| Birth name | Fereti Tuilagi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1971-06-09)9 June 1971 (age 53) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Apia, Samoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 102 kg (16 st 1 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Anitelea Tuilagi (brother) Alesana Tuilagi (brother) Henry Tuilagi (brother) Sanele Vavae Tuilagi (brother) Manu Tuilagi (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Director of Rugby for Kesteven Rugby Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Official website | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| http://www.tuilagirugbyskills.com/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fereti Tuilagi (born 9 June 1971) is a Samoan former professional rugby footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. After playingrugby union at international level, he turned professional and playedrugby league for English clubsHalifax Blue Sox andSt. Helens. He played as awing orcentre and is now retired. His first name is often anglicised toFreddie.
Tuilagi is the oldest of seven brothers:Henry, Olotuli,Alesana,Anitelea,Vavae andManu.[1] All but Olotuli have played forLeicester Tigers. In a 2015 preseason friendly, his sonFred Tuilagi also made an appearance for Leicester Tigers and became the 8th Tuilagi to get his senior cap for the Tigers coming off the bench in theAnglo-Welsh Cup 21–20 victory overBath Rugby.[2] Tuilagi currently coaches children at his own rugby skills course named 'Tuilagi Rugby Skills Courses'.[3]
Tuilagi was born 9 June 1971 inApia, Samoa, and gained his first international experience playing forSamoa on the 1991 tour to New Zealand. He was also selected forSamoa's1991 Rugby World Cup squad but did not play in any of the matches.
Between 1992 and 1995, he toured withSamoa to Australia and South Africa, and was included in their1995 Rugby World Cup squad. He played againstSouth Africa in the quarter final.
After the 1995 world cup, Tuilagi 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. Tuilagi played forSt. Helens atsecond-row in their1999 Super League Grand Final victory overBradford Bulls. Having won the 1999 Championship,St. Helens contested in the2000 World Club Challenge againstNational Rugby League Premiers theMelbourne Storm, with Tuilagi playing from the interchange bench in the loss. He also played for St Helens from the interchange bench, scoring atry in their2000 Super League Grand Final victory overWigan Warriors. He'd made 35 appearances, scoring eleven tries.
He leftSt. Helens in June 2000 and signed forLeicester Tigers, also making his return to theSamoa 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. Tuilagi started the victorious2002 Heineken Cup Final for Leicester.[4] In the 2003–4 season his younger brotherHenry also signed for Leicester, and his younger brother Alesana joined the following season. In 2004–5 season Tuilagi signed forCardiff Blues.[5][6] Unfortunately injury limited the number of times he was able to play for Cardiff and was released early.[7] In 2005–6 season Tuilagi played forCastres Olympique in the FrenchTop 14.
Since retiring from playing, Tuilagi has acted as an agent for several players – mainly Samoans playing abroad through his company Global Bro Sports.[8] Tuilagi also had a spell playingAmerican football for theLeicester Falcons during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.[9]Tuilagi stood down as Director of Rugby & head coach for Kesteven Rugby Football Club on 6 May 2022 and is now head coach for Market Rasen & Louth RUFC .