Sione Lauaki made his All Blacks Test debut off the bench in the team’s 91–0 demolition of Fiji at Albany in June. A remarkable athlete for a player of his size, Lauaki is a dangerous runner off the back of the scrum or ruck or in the open field, and puts his strength and physical presence to good use on defence also.

An electrifying player at either No 8 or on the blindside flank, Lauaki made his All Blacks debut on the back of the scrum. Lauaki was a star of the Rebel Sport Super 12 competitions in 2004 and 2005, and joins wing Sitiveni Sivivatu in playing both for and against New Zealand in a 12-month span after making his international debut for the Pacific Islanders team against in 2004.

He is another player from Auckland’s Kelston Boys’ High School where he made the First XV in 1998. He was selected for the Auckland Secondary Schools B team in the same year and followed on to make the A team in 1999 and 2000. He represented the New Zealand Colts in 2001 and 2002 and made his Air New Zealand NPC debut for Auckland in 2002.

Career Notes