Jeffery Latu Toomaga-Allen (born 19 November 1990) is a

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 who plays as a

tighthead prop In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

for

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 ...

, and for

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

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 ...

. He previously played for

Wellington Lions The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named West ...

in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

and the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

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 ...

. Toomaga-Allen has also played for New Zealand's international rugby team, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

, three times during his career.

Career

Toomaga-Allen represented New Zealand under 20 in the

2010 IRB Junior World Championship The 2010 IRB Junior World Championship was the third annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby's ...

. He made his debut for Wellington and for the Hurricanes in 2012, quickly becoming a regular starter for both teams. Toomaga-Allen became

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

no. 1130, in the test against Japan on 2 November 2013. This came after he was called into the 2013 end-of-year tour squad as injury cover. Toomaga-Allen was not selected for the All Blacks in 2014, with Crusaders prop Joe Moody called in as injury cover for Tony Woodcock over Toomaga-Allen for the remainder of the

2014 Rugby Championship The 2014 Rugby Championship was the third edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship consisting of Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The tournament was won by New Zealand, with South Africa second, Aus ...

. Toomaga-Allen retained his spot as a regular for the Hurricanes and for Wellington though. Toomaga-Allen came off the bench in the 2015 Super Rugby Final, but this was lost to the Highlanders 14–21. Toomaga-Allen did not play in the following year's Grand Final which the Hurricanes won, due to his run of injuries. Toomaga-Allen re-established his place as a regular starter for the Hurricanes in 2017, starting against the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

on 27 June in a 31–31 draw. Toomaga-Allen also started in the knockout rounds of Super Rugby that year, but the Hurricanes lost the semi-final to the Lions in Johannesburg 44–29. After season-ending injuries to Joe Moody and

Owen Franks Owen Thomas Franks (born 23 December 1987) is a New Zealand rugby player who currently plays for Hurricanes (rugby union), Hurricanes in the Super Rugby competition. His usual position is tighthead prop. Franks has previously represented the C ...

, Toomaga-Allen was re-called to the All Blacks for the

2017 Rugby Championship The 2017 Rugby Championship was the sixth edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four c ...

but did not make an appearance for New Zealand that year until the 2017 end-of-year tour where he came off the bench against the 31–22 win against the Barbarians, replacing Ofa Tu'ungafasi with 13 minutes left. Toomaga-Allen made his first start for New Zealand ten days later when he took part in the 28–23 win over a French XV for 66 minutes before being replaced. Toomaga-Allen missed the first few rounds of the

2018 Super Rugby season The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participate ...

due to injury but returned off the bench on 24 March 2018, during a 29–12 victory over the Highlanders. Toomaga-Allen returned to his starting position the week later when the Hurricanes beat the Sharks 38–37. After a good Super Rugby season, Toomaga-Allen was retained by the All Blacks for their 2018 Steinlager series against France, but he did not play in any of the three tests. Having played his 100th Super Rugby game for the Hurricanes on 20 July 2018, which was also departing team-mate

Blade Thomson Blade Neville Thomson (born 4 December 1990) is a former professional rugby union player who played as a lock or loose forward. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he represented Scotland in international rugby, being eligible for the national team ...

's 50th game. Toomaga-Allen's 100th game for the Hurricanes was also the quarter-final against the Chiefs, which the Hurricanes won 32–31 at home. Toomaga-Allen and the rest of the Hurricanes were dismissed from the competition the following week when they lost the semi-final to the Crusaders 12–30. Toomaga-Allen was not initially selected for the

2018 Rugby Championship The 2018 Rugby Championship was the seventh edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four ...

, with newcomers

Karl Tu'inukuafe George Zvi Karl Tu'inukuafe (born 21 February 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays for the in Super Rugby, and for North Harbour in the Mitre 10 Cup. His position of choice is loosehead prop. He has previously repres ...

and

Tim Perry Timothy D. Perry (born June 4, 1965) is an American former basketball player. Following his college career with Temple he played professionally for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association and Liga ACB. Playing career Perry played colle ...

the preferred option for the All Blacks selectors. Toomaga-Allen was then instead named as the Vice-Captain for Wellington for the

2018 Mitre 10 Cup The 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season was the thirteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 16, when North Harbour hosted Northland. It involved the top f ...

, under new captain

Matt Proctor Matthew Phillip Proctor (born 26 October 1992) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a utility back for the Northampton Saints in the Premiership Rugby and for the in Super Rugby. Club career In October 2012, he was name ...

. However, Toomaga-Allen was called in as a precautionary injury cover for Ofa Tu'ungafasi. Toomaga-Allen then suffered his own hamstring injury, causing

Angus Ta'avao Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * Angu ...

to be called up for the All Blacks. Toomaga-Allen moved to England to join top English Premiership side

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

on an undisclosed-length deal from the 2019–20 season. He joined

for the 2022-23 season. From 2022, Toomaga-Allen represents

following a rule change which allows players to represent a second nation if they serve a three-year international absence and were either born in the second country or have a parent or grandparent born there. Toomaga-Allen made his debut for

against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 5 November 2022 in the

2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2022 end of year rugby union tests, also known as the 2022 Autumn internationals, were a number of rugby union test matches played during the months of October and November. Some of the games were known as the Autumn Nations Series for marketin ...

References

External links

*
Ulster Rugby profileHurricanes profileWellington profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toomaga-Allen, Jeffery 1990 births New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Wellington rugby union players Rugby union props Rugby union players from Wellington City People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) Living people Wasps RFC players Ulster Rugby players Samoan rugby union players Samoa international rugby union players