Ratu Peni Tagive (born 3 October 1988) is an Australian former professional

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 ...

footballer who played for the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

in the Australian

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL) competition. Tagive primarily played on the . Although a large winger, Tagive was a speedy athlete, recording 6.79 seconds over 60 metres. Tagive's parents are Fijian and African-American. He is the older brother of

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

player Ratu Tagive.

Early life

Tagive was born in

Campbelltown, New South Wales Campbelltown is a suburb located on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney south-west of the Sydney central business district by road. Campbelltown is the adminis ...

. Tagive played junior football with the

East Campbelltown Eagles East Campbelltown Eagles are an Australian Junior Rugby League Club that also supports a semi-professional rugby league team. The team previously competed in the Western Suburbs 1st Grade competition, Canterbury 1st Grade competition, Jim Beam C ...

. He played S.G.Ball and

Jersey Flegg Harry "Jersey" Flegg (6 April 1878 in Bolton, Lancashire23 August 1960 in North Sydney, New South Wales) was an English-Australian rugby league identity. Both a player and administrator, he was a leading figure in the birth of the sport in Aus ...

for

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

before selection on the undefeated 2006 Australian Schoolboy tour alongside Tiger's teammate Chris Lawrence. Tagive was side-lined during 2007 following a shoulder reconstruction.

Rugby League career

Tagive made his first-grade debut in round 1 of the 2008 season, playing for Wests Tigers against

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...

. Tagive was named in the Fiji training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final ...

, but was not selected to play. In July, 2009 it was announced that Tagive had signed with the

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

for two years from 2010 onwards. In his first trial match for the Dragons, he suffered an injury to his knee that was to rule him out for the season. By the time Tagive made his debut for his new club, in round 9 of 2011, he had undergone 5 major surgeries, including 2 shoulder reconstructions. It was revealed on 3 August 2011 that Tagive had signed a two-year deal with the

after the Dragons had released him from the final year of his contract. He played five games in first grade, for one win, in the middle of the 2012 season before injuring his hamstring. He ended the year playing for feeder team

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season. The Jets' home ground ...

that won the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

grand final. At the end of 2012, Tagive retired, stating a desire to focus on his studies. "I want to thank everyone at the club for their support through the year and for supporting the decision I have made for my future, as I look ahead to life after footy," he said.

American football

Tagive later moved to the United States to play collegiate

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

. He was a defensive-end for the Baylor Bears.Peni Tagive
''baylorbears.com''

Rugby Union

Since returning to Australia, he has been playing rugby union for Wests in Canberra. In August 2015, he was named in the

Canberra Vikings The Canberra Vikings, formerly the Canberra Kookaburras, is an Australian rugby union football team that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is based at Viking Park in Wanniassa, and is backed by the Tuggeranong Vikin ...

for the

2015 National Rugby Championship The 2015 National Rugby Championship (known as the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of Australia's National Rugby Championship, involving nine professional rugby union teams from around Austr ...

References

External links

Peni Tagive at ''Wests Tigers''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tagive, Peni 1988 births Living people American football running backs Austin Gilgronis players Australian rugby league players Australian people of American descent Australian people of Fijian descent Australian expatriate rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers players Baylor Bears football players Expatriate rugby union players in the United States Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Sydney St. George Illawarra Dragons players Sydney Roosters players Wests Tigers players Australian rugby union players Rugby union wings Rugby union centres