Sione Tulimaiau Mafileo (born 14 April 1993) 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 ...

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 currently plays as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

and the in the international

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 ...

competition.

Early career

Mafileo attended Wesley college and excelled in Rugby playing the role of a bust-out prop with excellent speed & acceleration. He later attended

Saint Kentigern College Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in the suburb of Pakuranga on the eastern side of Auckland, New Zealand, beside the Tamaki Estuary. It is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board which also ...

in Auckland and won the Auckland schools competition with them in 2012.

Senior career

Despite being named in North Harbour's squad for the

2013 ITM Cup Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

, serious illness prevented him from making any appearances that year. He managed to make it onto the field the following season, but was merely a bit part player, playing 3 times.

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

was when he really started to establish himself as Harbour's first choice in the number 3 jersey, he played 9 times that season, all of his appearances coming from the start. He continued to be a regular in North Harbour's Championship winning season in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, playing in all 12 of their games during the campaign and scoring his first ever provincial try as Harbour upset the more fancied and to win promotion to the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership for 2017.

Super Rugby

Despite only having 3 provincial appearances under his belt at the time, Mafileo was called up by the to provide front-row injury cover in the latter part of the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

. He debuted in a New Zealand derby match against the and made one other appearance from the replacements bench before the campaign was out. The Blues, under new head-coach

Tana Umaga Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; ; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Since 2016 he has been coach of the Blues in the Super Rugby competition. He played ...

retained his services for

and he went on to play 6 times during the year, including his first 2 starts for the franchise. He was again named in the Blues squad for the 2017 season.

International

Mafileo was a

New Zealand Schoolboys The New Zealand Schools rugby union team, commonly referred to as the New Zealand schoolboys rugby team, is composed of secondary school students in New Zealand. Many of the players have gone on to play for professional clubs or provinces or for ...

representative in 2011 and was a member of the New Zealand Under 20 which competed in the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twelve nations played in the tournament ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

where he made 5 appearances.

Career Honours

North Harbour * Mitre 10 Cup Championship -

Super Rugby Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mafileo, Sione 1993 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union props North Harbour rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players People educated at Saint Kentigern College Moana Pasifika players Chiefs (rugby union) players