Lopeti Timani

Lopeti Timani (born 28 September 1990) is a Tongan professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for United Rugby Championship club Cardiff and the Tonga national team.

In 2016, Timani debuted for Australia against Argentina in Perth before getting his run on debut against Argentina at Twickenham Stadium in London. This was seen as Timani's break out game as he continued as starting no.8 for his next 4 appearances.

Timani recommitted to Australia Rugby until 2019 turning down lucrative offers form Europe.

In August 2018, Timani travels to France to join Top 14 side La Rochelle ahead of the 2018-19 season. Lopeti played for La Rochelle for the 2018-2019, 2019-2020 & 2020-2021 seasons. La Rochelle made the final of the European Challenge Cup & the semi-final of the Top 14 in 2018-2019 season. In the 2020-2021 season La Rochelle made the final of the European Championship Cup & the final of the Top 14.

Timani has signed with Toulon in the Top 14 for the 2021-2022 season.

In June, Timani debuted for the Tonga sevens team at the Monaco Sevens tournament alongside Malakai Fekitoa, transferring his international affiliation from Australia to Tonga. On 6 November 2021, Timani made his test debut for Tonga in a 69-3 defeat by England as part of the 2021 Autumn Nations Series

On 27 April 2022, Timani and Cardiff Rugby confirmed that the number-8 will play for the URC team from the 2022-23 season onwards.

Career statistics Club summary Year Team Played Start Sub Tries Cons Pens Drop Points Yel Red 2012 14 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2013 5 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2014 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2015 15 15 0 4 0 0 0 20 0 0 2016 12 12 0 2 0 0 0 10 1 0 2017 9 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2018 12 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Career 69 46 23 6 0 0 0 30 2 0