Epi Taione (born 2 March 1979) is a former Tongan rugby union footballer whose last club was London Welsh. He normally played at centre but could cover the wing or back row.

Rugby career

He started his professional career at Newcastle Falcons. In the summer of 2005, he joined

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

on a two-year contract. However, his contract was cancelled when he was banned for 18 weeks for biting Denis Leamy in a

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

game against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. In the 2005–2006 season, Taione made 5 appearances before his contract was terminated, and

won their first ever Premiership title. After his ban he went to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to play for the

Sanyo Wild Knights Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the l ...

. Taione controversially changed his name to Paddy Power for the duration of the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

in a sponsorship deal agreed with the Irish bookmaker. the sponsorship deal financed the Tongan preparation for the World Cup. The Tongans nearly beat the eventual winner, South Africa, and lost narrowly to the other finalist, England. He then went to play for the , but 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' ...

he was suspended for six weeks after headbutting a Wellington Hurricanes player, and was also suspended for two weeks in the IRB Pacific 5 Nations after dangerously tackling New Zealand Maori Number Eight,

Thomas Waldrom Thomas Waldrom (born 28 April 1983) is a former rugby union player who played for Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership and represented England from 2012 to 2013. Born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, he qualified for England through his grandmot ...

. His next move was to Harlequins, but he received little playing time and so moved on to the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

side

Racing Métro 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

in 2009. In 2010, he joined London Welsh. He played for Tonga at the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

s. He also played for the Pacific Islanders. Taione was forced to retire in December 2011 due to a serious knee injury. In 2009, Taione had a small non-speaking role as a member of the New Zealand Rugby team in the film ''

Invictus "Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was written in 1875 and published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section ''Life and Death (Echoes)''. Backgr ...

''. He is a founder member of APBs aka The Brothers, an invitational club that is instrumental in developing the game in the Asia and Pacific regions. He is involved in a few business ventures around the world including clubs and bars in London. He's a board member of the Tongan Rugby Union.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taione, Epi Tongan rugby union players 1979 births Living people Newcastle Falcons players Sale Sharks players Harlequin F.C. players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Tongan actors Tonga international rugby union players Pacific Islanders rugby union players Racing 92 players London Welsh RFC players Sharks (rugby union) players Tongan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in France Tongan expatriate sportspeople in France Tongan expatriate sportspeople in Japan Tongan expatriate sportspeople in England Rugby union centres