Tupou Paea'i Okalani Vaa'i (born 27 January 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a lock for the

Taranaki Bulls Taranaki Rugby, previously the Taranaki Rugby Football Union, is the governing body for rugby union in Taranaki Region, Taranaki, New Zealand; Taranaki is a Regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand that covers areas in the districts of New P ...

in the Mitre 10 Cup and for the Chiefs in

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 ...

Career

Early career

Vaa'i was born in New Zealand to a Tongan family. In his youth career, he played for the Wesley College first XV and was Head Prefect, captaining the team in his last year of school. Vaa'i went on to play for the top representative team in secondary school, and was selected to play in the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championships for New Zealand. Vaa'i debuted for Taranaki as an 18-year-old against Auckland, in 2018 His Chiefs debut came in 2020, when the team was short on locks, having lost

Michael Allardice Michael Allardice (born 19 October 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a lock for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Early career Born in the rural town o ...

and

Laghlan McWhannell Laghlan McWhannell (born 29 October 1998 in New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for the in Super Rugby. His playing position is lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to sec ...

to season-ending injuries. Although Vaa'i was not originally contracted to the team at the start of 2020, he was promoted to a starting role following an injury to Naitoa Ah Kuoi. Vaa'i was one of the Chiefs' better performers in their winless

Super Rugby Aotearoa Super Rugby Aotearoa currently named the Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship purposes is a professional men's rugby union national club competition in New Zealand. Originally created to supplement the 2020 Super Rugby season, which was sus ...

season and was named in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

team, for New Zealand's

2020 North vs South rugby union match On 5 September 2020, was a rugby union match played between provinces on the North Island and the South Island of New Zealand. It was the eighty-first game between the islands and was the second one-off game after the fundraiser for the Otago Ru ...

. In September 2020 Vaa'i was named in Ian Foster's first ever All Blacks squad. Vaa'i debuted for New Zealand on 11 October 2020, replacing

Patrick Tuipulotu Patrick Tito Tuipulotu (born 23 January 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who is currently a lock for the Blues in Super Rugby and in the Mitre 10 Cup. Tuipulotu is the Blues' current captain and has previously captained Auckland in 201 ...

off the bench, in the 75th minute, in a 16-16 draw against Australia. Vaa'i became the first player born in the 21st century to represent New Zealand in international rugby. The following week, with Sam Whitelock ruled out due to concussion symptoms, Vaa'i made his first start for New Zealand, with the All Blacks going on to beat Australia 27-7. Following Tuipulotu's illness ahead of Bledisloe IV a fortnight later, Vaa'i was restored to the matchday 23, accompanying debutants Will Jordan, Asafo Aumua, and Cullen Grace on the bench. He scored his debut test try shortly after coming on, in the 78th minute. Vaa'i ended the 2020 season having played four tests for his country.

2021

Vaa'i became a regular starter for the Chiefs in 2021, finishing the season with a total of 19 Super Rugby caps. He played for the team in the

final, which was lost to the Crusaders by 13-24. He did not feature in the 2021 mid-year tests due to injury, but played three tests for New Zealand during the

2021 Rugby Championship The 2021 Rugby Championship was the ninth edition of the annual southern hemisphere competition, involving Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The Springboks returned to the tournament after a year out in 2020 due to South African ...

. Vaa'i was used as a replacement off the bench in wins over Argentina and Australia, before starting his first test of the year on 18 September. This was a 36-13 win against Argentina, where Vaa'i played all 80 minutes of the match and scored two tries.

Statistics

Updated: 12 June 2022 Source:''
Tupou P O Vaa'i Rugby History
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List of international test tries

Updated: 21 June 2021 Source:''

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References

External links

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Tupou Vaa'i
at All Blacks.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaa'i, Tupou 2000 births Living people Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Rugby union locks Taranaki rugby union players Chiefs (rugby union) players 2023 Rugby World Cup players