Freddie Tuilagi

Fereti Tuilagi (born June 9, 1971 in Apia, Samoa) is a Samoan rugby union footballer who previously played rugby league for Halifax Blue Sox and St Helens. He plays as a wing or centre. His first name is often anglicised to Freddie, his surname pronounced "Tuilangi".

Freddie gained his first international experience playing for Samoa on the 1991 tour to New Zealand. He was also selected for Samoa’s 1991 Rugby World Cup squad but did not play in any of the matches.

Between 1992 and 1995 he toured with Samoa to Australia and South Africa, and was included in their 1995 Rugby World Cup squad. He played against South Africa in the quarter final. Later that year Freddie turned professional for the Halifax Rugby League team, making 57 Super League appearances for them in two years, scoring an impressive 26 tries. In 1999 he joined St Helens RL and made 35 appearances, scoring eleven tries.

He left St Helens in June 2000 and signed for Leicester Tigers, also making his return to the Samoa national side. He toured with them in the summer of 2002. He was also selected to tour New Zealand, but was prevented from doing so by an injury, which also denied him a place in national side's world cup squad.

In the 2003-4 season his younger brother Henry Tuilagi also signed for Leicester, and his younger brother Alesana or Alex Tuilagi also plays wing. He has two other brothers, Anitelia (Andy) who plays for Sale Sharks, and Manu Tuilagi who is on Leicester's books.

In 2004-5 season he signed for Cardiff Blues.

External links

* [http://www.saints.org.uk/saints.org.uk/home/viewpage.php?page_id=10&num=16450 Saints Heritage Society profile]
* [http://www.planet-rugby.com/stats/players/player_details.phtml/p_r/ENG?playerCode=MTU1&search_text=Freddie%20Tuilagi&navCode=&tm1Code=%&setCode=archive Planet rugby stats]