Tautalatasi Tasi (born 22 November 1994) is a New Zealand professional

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 ...

player who currently plays for the

Houston SaberCats The Houston SaberCats are an American professional rugby union team based in Houston, Texas. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its fi ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR). He also plays as a wing for the

Sunwolves The Sunwolves (Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or ...

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 previously played rugby league for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...

in the

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 ...

. He plays at and .

Background

Born 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 ...

, New Zealand, Tasi is of Samoan descent and moved to

Queensland, Australia ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

at a young age. He played his junior rugby league for the

Goodna Eagles Goodna is a suburb on the eastern edge of the City of Ipswich in Queensland, Australia. In the , Goodna had a population of 10,461 people. Geography Goodna is from the Brisbane central business district, being just outside the Brisbane City C ...

, before being signed by the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Originall ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

. Tasi is the younger brother of former

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, 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 ...

and

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

player

Lama Tasi Lama Tasi (born ) is a former Samoa national rugby league team, Samoa international rugby league footballer who played as a . He played for the Sydney Roosters and the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, and the Salford Red Devils i ...

, and the cousin of

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

player

Raymond Faitala-Mariner Raymond Faitala-Mariner (born 26 July 1993) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a forward for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL. He has played for both Samoa and New Zealand at international level. He previously ...

Playing career

Early career

In 2013 and 2014, Tasi played for the Ipswich Jets. In May 2014, he signed a 2-year contract with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs starting effective immediately, playing for their

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

team for the rest of the year. In 2015, he began pre-season training with the Bulldogs'

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 ...

squad but did not make an appearance for their first-grade team, instead playing for their

New South Wales 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 reserve ...

team for the season.

2016

In 2016, Tasi joined the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

in the

Intrust Super Premiership NSW 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 ...

. During the season, he was elevated to the

' NRL squad. In round 16 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, he made his NRL debut for the Rabbitohs against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

, coming off the bench. He spent most of the season playing with North Sydney where he made 13 appearances and scored 8 tries for the season.

2017

In May, Tasi played for the

New South Wales Residents New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

against the

Queensland Residents The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Team, ...

. On 5 August, he scored 5 tries in a game for North Sydney against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney S ...

, North Sydney winning the match 42-10. On 22 November 2017, Tasi announced on his official Instagram account that after 3 seasons he was leaving Norths and relocating back to Queensland.

2018 & Beyond

Tasi spent the 2018 playing Queensland Premier Rugby for Souths, alongside Reds & Wallabies discards

Quade Cooper Quade Santini Cooper (born 5 April 1988) is a professional rugby union player and occasional boxer. Although born in New Zealand, he has represented Australia in rugby at international level. He currently plays for Hanazono Liners in Japan, ...

Karmichael Hunt Karmichael Neil Matthew Hunt (born 17 November 1986) is a former multi-code international rugby league footballer who last played for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. Having played professional rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules ...

, his performances for the premier grade side earned him a spot in the Brisbane City NRC squad for 2018. Tasi then joined the Rebels in 2019 with Cooper as an extended pre-season squad member, making appearances in their pre-season trials and in a mid-season game for a Melbourne XV against Japan A (made up of flow-over Sunvwolves players & rookie test players). In 2020, Tasi moved to Gordon Rugby Club based out of Sydney's North Shore playing in their premier competition, Shute Shield. In the 2021-2022 season, he played for

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its founding on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teaching-focused higher ed ...

in Queensland Premier Rugby. He then moved to Tokyo Gas Rugby Club for the 2022-2023 season. Following this, Tasi moved to the

Toronto Arrows Toronto Arrows R.F.C. is a rugby union club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that plays in Major League Rugby. The Arrows team is an independent off-shoot of the Ontario Blues provincial programme and is funded by a group of private investors ...

for the 2023 season. After the club took a hiatus following the 2023 season, Tasi signed with the

for the 2024 season.

References

Super Rugby statistics

External links

South Sydney Rabbitohs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tasi, Tautalatasi 1994 births Living people Brisbane City (rugby union) players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan Houston SaberCats players Ipswich Jets players Melbourne Rebels players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players New South Wales Waratahs players New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Rugby league wingers Rugby league centres Rugby league second-rows Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Auckland Rugby union wings South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sunwolves players Toronto Arrows players Expatriate rugby union players in Canada