Manasa Moala Mataele (born 27 November 1996) is a Fijian and Tongan

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 ...

player. He plays for

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

in the

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 ...

. He was signed by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

in 2016 and has played for them until the

2021 Super Rugby season The 2021 Super Rugby season was the 26th season of Super Rugby, an annual men's international rugby union tournament organised by SANZAAR, involving teams from Australia and New Zealand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was wholly reg ...

. Mataele plays predominantly as a winger.

Career

Mataele was born in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

, Fiji. He attended

Marist Brothers High School Marist Brothers High School is a Roman Catholic all-boys' high school situated in Suva, the capital of Fiji. It is a school in the Marist tradition, founded in 1946 by the order of Marist Brothers, which has had a presence in Fiji since 1844. ...

in Suva. In 2010, he represented the school in the Junior Boys Boys Long Jump in the Coke Light Games and he won a silver medal with a jump of 5.87m. In 2011, he won silver again in the same category jumping 6.00m. In 2013, he took part in 2 events including the Boys Long Jump Intermediate division where he again won a silver medal jumping 6.70m. He was also part of the Intermediate 4x100 metre relay team that won gold. His school was up against

Queen Victoria School Queen Victoria School (QVS) is a non-selective, co-educational, boarding school predominantly for children of Scottish Servicemen/women (but see full admissions criteria, below) aged 10/11 to 18. It occupies a Scottish Baronial-style building on ...

who had the services of Sevuloni Reece, a winger that plays for

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

in the Mitre 10 Cup. He also represented Marist in rugby. In July 2014, he represented Marist in the Southern Zone Secondary Schools rugby competition. He played at centre and scored a try in the under-18 final helping Marist to win the title. He also scooped the man of the match award. He was selected in the Fiji Under-18 side for the Tri Nations matches against Australia and New Zealand Under-18 sides. He scored 2 tries in their 50–15 loss to Australia. His performance for the team saw him getting invited by the Taranaki Rugby Academy to join them as a development player and he played in their sevens and Under-19 teams. In September 2015, he helped Taranaki beat defending champions, Wellington in the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under-19 tournament. He scored two-tries in that game. In August 2016, he was a surprise inclusion in the Taranaki team named for the

2016 Mitre 10 Cup The 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season was the eleventh season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 18, when North Harbour hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the ...

. Later in that month, he made his debut against

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

scoring a 50m try in their 55–28 win. He played alongside his uncle,

Seta Tamanivalu Setareki Tamanivalu (born 23 July 1992) is a Fijian rugby union player and former All Black. He currently plays in the centre (and occasionally wing) position for Toshiba Brave Lupus. Early life Tamanivalu was born and raised in Fiji. He atte ...

who as a youngster, lived with Mataele's family as Tamanivalu's family were from the west (

Lautoka Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...

) and he studied at

Lelean Memorial School Lelean Memorial School is one of the largest co-ed schools in Fiji. It was established in 1943 and is run by the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma. It is co-located at the Davuilevu Methodist Compound with thDavuilevu Theological Collegeand the ...

which was based in Suva. In November 2016, he was signed by the

and he would join his uncle, Tamanivalu and Fijian winger,

Jone Macilai-Tori Jone Macilai-Tori (born 27 August 1990 in Suva, Fiji), is a professional rugby union player. He plays for in the Bunnings NPC. He has previously played for the . Macilai plays as a winger. Career Macilai was spotted by local sevens coach Lote Ra ...

at the club for the

2017 Super Rugby season The 2017 Super Rugby season was the 22nd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the second season featuring an expand ...

. He made his Super Rugby debut on 18 March 2017 against the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. He scored a try in the 33–24 win. Mataele made his international debut for Fiji on 10 July 2021, replacing

Nemani Nadolo Nemani Nadolo (formerly Ratu Nasiganiyavi; born 31 January 1988) is a Fijian-Australian rugby union player. He currently plays for New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby, usually as a wing or centre, and the Fiji national team. Nadolo was t ...

off the bench, in a 23-57 loss to New Zealand.

Personal life

While staying in New Zealand, he did a Diploma in Building Construction and Architectural Technology at the

Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) is the largest tertiary education institution in the province of Taranaki, New Zealand. History On 1 April 2020, WITT became a subsidiary of Te Pūkenga (the New Zealand Institute of Skills & Tec ...

. His favourite player growing up was

Joe Rokocoko Josevata Taliga "Joe" Rokocoko (pronounced , born 6 June 1983) is a New Zealand former professional rugby union player, who played as a wing. Born in Fiji, Rokocoko grew up in New Zealand and played for the Blues and Auckland. He later played f ...

. Manasa married Black Fern and Matatu rugby player

Martha Mataele Martha Mataele (born 9 July 1999) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays for Matatū in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition and represents Canterbury at Provincial level. Rugby career Mataele is of Tongan descent, she was born in Auckl ...

(nee Lolohea).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mataele, Manasa 1996 births Living people Rugby union wings Rugby union players from Suva People educated at Marist Brothers High School, Fiji Fijian rugby union players Fiji international rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Taranaki rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Western Force players