Samisoni Frank Simpson Taukei'aho (born 8 August 1997) is a professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays as a hooker for

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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

club Chiefs. Born in Tonga, he represents

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.

Early life

Taukei'aho was first spotted while he toured

as captain of Tonga's under-15s team and in 2014 moved to St Paul's Collegiate in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

on an internationals scholarship.

International career

Taukei'aho made his international debut for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

on 17 July 2021 against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

References

External links

* * 1997 births Living people Rugby union players from Tongatapu New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Tongan rugby union players Tongan emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Moana Pasifika players Rugby union hookers Waikato rugby union players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players 2023 Rugby World Cup players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1990s-stub