Lopeti Timani

Lopeti Timani
Full name Lopeti Timani
Date of birth (1990-09-28) 28 September 1990
Place of birth Navutoka, Tonga
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 123 kg (271 lb; 19.4 st)
School Tonga College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock,Number 8, Flanker
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014− Melbourne Rising 14 (30)
Correct as of 3 November 2015
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012–13
2014–		 Waratahs
Rebels		 19
29		 (0)
(30)
Correct as of 21 July 2016
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016 Australia 7 (0)

Lopeti Timani (born 28 September 1990) is a Tongan-born, Australian professional rugby union footballer. His usual position is Number Eight or Flanker. After two seasons with the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby, he signed on to play for the Melbourne Rebels in 2014.[1]

Early life

Lopeti Timani was born in the Tongan village of Navutoka. His older brothers Sione Timani and Sitaleki Timani are both international rugby players.[2]

He attended Tonga College 'Atele on Tonga. In 2008 he was selected for Tonga's under-20s rugby world championship team at the age of 17, but could not play because of the minimum age limit of 18 imposed by the International Rugby Board.[3]

At age 18 he moved to Australia and switched codes, playing rugby league for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL's Toyota Cup competition in 2009 and 2010.[3][4]

Rugby union career

In 2011, Timani returned to rugby union, joining the Junior Waratahs professional squad where he played in the Pacific Rugby Cup. He played for the Southern Districts Rugby Club in the Shute Shield, where he developed his ability to play at lock in addition to the back row.[2]

He signed an extended player squad contract with the Waratahs for the 2012 season,[2] and made his Super Rugby debut against the Reds in round one.[5] He played against the British & Irish Lions in 2013.[6]

Timani signed with the Melbourne Rebels for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.[1][7][8]

In 2016, Timani debuted for Australia against Argentina in Perth before getting his run on debut against Argentina at Twickenham Stadium in London [9] [10]. This was seen as Timani's break out game as he continued as starting no.8 for his next 4 appearances [11] [12].

Timani recommitted to Australia Rugby until 2019 turning down lucrative offers form Europe [13].

Super Rugby Statistics

As of 21 July 2016[14]
Season Team Games Starts Sub Mins Tries Cons Pens Drops Points Yel Red
2012 Waratahs 14 0 14 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2013 Waratahs 5 1 4 197 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014 Rebels 2 0 2 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 Rebels 15 15 0 893 4 0 0 0 20 0 0
2016 Rebels 12 12 0 777 2 0 0 0 10 1 0
Total 48 28 20 2252 6 0 0 0 30 1 0

Reference list

  1. 1 2 "Rebels sign Lopeti Timani". Rebels Media Unit (Press release). Melbourne Rebels. 6 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "2012 Extended Playing Squad announced". nswrugby.com.au. 30 November 2011. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 Guinness, Rupert (1 February 2009). "Tongan powerhouse in sights of NRL clubs as Waratahs put up the no vacancy sign". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Lopeti Timani". melbournerebels.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  5. ↑ Payten, Iain (28 March 2012). "Feeding the Waratahs 'Bruise Brothers' Sitaleki and Lopeti Timani is a full time job". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Palmer, Bryn (15 June 2013). "Lions 2013: NSW Waratahs 17–47 British and Irish Lions". BBC. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  7. ↑ Pandaram, Jamie (7 May 2013). "Wallabies hopeful Lopeti Timani decides not to join brother Sitaleki in France". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  8. ↑ Watts, John (21 February 2014). "Contenders: Backrow" (Press release). Melbourne Rebels. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  9. ↑ http://www.rugby.com.au/videos/2016/09/18/12/27/timani-strikes-gold-on-debut
  10. ↑ http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2016/10/06/01/53/wallabies-argentina-twickenham-team-announcement
  11. ↑ http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2016/11/30/13/40/wallabies-england-team-announcement
  12. ↑ http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/rugby/tongan-hitman-lopeti-timana-the-longterm-answer-to-wallabies-search-for-a-no-8/news-story/80768a9fd6173335a525b0df94c0b601
  13. ↑ http://www.aru.com.au/MediaReleases/Article/tabid/1699/ArticleID/18104/LOPETI-TIMANI-SIGNS-THROUGH-UNTIL-THE-END-OF-2019.aspx
  14. ↑ "Player Statistics". its rugby. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
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