Tavake Lecanus Liukanasi Manu (born 15 August 1988) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

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. He plays in the number 8 and occasionally flanker position for Mitre 10 Cup side,

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. Manu also represents

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 ...

at international level.

Playing career

School boy rugby

While at Christchurch Boys' High School, Manu appeared alongside All Blacks

Matt Todd Matthew Brendon Todd (born 24 March 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, who plays as an Openside Flanker for the Toshiba Brave Lupus in the Japanese Top League competition. Todd played 25 tests for New Zealand internationally, from ...

, Colin Slade and

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

as well as former Crusader

Tim Bateman Timothy Edward Sullivan Bateman (born 3 June 1987) is a rugby union player from New Zealand. He plays mostly Inside Centre. He was head boy of Christchurch Boys' High School in Canterbury, New Zealand. He formerly played for the Crusaders and ...

Provincial Rugby

Manu made his debut for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

in the

2007 Air New Zealand Cup The 2007 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Thursday 26 July 2007, and the Final, in which Auckland defeated Wellington, was held on Saturday 20 October. This s ...

scoring a try on his debut against Counties Manukau at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland. After missing the start of the 2010 ITM Cup with a knee injury, Manu was in excellent form through the latter part of the season, culminating in strong performances in the semi-final and final as Canterbury won the ITM Cup. In the 2011 ITM Cup, Manu started every match as Canterbury won the title for the fourth consecutive season. From 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season, he named for

squad.

Super Rugby

Manu earned a Crusaders contract for the 2008 Super 14 season at the age of just 19, and emerged as a regular performer for the club, making 12 appearances and two starts as the Crusaders rampaged to the Super 14 title. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, however, Manu was unable to build on the success of his freshman campaign, and was limited to only four appearances and one start. Looking for more playing time, Manu shifted to the Highlanders for the 2010 Super 14 season. However, his season ended up being a total write-off as, after winning the starting job at number 8 in the preseason, he suffered a knee injury early in the season-opening contest against the Crusaders and was ruled out for the remainder of the competition. In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, Manu managed to stay healthy and put in an excellent campaign, starting every match at number eight for the Highlanders. Manu suffered a foot injury in the opening game of the 2013 Super Rugby season and was ruled out for the rest of the year. Healthy again for

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 wa ...

, he was named co-captain of the Highlanders alongside Ben Smith.

European Rugby

After the experience with

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh p ...

, from 2017 to 2020 he played with Benetton.

International Play

Manu was a member of New Zealand's squad on their run to the world under-19 title in 2007 and under-20 title in 2008. He also was part of the New Zealand Secondary Schools in 2005 and 2006.

Personal

Manu is the nephew of the former

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

and Wallaby loose forward Daniel Manu and is the cousin of David Manu and Sika Manu of the Melbourne Storm. His younger brother

Vaka Manu The term vaka may refer to: * "Vaka" (song), released as ''untitled #1 (a.k.a. "Vaka")'', a single from the Sigur Rós album '' ( )'' *Vaka (sailing), the main hull of a multihull vessel such as a proa or trimaran * ''Váka'', the Hungarian n ...

had a 1-year stint with rugby in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

playing for the Stirling County Rugby Club in 2015–16. And second youngest brother

Taniela Manu Taniela is a given name of Pacific Islander origin. Notable people with the name include: * Taniela Lasalo, Australian rugby league player * Taniela Moa, Tongan rugby union player * Taniela Rawaqa, Fijian rugby union player * Taniela Tuiaki, New Ze ...

currently plays in the Mitre 10 cup for Northland.

Achievements

2007 Canterbury Junior Sports Person of the Year, Hadlee Awards *Canterbury •Air New Zealand/ITM Cup: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 *Crusaders •Super Rugby: 2008 *Highlanders •Super Rugby: 2015

References

External links

* * Nasi Manu a
Mobile Gaming Arcade
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manu, Nasi 1988 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand people of Tongan descent Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Highlanders (rugby union) players Rugby union flankers People from Lincoln, New Zealand People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School Living people Edinburgh Rugby players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate rugby union players in Scotland Tonga international rugby union players Moana Pasifika players Benetton Rugby players Otago rugby union players Hino Red Dolphins players