Valentino Mapapalangi (born 18 July 1993) is a Tongan

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. He plays in the number 8 and blind side position. He previously played for the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

based

Premiership Rugby 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 ...

side,

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

. Mapapalangi also represents

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 ...

at international level.

Early career

Mapapalangi was educated in Auckland, he attended

Kelston Boys High School Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") (Te kura tuarua o nga tamatane o kerehana) is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High Scho ...

and

Liston College Liston College is a school in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, for year seven to 13 boys and offers a Catholic education to its students. It was the second school opened by the Christian Brothers in Auckland. It was named after Archbishop Li ...

both in West Auckland before attending Sacred Heart College in his final year. After graduating from high school, he spent 2 seasons in the youth structures before heading south to looking for further opportunity. 2 seasons spent in Waikato gave him the breakthrough he was looking for and he headed to in 2015.

Club career

After spending time with the development squad in the early part of the year, Mapapalangi made the Manawatu squad ahead of the

2015 ITM Cup Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

season and scored 3 tries in 9 appearances during the campaign. His performances attracted the attention of

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 ...

franchise, the who invited him to train with their wider training group during the 2016 Super Rugby pre-season. The

2016 Mitre 10 Cup The 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season was the eleventh season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 18, when North Harbour hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the ...

was less successful for both Mapapalangi and his side. The Turbos finished 5th in the Championship table while he made 7 appearances of which only 2 came from the start. On 7 August 2017 Mapapalangi signed for

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 made an impressive debut for Leicester on 16 September 2017 as a replacement for Joe Maksymiw in a 24-10 win against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

at Welford Road. His first start came the next month in a 28-17 victory against

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Rea ...

. On 15 May 2019 he was announced as one of the players to leave Leicester following the end of the 2018-19 Premiership Rugby season.

International career

Mapapalangi was called up to the squad ahead of the

2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the ''2016 Autumn Internationals'' in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries: ...

and earned his first cap as a second-half replacement in a 28–13 win over on 12 November 2016.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mapapalangi, Valentino 1993 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Tonga international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks Rugby union number eights Manawatu rugby union players People educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland People educated at Liston College Leicester Tigers players