George Zvi Karl Tu'inukuafe (born 21 February 1993) is a New Zealand

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 it ...

player who currently plays for the in Super Rugby, and for North Harbour in the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

. His position of choice is loosehead prop. He has previously represented the Chiefs in Super Rugby,

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

in the French Rugby Pro Division 2 and has also earned 13 test caps for New Zealand since his international debut in 2018. Tu'inukuafe was also a nominee for

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

's Breakthrough Player of the Year award in 2018.

Early life

Tu'inukuafe is an ex-pupil of Wesley College and played for their 1st XV Rugby team alongside current Blues teammate Nepo Laulala, as well as former All Blacks Malakai Fekitoa and Augustine Pulu. Tu'inukuafe worked as a Security Guard prior to signing to play for the

North Harbour Rugby Union The North Harbour Rugby Union (NHRU), commonly known as North Harbour or simply Harbour, is the governing body of rugby union that encompasses a wide geographical area north of Auckland that includes North Shore City, Rodney District, the Hibis ...

in 2015.

Playing career

Early career

Tu'inukuafe rose to prominence in 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 particip ...

when he was selected for the Chiefs as injury cover after season-ending injuries to rookies

Aidan Ross Aidan Ross (born 25 October 1995) is an Australia-born New Zealand rugby union player who plays Prop for the in the Super Rugby competition and for the All Blacks internationally. Biography Ross debuted for the Bay of Plenty in 2015 and ...

and Atunaisa Moli. Tu'inukuafe became a regular starter for the Chiefs almost immediately and made 16 appearances for the club during 2018. Tu'inukuafe was later selected for 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, ...

after

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 ...

was ruled out of the first two mid-year tests against France. Tu'inukuafe made his debut against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in their first June test match, which took place on 9 June 2018. Tu'inukuafe replaced Joe Moody off the bench, early in the second half and was one of the best performing substitute players as the All Blacks won 52–11. Tu'inukuafe replaced Moody off the bench in the next two tests of the series, including the final, which the All Blacks won by 49–14, making the series a 3–0 win for New Zealand. After starting for the Chiefs in their Super Rugby quarter-final against the Hurricanes on 20 July 2018, the Super Rugby season ended for Tu'inukuafe, with the Chiefs losing 31–32. Following the match, it was announced that Tu'inukuafe had committed to New Zealand Rugby until 2021. Tu'inukuafe is scheduled to move to the Blues for the

2019 Super Rugby season The 2019 Super Rugby season was the 24th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. The 2019 season was the second season using ...

as part of his three-year deal. Tu'inukuafe made his first start for the All Blacks during the 2018 Rugby Championship, starring in a 46–24 victory over Argentina's Los Pumas on 8 September. Tu'inukuafe was replaced by Tim Perry in the 59th minute and was one of the best-performing All Blacks against Los Pumas. Tu'inukuafe started again the following week, against South Africa's Springboks, after Joe Moody was ruled out with injury for the rest of the competition. New Zealand had a shock loss to South Africa, losing 34–36, despite Tu'inukuafe's 59-minute dominance over South African counterpart props,

Frans Malherbe Jozua Francois Malherbe (born 14 March 1991) is a South African rugby union professional player. He plays as a tighthead prop for the South Africa national team and the in the United Rugby Championship. Early life Malherbe attended Paarl ...

and Wilco Louw. Tu'inukuafe started in the last two tests against both Argentina and South Africa, both of which were wins for the All Blacks, winning them the competition and cementing his own place as a regular starter for his country. Although Joe Moody returned from injury for the All Blacks' 2018 end-of-year tour, he was injured once again, with a cut eye, leaving Tu'inukuafe as the first-choice loosehead prop for the rest of the tour. Tu'inukuafe started against England, who had not played the All Blacks in four years, contributing 57 minutes of play towards the All Blacks' narrow 16–15 win over England. The following week, Tu'inukuafe then started against Ireland, who the All Blacks lost to, 9–16. Tu'inukuafe was unsurprisingly out-classed by his opposite, Irish prop

Tadhg Furlong Tadhg Furlong (born 14 November 1992) is an Irish rugby union player for Leinster in the Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup. His preferred position is tighthead prop. Internationally, Furlong has represented Ireland and, in 2017 and 2021, th ...

, with New Zealand's whole front-row only lasting for 46 minutes in the loss to Ireland. He finished his year off, replacing Ofa Tu'ungafasi against Italy, in a 66–3 win.

2019

Although he established himself as a key member of the Blues' front row during the

, Tu'inukuafe failed to make the field for New Zealand in the

2019 Rugby Championship Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

, with his former Chiefs teammate, Atu Moli, returning from long-term leg injuries. Having missed two months of rugby due to illness, Tu'inukuafe was dropped prior to the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

2020

Tu'inukuafe scored his first international try in the 8th minute of the record-breaking 43–5 win over Australia in Sydney, the third match of the 2020 Bledisloe Cup.

World Rugby Awards

In 2018 Tu'inukuafe was nominated for the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year award. Tu'inukuafe joined Super Rugby franchise the Chiefs after a major injury crisis in his favoured loosehead prop position. After an impressive turnout for the franchise, he received a "sweet wake up call" when he was called up into the national team due to the injury of

. Although Tu'inukuafe did not win the award, losing to South African winger, Aphiwe Dyantyi, (in 2019, Dyantyi tested positive for a banned substance and was subsequently banned for four years) he has won major respect from other rugby players and fans alike.

Honours

All Blacks *

Dave Gallaher Trophy The Dave Gallaher Trophy is a rugby union trophy contested between and . It is named after Dave Gallaher, the 1905–06 All Black captain who was killed in Belgium during World War I. History When it comes to rugby, France and New Zealand have a ...

- 2018 * The Rugby Championship - 2018 Individual *World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year - 2018 (nominated)

Personal life

Tu'inukuafe returned to playing rugby due to a significant weight gain when he was working as a Security Guard. Tu'inukuafe weighed in at 170 kg before returning to rugby and lost 35 kg, between then and making his international debut for New Zealand, becoming the second-to-heaviest All Black in history, second only to former All Black

Neemia Tialata Neemia Stanley Tialata (born 15 July 1982 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He currently plays for Stade Toulousain in the Top 14. As well as representing New Zealand from 2005 - 2010, he also played for the H ...

. Tu'inukuafe has modelled for Johnny Bigg, a plus-sized menswear company, in 2018. Many of Tu'inukuafe's All Blacks team-mates, such as Rieko Ioane and Joe Moody have also done so.

References

External links

All Blacks profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tu'inukuafe, Karl New Zealand rugby union players 1993 births Living people Rugby union players from Auckland RC Narbonne players North Harbour rugby union players Chiefs (rugby union) players Blues (Super Rugby) players Expatriate rugby union players in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Rugby union props New Zealand international rugby union players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players