Lote Tuqiri

As of March 15, 2011 National team: September 13, 2008

Lote Tuqiri Daulako ( born September 23, 1979 in Suva, Fiji) is an Australian rugby union and former rugby league player on the position of the outer three- quarter. He was Australia's national team in two variants and has also played for the rugby league team Fiji. Since November 2009, he played rugby union for the Leicester Tigers in the Guinness Premiership. At the same time he has also signed a contract with the Australian Rugby League team Western Tigers, which caused some confusion.

Career

Rugby League

Tuqiri began his career in the variant at the Brisbane Broncos Rugby League, where he was elected junior player of the season 1999. In his second season, he scored with teammate Wendell Sailor, most attempts in the National Rugby League ( NRL). He still holds the club record for most points (26 ) in a game. At the World Championship 2000 he was captain of the Fijian national team, but already eliminated in the first round.

The following year he was nominated for the Queensland Maroons and participated in the 2001 State-of- Origin - season, in which he showed outstanding performance and for the Australian national team ( " Kangaroos " ) recommended. In that year he was again the player with the most trials in the Broncos. In 2002 he succeeded in doing so again. His debut for the Kangaroos, he gave the Match against New Zealand, which was won 28:10, where he scored a try. At the end of the year he announced his move to the variant Rugby Union.

Rugby Union

Because of his speed and his size he acquired as for rugby union and was recruited as 2002 by the Australian Association. He signed a contract with the Waratahs and ran short on already for the rugby union team Australia ( " Wallabies " ) on. He made his debut in June 2003, when Australia met to Ireland. At the time, he was the 43rd player has denied in both variants internationals for Australia.

In the 2003 World Cup, he was also part of the squad. In the first round he scored attempts against Romania and Namibia. His attempt in the final against England failed to prevent the crushing defeat of the Wallabies in Sydney.

In 2004 and 2005 belonged Tuqiri to the permanent staff of the national team and was mostly used as an outer three-quarter, due to injuries he moved but sometimes also on the position of the inner three- quarter.

In 2006 he took part in the Commonwealth Games in part in the 7- rugby. In the bronze medal match, however Australia lost against Tuqiris home country Fiji. This season, he reached the semi-finals with the Waratahs in the Super 14 One year ago, the team defeated the Crusaders in the final. The Tri Nations he was locked because of a dangerous tackles against the New Zealand players Richie McCaw for five games.

In the following season, there were rumors that Tuqiri would return to the variant Rugby League, he was considering the move to the 2007 World Cup. He has received numerous offers from the NRL and Super 14, the transfer phase for Rugby finally decided just before the end Union and a highly doped contract with the Waratahs. It is now up to 2012 in the service of the Super 14 teams and the Wallabies. Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie criticized Tuqiri during the following season, for all his rather below -average performance. He occupied himself too much with little things and should act intuitively on the field and play to its strengths. During a Super 14 game, he grabbed his teammate Sam Norton -Knight on after a game-winning error, making him responsible for the defeat. Tuqiri was booed for this action by their own supporters and publicly criticized. On 1 July 2009, the Australian Rugby Union ( ARU) to cancel the contract with Tuqiri announced surprising and without further explanation.

He then joined the renowned English first division club Leicester Tigers. There he made ​​his debut on 6 November as a substitute in the 55th minute during a friendly match against the world champions South Africa. This Match was won by the Tigers unexpectedly with 22:17.