Deacon Tehanakore Manu (born 18 February 1979 in

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

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 ...

) is a New Zealand-born retired

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

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 ...

footballer. He played as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for the Scarlets in the

Pro12 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 ...

, having signed from the Chiefs in 2006. He was also the head coach of

Hong Kong Cricket Club The Hong Kong Cricket Club () is situated in the heart of Hong Kong Island surrounded by the hills and greenery of Wong Nai Chung Gap Wong Nai Chung Gap () is a geographic gap in the middle of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The gap is betwee ...

in the HKRFU Premiership, and is now a Physical Education teacher with ACS (International) in Singapore.

Career

Playing

Born in

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

, Manu began his rugby career with Waikato, the province immediately to the north of Taranaki. He made his debut for Waikato in 1999, playing against a Japanese XV. He made a further 65 appearances for Waikato during his time there. In 2001, he was selected for the Waikato Chiefs Super 12 squad. He made his debut for the Chiefs in their opening game of the

2001 Super 12 season The 2001 Super 12 season was the sixth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2001, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular seaso ...

, a 42–23 loss to the Waratahs. Manu played for the Chiefs for a further five years before being signed by the Welsh club Scarlets in the summer of 2006. He made his competitive debut for the Scarlets on 8 September 2006, coming on as a 29th-minute substitute for John Davies in a 31–17 victory over the

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 ...

. Manu has international experience playing for the New Zealand Māori, having played against the British & Irish Lions during their

2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand In 2005, the British & Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing seven matches against first and second division teams from the National Provincial Championship, one match against the New Zealand Mao ...

. He has also played for the New Zealand Universities and New Zealand Under 21s. In the lead-up to 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 ...

, Manu expressed his availability for selection to the Fijian selectors. Although he had played all of his representative rugby for New Zealand teams up to that point, Manu was eligible for

through his Fijian mother. Manu made his debut for Fiji in 2009 against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and captained Fiji in their game against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in June 2010. He later returned for the 2010 end of year tour and was handed the captaincy of the Fiji team again. He later captained the side in the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

. He last represented Fiji on 17 November 2012 against the Ireland Wolfhounds.

Coaching

On 28 April 2014, Manu announced that he would retire at the end of the 2013-14 European season, and take up the role of Head Coach for

, which is a rugby union club that plays in the HKRFU Premiership. In January 2020, Manu joined Dragons Rugby Club, which plays in the Junior Rugby Clubs Singapore conference, as a head coach. In March 2020, Manu was appointed by ACS (International) to a PE maternity leave position In August 2021, Manu was appointed a role as a coach in the Dulwich College Singapore staff.

Personal life

Deacon Manu is married and has 3 children. He is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

References

External links

Profile
at scarlets.co.uk
Profile
at allblacks.com
Profile
at twitter.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Manu, Deacon 1979 births Living people New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Fiji international rugby union players Rugby union props Scarlets players People educated at Francis Douglas Memorial College Rugby union players from New Plymouth Māori All Blacks players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Wales New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Wales New Zealand people of I-Taukei Fijian descent