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| Birth name | Liakimatagi Moli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 4 January 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 110 kg (243 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Liaki Moli (born 4 January 1990) is a New Zealand-born Japanese rugby union player, who specialises as a lock forward. He played for the Blues in Super Rugby from 2012 to 2014, and signed for the Japanese Sunwolves for the 2016 season. Also, he has played for Auckland in the ITM Cup since 2010. He is of Tongan and Niuean descent. [1]
Moli was selected for the New Zealand U20 side in 2010, for whom he was a standout player at the world championship in Argentina. He made his Auckland debut in the same year. [2] He was also named the age-group player of the year for 2010 by the NZRU. [3]
A serious shoulder injury at the end of 2010 ruled Moli out of contention for a Super Rugby contract in 2011, meaning 2012 is his first season with the Blues.
Moli was signed by the Japanese Sunwolves for the 2016 season.
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986, with teams from a number of southern nations, the Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from 3 countries: Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The Super 12 was established by SANZAR after the sport became professional in 1995. At its peak the tournament featured the top players from nations representing 16 of the 24 top-three finishes in the history of the Rugby World Cup. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the competition to split into three, the reformed competition in 2021 and beyond will only include Oceanian clubs representing Australia, New Zealand and from the Pacific islands.
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