Tevita Taumoepeau (born 16 May 1974) is a former

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n international

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. The final club he played for was Worcester Warriors in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. He played as a

tighthead prop In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Career

Taumoepeau joined

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

during the summer of 2005 from French side

Bourgoin Bourgoin-Jallieu (; frp, Brégon) is a commune in the Isère department in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. The city had 28,834 inhabitants in 2019 and lies 35 kilometres east-southeast of Lyon. It was formed by the merger of th ...

. He made his debut in

against Northampton Saints in the

Powergen Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...

and has been a consistent member of the squad throughout Worcester's league and cup campaigns. Taumoepeau has also previously played for the Chiefs, the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and

. The durable front row made his 150th appearance for Warriors against

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in 2011 In 2012, Tevita was struck with a neck injury which left him with a disabled left hand due to a nerve

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

. It forced him to retire at the age of thirty-eight.

References

External links

Pacific Islanders Profile
a
PacificIslanders.co.nz

Worcester Warriors Profile
a
Warriors.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taumoepeau, Tevita 1974 births Tongan rugby union players Living people Rugby union props Worcester Warriors players Northampton Saints players Rugby union players from Haʻapai Tonga international rugby union players Pacific Islanders rugby union players Tongan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in France Tongan expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Tongan expatriate sportspeople in France Tongan expatriate sportspeople in England 1999 Rugby World Cup players