Sione Tuitupu Lauaki (22 June 1981 – 12 February 2017) was a Tongan-born New Zealand

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 who played for

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

. He previously played for the New Zealand national team, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

. His brother,

Epalahame Lauaki Epalahame Lauaki (born 27 January 1984) is a Tongan former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Bradford Bulls in the Championship. Background Lauaki was born in Ha'apai, Tonga. He is the brother of former All Black ...

, is a 2nd row

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 ...

footballer previously playing for

Auckland Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

in the

NRL 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 ...

competition. He died on 12 February 2017.

Early career

He attended Waitakere College in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

where he made the first XV in 1998. He later moved to

Kelston Boys High School Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") (Te kura tuarua o nga tamatane o kerehana) is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High Scho ...

, where he also played in the first XV. He played his club rugby for

Waitemata Rugby Football and Sports Club Waitemata Rugby Football and Sports Club is a rugby union club based in Waitakere City, Auckland. The club is affiliated with the Auckland Rugby Football Union. Waitemata was founded in 1927 after an amalgamation of the Hobsonville, Waimauku and ...

and was instrumental in their

Gallaher Shield The Gallaher Shield is awarded to the winner of the Auckland Rugby Football Union senior premier competition, and was first awarded in 1922. The shield is named in honour of Dave Gallaher, an early stalwart of Ponsonby, Auckland and New Zealand ...

win in 2003. He was the fourth

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

to come from the Waitemata club after Adrian Clarke,

Ken Carrington Kenneth Roy Carrington (born 3 September 1950) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A wing and centre three-quarter, Carrington represented Auckland and, briefly, Bay of Plenty at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand n ...

and Michael Jones.

Professional career

Pacific Islanders

While playing for the combined

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

team in 2004 he scored Test match tries against

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 ...

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 ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He was one of the two Pacific Islanders rugby union team players picked for the All Blacks, the other being winger,

Sitiveni Sivivatu Sitiveni Waica Sivivatu (born 19 April 1982 in Suva, Fiji) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer, playing on the position of a wing. He was largely successful in the 2005 Super 12 season playing for the Chiefs. He acquired a starting ...

All Blacks

He has played loose forward for the

, with whom he made his debut in 2005 against

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 ...

. His final match for New Zealand was in 2008 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 ...

. During his time with the All Blacks he was capped 17 times and scored three tries.

Super 14

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 played for the Chiefs. He racked up 70 caps for the team, having scored 14 tries during his Super Rugby career. Lauaki went on to play for

ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

at the start of the 2010-11 Top 14 season. He later moved to

Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais ( eu, Baionako Arrauna), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'', in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which, for the 2016-17 season, competed in the top tier of the French league system, ...

. In February 2012 during routine tests, Lauaki was diagnosed with renal failure and cardiovascular problems. As a result, the club signed him off for the rest of the season.

Death

Lauaki died on 12 February 2017, aged 35, due to heart and kidney problems.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauaki, Sione 1981 births 2017 deaths Tongan rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Chiefs (rugby union) players Waikato rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Aviron Bayonnais players ASM Clermont Auvergne players Rugby union number eights Rugby union flankers Tongan emigrants to New Zealand People from Haʻapai Pacific Islanders rugby union players Tongan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Tongan expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France People educated at Kelston Boys' High School People educated at Waitakere College