Poutasi Vaiofiso Tuasivi Luafutu (born 2 December 1987) 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 count ...

born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 ...

footballer. He currently plays for

Provence Rugby Provence Rugby ( oc, Provença Rugbi) is a French rugby union club currently playing in Rugby Pro D2, the second tier of France's league system. They were promoted back to the second level for the 2018–19 season after 2 seasons in Fédérale 1 ...

in the

Rugby Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

. He signed from the Queensland Reds of

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 can play anywhere in the backrow.

Biography

Early years

He started 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 112 ...

for the Redbank Bears at the age of 10 before switching codes at the age of 12 to play for the Riverview and Districts Junior Rugby Union Club. He was also a keen

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player as a student at Marist College Rosalie.

Super 14

Luafutu made his debut for 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 the

2008 Super 14 season The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' ...

against the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

. He established himself within the Reds' revival during the

2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, fea ...

among many other players in the somewhat inexperienced forward pack. He is most noted for his efforts in the Reds' final game of the season against the Highlanders at the Suncorp Stadium, coming off the bench to score 2 tries, the second to win the match with 2 minutes remaining.''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

''
"Cooper inspires crippled Reds in high-scoring finale"
16 May 2010. Retrieved on 23 May 2013.

Top 14

In signing to Brive, Luafutu discovers the best rugby championship in the world, the

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 ...

. With Brive, he's named the "Black BOD", or the "New Nonu" because he scored 2 tries in only 2 games and he embodies the future, the evolution of the number 12, the inside centre.

References

1987 births Australian rugby union players Queensland Reds players Living people Rugby union players from Invercargill CA Brive players Union Bordeaux Bègles players Provence Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in France Australian expatriate rugby union players {{Australia-rugbyunion-bio-stub