Henry Tuilagi

Enele "Henry" Tuilagi (born 12 August 1976) is a Samoan rugby union footballer. He currently plays for USA Perpignan in the French club competition, the Top 14, and has appeared ten times for his national team Samoa. He previously spent a year playing in the Italian Super 10 competition for Parma as well as a spell in Rugby League.

Tuilagi made 24 first team appearances during his first season with the Leicester Tigers. He scored a try on his debut match for the Tigers against London Irish. He soon established himself firmly in the Tigers line-up, but his next season was cut short with a broken leg in the final home game against the London Wasps.

The Tuilagi family have strong connections with Leicester Tigers; Henry's brother Alesana (Alex) played for Leicester before moving to play in Japan, and his brothers Fereti (Freddie) and Anitelea (Andy) and Sanele Vavae Tuilagi are former players. His brother Manu is still at Leicester. Manu began his first season with Leicester in the 2010–11 Aviva Premiership and made his debut for England against Wales in August 2011.

Henry Tuilagi has made a real impact in the back row after joining his elder brother Fereti when at Leicester. He made 24 first team appearances in his first season, scoring a try on his debut in the opening game against London Irish, and has since consolidated his position both in the team and as a favourite of the fans. His 2004/05 season was cruelly cut short, however, when he suffered a broken leg in the final home Premiership match against London Wasps in April.

Henry previously played for Italian club Parma, where his younger brother Alesana had joined him. He appeared for Parma against London Wasps at High Wycombe in the first round of the European Challenge Cup, and then at Caerphilly in the quarter final of the same competition in January 2003. The No.8 was first included in the Samoa squad for the 2000 Pacific Rim Championship, but had to wait another two years for his test debut against Fiji in Apia, Samoa in June 2002.

Both Fereti and Alesana joined him in the international team later in the month when all three brothers played together in the World Cup qualifier against Fiji at Nadi. He was also capped for Samoa at Rugby League in 1999.

Tuilagi was known for his enormous strength, and is one of the strongest athletes in sporting history whose career was not dedicated to powerlifting as an end in itself. He bench pressed 250 kg (over 550 lb) raw (no bench press suit) for 5 reps at his peak.^[1]

References

1. ↑ http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/healeys-crunch-battles-513267

External links

• USAP profile on fr.usap.fr (fr)
• Henry Tuilagi on tigers.co.uk
• Manu Samoa supporters website
• Pacific Islanders Rugby Teams supporters website