K. Manakaetau F. 'Otai (born 21 September 1968) is coach of the Tonga national team (''ʻIkale Tahi'' (''Sea Eagles'')). He was educated at

St Peter's College, Auckland St Peter's College ( mi, Te Kura Teitei o Hāto Petera) is a Catholic church, Catholic secondary school single-sex education, for boys in the Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice tradition, and dedicated to St Peter. it is located in the Auckland CBD ...

and played club rugby in Auckland. His playing position was as flanker (No 8). Otai represented

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 ...

, being

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

for the first time on 11 February 1995 against

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Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

. Otai was the Tongan team captain in the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

competition, in which he scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

. Otai was an All Black trialist in 1994.

Coaching career

In September 2012, Otai was named head coach of the Tonga national team, taking over from

Toutai Kefu Toutai Kefu (born 8 April 1974) is a Tonga-born rugby coach, who earned 60 caps playing at number eight for the Australian national team (the Wallabies). Kefu is currently the head coach of the Tongan national team having previously coached th ...

, who was acting head coach for the ʻIkale Tahi at the time. His two-year contract would see Otai through to 3 September 2014, and a possible re-sign is allowed based on his performance until then. Otai's first match in charge was a 28–23 loss to

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 ...

during Tonga's

2012 European tour The 2012 European Tour was the fourth edition of the Race to Dubai and the 41st season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972. The season comprised 45 tournaments counting for the Race to Dubai, including the four ...

. His first win came a week later, a 22–13 win against the

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, which was backed up by a first-ever victory for Tonga over

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, running out 21–15 victors. His maiden

IRB Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held ...

ended with Tonga finishing third with two wins from four; a 27–17 win over

and an 18–9 win over the United States. However, Tonga's final game in the

2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2013 Pacific Nations Cup rugby union tournament was held between five national sides in the Pacific Region: Canada national rugby union team, Canada, Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji, Japan national rugby union team, Japan, Tonga national r ...

(a 34–21 loss to

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 ...

), started a six consecutive streak without a win. This included a winless

2013 European tour The 2013 European Tour was the fifth edition of the Race to Dubai and the 42nd season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972. Sweden's Henrik Stenson won the Race to Dubai and was named Golfer of the Year. Peter Uih ...

, consisting of a loss on a first-ever meeting against

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, and back-to-back losses to Tier 1 nations

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and

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. An 18-all draw against

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 another loss to Fiji in the

2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, was the ninth edition of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup, the annual Tier 2 Rugby union tournament. Unlike previous competitions, the tournament was divided into two conferences of three teams each, with no interconfer ...

saw them finish last in their conference, before Otai earned a win - 36–14, in an uncapped match against the Pacific Barbarians. In August 2014, it was announced that the

Tonga Rugby Union The Tonga Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Tonga. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. There is a rugby union playing population of fewer than 800 out of a total p ...

would not be re-signing his two-year contract, despite it being reported that Otai had been working hard to finalize players that would be available to play for the Tonga on their

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in November, and the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

. However, on 24 September 2014, following negotiations between the

International Rugby Board 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 ...

and the Tonga Rugby Union, it was announced that Mana Otai would remain as head coach for Tonga's 2014 European Tour with another chance to redeem himself on the tour, which included matches against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, the United States and Scotland. Ahead of their tour, Mana Otai brought in former South African World Cup-winning coach,

Jake White Jake White (born 13 December 1963 as ''Jacob Westerduin'') is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri ...

, to his coaching set-up, to act as a technical advisor to Mana. White and Otai led Tonga to 2 from 3 wins during their 2014 European Tour. The Tonga Rugby Union were encouraged by the tour, re-signing Mana Otai contract to see him through to the end of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. During the

2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup The 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup (formerly known as the IRB Pacific Nations Cup), an annual international rugby union tournament. The 2015 title was contested between the Tier 2 n ...

, Tonga finished third at the end of the tournament. They opened with a match against Fiji in Suva, losing 30–22, before going onto beat Canada 28–18 and the United States 33–19. They beat Japan 31–20 in the 3rd Place play-off to claim third place. Otai later led Tonga to two victories in their

2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches The 2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches were a series of rugby union test matches that took place in August and September 2015, as the 20 competing teams prepared for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. For most teams, their preparation kicked off in Aug ...

, beating English club side

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69–14, before beating Romania for the first ever time in

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21–16. During the

, Tonga opened their campaign with a surprise 17–10 loss to Georgia, before picking up their first win against Namibia 35–21. They went on to lose to New Zealand and Argentina 45–10 and 45–16, to finish fourth in the pool. This meant Tonga failed to automatically qualify for 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 ...

. On 17 December 2015, Tonga Rugby Union president

Feʻao Vunipola Fe'ao Moe Lotu Vunipola (born 6 January 1969) is a Tongan former international rugby union player who participated at the 1995 Rugby World Cup and 1999 Rugby World Cup. He is the father of Mako Vunipola and Billy Vunipola, and is married to Rev. ...

announced that the TRU would not extend Otai's contract when it expires at the end of 2015, with Otai's match against the All Blacks being his last in charge of the team.Sport: Tonga Rugby Union to advertise for new coach
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otai, Mana 1968 births Auckland rugby union players Living people Tongan emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland Rugby union flankers Tonga international rugby union players Tongan rugby union players Tongan rugby union coaches North Harbour rugby union players Manawatu rugby union players Tonga national rugby union team coaches 1995 Rugby World Cup players

Coaching career

See also

References