Patrick Tuipulotu
| Birth name | Patrick Tito Tuipulotu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 23 January 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 120 kg (265 lb; 18 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | St Peter's College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Patrick Tito Tuipulotu (born 23 January 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who is currently a lock for three professional teams, the All Blacks, the Blues in Super Rugby and is currently Captain for Auckland in the ITM Cup.[1][2]
Career
Tuipulotu was schooled at St Peter's College in Auckland and made his debut for his local side in the 2013 ITM Cup where he made seven appearances and scored one try.[1] His impressive displays saw him named in the Blues squad for the 2014 Super Rugby season.[3][4]
Tuipulotu did not play against the British and Irish Lions in 2017 after he was late to a Blues training session, following missing much of the season with injury. The 2017 Super Rugby season was a mixed season for Tuipulotu, who scored many tries but struggled to play consistently. Following the end of Super Rugby, Tuipulotu was named as captain of Auckland for the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup season.
Tuipulotu was very good during the 2018 Super Rugby season but missed many fixtures due to injury. After four months' absence, Tuipulotu returned to rugby on 7th September 2018 to Captain Auckland against Tasman. Tuipulotu scored a hat-trick in the first half of the game, leading his team to a 36-10 win.
International
Early Career
Tuipulotu competed for the New Zealand Under-20s at the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship where he made five appearances and scored one try.[5] He was named in a preliminary training squad for the All Blacks on 12 May 2014.[6] Tuipulotu was selected for the All Blacks squad on 1 June 2014.[7] He made his All Blacks debut as a substitute in the 28–27 win against England on 14 June 2014.[8]
Tuipulotu did not play any international rugby in 2015, missing out on the World Cup due to injury. Following his comeback to Super Rugby after recovering, Tuipulotu was selected for the All Blacks' 32-man squad for the 2016 Steinlager series against Wales. Tuipulotu came off the bench in the first two tests of the series and went on to start against Argentina in the second test against them in the Rugby Championship. Following injury to Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock and the death of Luke Romano's relative, Tuipulotu started in a historic 29-40 first-time loss against Ireland in Chicago on 5 November 2016 with Blues teammate Jerome Kaino who was shifted from blindside flanker to lock following uncapped locks Scott Barrett and Vaea Fifita being called up as injury cover. Tuipulotu played the majority of the test before being replaced by Ardie Savea. Critics panned Tuipulotu's performance, with comments such as "didn't exactly shine in his chance to start" from news website Stuff. Starting in combination with the now-capped Barrett against Italy the following week, scoring his second test try, producing a much better performance in the 68-10 win.
2017-2018
Tuipulotu was not selected for All Blacks 33-man Lions tour squad, losing his spot to Scott Barrett, but was re-called near the end of the 2017 Rugby Championship following the miscarriage of Brodie Retallick's second child. After making four appearances off the bench for the All Blacks, Tuipulotu regathered form previously lost to injury and made a start against a French XV in a 28-23 win and was chosen to start over Barrett for the final test of the year against Wales in a 33-18 win.
Tuipulotu missed the 2018 June rugby union tests with injury, but earned a re-call to the All Blacks, for the 2018 Rugby Championship, after Brodie Retallick was ruled out for the rest of the competition with a shoulder injury.
References
- 1 2 "Patrick Tuipulotu Auckland Player Profile". Auckland Rugby. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ "Patrick Tuipulotu Player Statistics". itsrugby. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ "Piri Weepu to spearhead Auckland's NPC start". Rugby Heaven. Fairfax. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ "Whetton snubs Blues to sign with Brumbies". New Zealand Herald. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ "Patrick Tuipulotu IRB JWC Player Profile". IRB. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ Hinton, Marc (12 May 2014). "Tuipulotu downplays training squad selection". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ↑ Robson, Toby (1 June 2014). "One surprise exclusion in All Blacks squad". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ↑ "Video highlights: All Blacks vs England — rugby union". 3News. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.