Buxton Popoali'i

Buxton Popoali'i

Date of birth	(1989-12-04) 4 December 1989
Place of birth	Auckland, New Zealand
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	87 kg (13 st 10 lb; 192 lb)
Occupation(s)	Personal trainer
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing, Fullback Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 2008–10 2011–13 Wellington Otago 18 31 (0) (60) Super Rugby Years Team Apps (Points) 2012–13 Highlanders 15 (0)

Buxton Popoali'i (born 4 December 1989) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played club rugby for Dunedin side Green Island, provincial Mitre 10 Cup rugby for Wellington between 2008 and 2010 and for Otago between 2011 and 2013. He also made 15 appearances for the Highlanders in 2012 and 2013. He usually played as a winger or fullback.

He retired from professional rugby in 2014, aged 24, due to a heart condition.

Playing career

Popoali'i overcame heart valve replacement surgery at age 16 to crack the Wellington provincial squad for the 2008 Air New Zealand Cup. He would spend three seasons with Wellington, but appeared in only 19 matches over that stretch, mainly off the bench.

Looking for more playing time, Popoali'i moved to Otago for the 2011 ITM Cup. He quickly established himself as a starter on the wing, and scored his first provincial try in a 32–25 victory over Auckland on 20 July. He finished the season as the province's leading try-scorer with 4, and was the only Otago player to start every match over the year.

Popoali'i is also an accomplished rugby sevens player, and appeared in two sevens tournaments for New Zealand in 2010. He was again on the New Zealand sevens squad in 2011.

Popoali'i was named in the 2012 wider training squad for the Highlanders in 2011. Popoali'i made his Super Rugby debut for the Highlanders on the right wing in the 23–19 victory against the Chiefs on 25 February 2012 in Hamilton.

External links

• Otago Profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 21 August 2011)
• Buxton Popoali'i at the World Rugby Men's Sevens Series (archived)