Toby Faletau

Taulupe Faletau

Full name	Tangaki Taulupe Faletau
Date of birth	(1990-11-12) 12 November 1990
Place of birth	Tofua, Tonga
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	110 kg (17 st 5 lb)
School	Trevethin Community School South Gloucestershire and Stroud College
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Number eight, Flanker
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
	New Panteg RFC
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2009-	Newport Gwent Dragons	70	(45)
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2011– 2013	Wales British and Irish Lions	30 1	(15)
correct as of 2 Feb 2014.

Tangaki Taulupe Faletau (born 12 November 1990) is a Welsh international rugby union player. The back row forward played for Cross Keys RFC before joining the Newport Gwent Dragons.

Early life

Faletau was born in Tofua, Tonga to Tongan international Kuli Faletau, who represented Tonga at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Kuli moved to Wales in 1998 to join Ebbw Vale, taking his 7-year old son with him.^[1] Toby attended Trevethin Community School until 2007, then attended Filton College (now part of South Gloucestershire and Stroud College) as part of the college's successful rugby academy and received player of the year during his time at the college.

Career

Taulupe spent his early years in Wales playing for Ebbw Vale RFC and New Panteg RFC juniors, until youth level where he moved to Filton College, Bristol, to experience the English game. Prior to his move across the border, he had suffered several setbacks from both the Gwent District organisation and the Newport Gwent Dragons Regional.

Faletau made his debut for the Newport Gwent Dragons senior team 1 November 2009 versus Edinburgh. ^{[citation needed]}

On 22 December 2009 he was named in the Wales Under 20 Squad for the 2010 Under-20 Six Nations tournament.^[2] In May 2010 he was selected in the Wales Under 20 Squad for the Junior World Cup in Argentina in June 2010.^[3]

He was called up to the Wales senior squad on 1 November 2010 following the withdrawal of Ryan Jones and Rob McCusker. In January 2011 he was included in the Wales national rugby union team squad for the 2011 Six Nations Championship.^[4] He made his full international debut for Wales versus the Barbarians on 4 June 2011.

In August 2011 he was named in the Wales squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.^[5] On 11 September 2011 he made his World Cup debut for Wales against South Africa, scoring his first international try in the second half, adding another in the game against Namibia. He finished the tournament as the top tackler and ball carrier, the first time a single player has ever topped both tables. He was the only player to start all 7 of Wales' games.

He then appeared in all 5 matches of Wales' Grand Slam-winning 2012 Six Nations Championship campaign, excelling throughout the championship and making many pundits team of the tournament. He also played all 5 games in Wales 2013 Six Nations Championship victory including the 30-3 demolition of England in the final match.

In April 2013 Faletau was named in the squad for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.^[6] After failing to feature in the first two tests, Faletau was named at number 8 in the final test ahead of Jamie Heaslip. The Welshman was impressive as the Lions beat Australia 41-16 securing their first test series win since 1997. During the same summer it was announced that Faletau had signed a new 3 year deal to remain at the Dragons region until 2016 despite big money offers from clubs in England and France.

Faletau continued to represent Wales in the November 2013 autumn international series, scoring his third test try against Argentina in a Man-of-the-Match performance.

References

External links

• Newport Gwent Dragons profile
• Wales profile
• Profile & Statistics on ESPN Scrum