Nations Cup rugby union tournament was held between five national sides in the Pacific Region: Canada national rugby union team, Canada, Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji, Japan national rugby union team, Japan, Tonga national r ...

References

External links

* * 1989 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Tonga international rugby union players Colomiers Rugby players Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks 2019 Rugby World Cup players Randwick DRUFC players {{Tonga-rugbyunion-bio-stub