Lopeti Timani facts for kids
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Timani representing Australia in 2017.
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| Date of birth | 28 September 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Navutoka, Tonga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 122 kg (269 lb; 19 st 3 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Tonga College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lopeti Timani, born on September 28, 1990, is a professional rugby union player from Tonga. He plays as a lock, flanker, or number 8. Currently, he plays for the United Rugby Championship club Cardiff and also represents the Tonga national team.
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Growing Up and Starting Rugby
Lopeti Timani was born in Navutoka, a village in Tonga. He comes from a family of rugby players. His older brothers, Sione Timani and Sitaleki Timani, also play rugby at an international level.
He went to Tonga College 'Atele in Tonga. When he was 17, he was chosen for Tonga's under-20s rugby world championship team in 2008. However, he couldn't play because the rules said players had to be at least 18 years old.
At 18, Lopeti moved to Australia. For a short time, he switched to playing rugby league for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. He played in their junior competition in 2009 and 2010.
Becoming a Professional Player
In 2011, Lopeti Timani returned to rugby union. He joined the Junior Waratahs, a professional squad. He also played for the Southern Districts Rugby Club. Here, he improved his skills, learning to play as a lock as well as in the back row.
He signed a contract with the Waratahs for the 2012 season. He made his first appearance in a major rugby competition called Super Rugby. This was against the Queensland Reds in the very first game of the season. In 2013, he also played against the famous British & Irish Lions team.
Lopeti then joined the Melbourne Rebels for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Playing for Australia
In 2016, Lopeti Timani made his debut for the Australian national team, also known as the Wallabies. His first game was against Argentina in Perth. He then started his first game for Australia against Argentina at Twickenham Stadium in London. This game was a big moment for him. He continued to be a starting player for the next four games.
Lopeti decided to stay with Australian Rugby until 2019. He turned down offers from European clubs that wanted him to play for them.
Moving to Europe
In August 2018, Lopeti moved to France to play for La Rochelle. This club plays in the Top 14, which is France's top rugby league. He played for La Rochelle for three seasons, from 2018 to 2021. During his time there, La Rochelle reached the final of the European Challenge Cup and the semi-final of the Top 14 in the 2018-2019 season. In the 2020-2021 season, they made it to the final of both the European Championship Cup and the Top 14.
After La Rochelle, Timani signed with Toulon, another Top 14 club, for the 2021-2022 season.
Representing Tonga
In June 2021, Lopeti Timani played for the Tonga sevens team. This was at the Monaco Sevens tournament. By doing this, he changed his international team from Australia to Tonga. On November 6, 2021, he played his first full international game for Tonga. This was against England as part of the 2021 Autumn Nations Series.
On April 27, 2022, it was announced that Lopeti Timani would join Cardiff Rugby. He started playing for the Welsh team in the 2022-23 season.
