Lopeti Timani (born 28 September 1990) is a Tongan professional

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. His usual position is second row or number 8. After two seasons with the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the sta ...

in Super Rugby, he signed on to play for the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. He now plays for Cardiff Rugby in Wales. He played 12 times for Australia in 2016, and in 2021 played for

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 ...

, becoming the first player to represent a second national team since World Rugby changed its eligibiity rules.

Early life

Lopeti Timani was born in the Tongan village of Navutoka. His older brothers Sione Timani and

Sitaleki Timani Sitaleki Timani (born 19 September 1986), is a Tongan-born, Australian professional rugby union footballer. He made his test debut for the Wallabies in 2011. His usual position is lock. Timani's professional club career spanned eight seasons of ...

are both international rugby players. He attended Tonga College 'Atele on Tonga. In 2008 he was selected for Tonga's under-20s rugby world championship team at the age of 17, but could not play because of the minimum age limit of 18 imposed by the International Rugby Board. At age 18 he moved to Australia and switched codes, playing

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

in the NRL's Toyota Cup competition in 2009 and 2010.

Rugby union career

In 2011, Timani returned to rugby union, joining the Junior Waratahs professional squad where he played in the

Pacific Rugby Cup The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams (formed from the best locally based players, with most not alr ...

. He played for the

Southern Districts Rugby Club Southern Districts Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in southern Sydney. The club currently competes in the New South Wales Rugby Union competition the Shute Shield. The club was formed by the amalgamation of the St George and Port Hacking ...

in the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...

, where he developed his ability to play at lock in addition to the back row. He signed an extended player squad contract with the Waratahs for the 2012 season, and made his Super Rugby debut against the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

in round one. He played against the British & Irish Lions in 2013. Timani signed with the

for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In 2016, Timani debuted for Australia against Argentina in Perth before getting his run on debut against Argentina at Twickenham Stadium in London. This was seen as Timani's break out game as he continued as starting no.8 for his next 4 appearances. Timani recommitted to Australia Rugby until 2019 turning down lucrative offers form Europe. In August 2018, Timani travels to France to join

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

ahead of the 2018-19 season. Lopeti played for La Rochelle for the 2018-2019, 2019-2020 & 2020-2021 seasons. La Rochelle made the final of the European Challenge Cup & the semi-final of the Top 14 in 2018-2019 season. In the 2020-2021 season La Rochelle made the final of the European Championship Cup & the final of the Top 14. Timani has signed with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in the Top 14 for the 2021-2022 season. In June Timani debuted for the Tonga sevens team at the Monaco Sevens tournament alongside Malakai Fekitoa, transferring his international affiliation from Australia to Tonga. On 6 November 2021 Timani made his test debut for Tonga in a 69-3 defeat by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

as part of the 2021 Autumn Nations Series On 27 April 2022, Timani and Cardiff Rugby confirmed that the number-8 will play for the URC team from the 2022-23 season onwards.

Super Rugby statistics

Reference list

External links

Rebels Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timani, Lopeti 1990 births Living people Tongan emigrants to Australia Australian rugby union players Tongan rugby union players Rugby union number eights Rugby union flankers New South Wales Waratahs players Melbourne Rebels players Melbourne Rising players Australia international rugby union players Tonga international rugby union players Rugby union locks Stade Rochelais players Australian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France RC Toulonnais players Cardiff Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in Wales