Epi Taione (born 2 March 1979) is a former
Tongan
rugby union footballer whose last club was
London Welsh. He normally played at
centre but could cover the
wing or
back row.
Rugby career
He started his professional career at
Newcastle Falcons. In the summer of 2005, he joined
Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...
on a two-year contract. However, his contract was cancelled when he was banned for 18 weeks for biting
Denis Leamy in a
Heineken Cup
The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
game against
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
. In the
2005–2006 season, Taione made 5 appearances before his contract was terminated, and
Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...
won their first ever
Premiership title. After his ban he went to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
to play for the
Sanyo Wild Knights
Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the l ...
.
Taione controversially changed his name to
Paddy Power for the duration of 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 ...
in a sponsorship deal agreed with the Irish bookmaker. the sponsorship deal financed the Tongan preparation for the World Cup. The Tongans nearly beat the eventual winner, South Africa, and lost narrowly to the other finalist, England.
He then went to play for the , but in the
2008 Super 14 season
The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' ...
he was suspended for six weeks after headbutting a
Wellington Hurricanes player, and was also suspended for two weeks in the
IRB Pacific 5 Nations after dangerously tackling
New Zealand Maori Number Eight,
Thomas Waldrom
Thomas Waldrom (born 28 April 1983) is a former rugby union player who played for Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership and represented England from 2012 to 2013. Born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, he qualified for England through his grandmot ...
. His next move was to
Harlequins, but he received little playing time and so moved on to the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
side
Racing Métro 92
Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...
in 2009. In 2010, he joined
London Welsh.
He played for
Tonga at the
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
and
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 ...
s. He also played for the
Pacific Islanders.
Taione was forced to retire in December 2011 due to a serious knee injury.
In 2009, Taione had a small non-speaking role as a member of the New Zealand Rugby team in the film ''
Invictus
"Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was written in 1875 and published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section ''Life and Death (Echoes)''.
Backgr ...
''.
He is a founder member of APBs aka The Brothers, an invitational club that is instrumental in developing the game in the Asia and Pacific regions. He is involved in a few business ventures around the world including clubs and bars in London. He's a board member of the
Tongan Rugby Union.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taione, Epi
Tongan rugby union players
1979 births
Living people
Newcastle Falcons players
Sale Sharks players
Harlequin F.C. players
Expatriate rugby union players in Japan
Tongan actors
Tonga international rugby union players
Pacific Islanders rugby union players
Racing 92 players
London Welsh RFC players
Sharks (rugby union) players
Tongan expatriate rugby union players
Expatriate rugby union players in England
Expatriate rugby union players in France
Tongan expatriate sportspeople in France
Tongan expatriate sportspeople in Japan
Tongan expatriate sportspeople in England
Rugby union centres