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Lukhan Salakaia-Loto

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Lukhan Salakaia-Loto
Birth nameLukhan Herman Lealaiauloto Tui
Date of birth (1996-09-19) 19 September 1996 (age 28)
Place of birthAuckland, New Zealand
Height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) [1]
Weight123 kg (19 st 5 lb) [1]
SchoolJohn Edmondson High, NSW
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, Flanker, Number 8
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015 Randwick 1 (0)
2016–2022 Brothers Old Boys [2] 1 (0)
2016–2022 Brisbane City 11 (12)
2022–2023 Northampton Saints 24 (10)
Correct as of 8 June 2023
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016–2022 Queensland Reds 69 (20)
2024– Melbourne Rebels ()
Correct as of 8 June 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2016 Australia U20 10
2017– Australia 30 (10)
Correct as of 8 June 2023

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (formerly Lukhan Tui, born 19 September 1996), is an Australian rugby union player. He plays for the Northampton Saints in Premiership Rugby. He has played for the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby, and his usual position is lock but he has also played in the backrow for the Australia national team particularly at blindside flanker.[3]

Family and early life

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Lukhan Herman Lealaiauloto Tui was born to parents Herman Lealaiauloto [Ermehn] and Teresa Tuimaseve, his mother, at Otara, South Auckland in New Zealand before he moved with his mother to Sydney, Australia, at a young age.

He changed his name to Lukhan Salakaia-Loto later as an adult in 2018 following the death of the stepfather who had raised him,[4] hyphenating Salakaia as the surname of his late stepfather, mother and siblings with Loto from part of his birth father's last name.[4] Lukhan's Samoan bloodline comes from the villages of Lelepa in Savaii and Faleula in Upolu.

Lukhan attended John Edmondson High School in Liverpool, Australia.[5] He initially played junior rugby league and was selected in age-group teams for Western Suburbs,[6] and NSW Samoa.[7]

Rugby career

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He joined the Randwick club in 2014 to play rugby union for their colts side.[8] In 2015, he played for Randwick's first grade Shute Shield team,[9] and was named (as Lukhan Lealaiaulolo-Tui) for the Australia under-20 team [10] that played in the World Junior Championship in Italy.[11]

Later in 2015, he signed a three-year deal with the Queensland Reds.[12] Tui made his Super Rugby debut for the Reds against the Bulls in Pretoria on 16 April 2016.[5]

He was selected in the Queensland Country squad for the National Rugby Championship in 2015,[5] but did not play for that side due to injury. He made his NRC debut the following season for the Brisbane City team.

In 2017, national coach Michael Cheika named Lukhan Tui on the bench for Australia in the match against South Africa at Bloemfontein,[13] and he made his international debut on 30 September 2017,[14] replacing Adam Coleman after the first hour in a 27-all tied test.[15]

On 1 March 2022, it was confirmed that Salakaia-Loto would move to England to join Northampton Saints in the Premiership Rugby ahead of the 2022-23 season.[16]

In January 2023, Salakaia-Loto was suspended for four weeks following his sending-off for dangerous play in a Champions Cup match against La Rochelle.[17]

Super Rugby statistics

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As of 8 June 2023[18]
Season Team Games Starts Sub Mins Tries Cons Pens Drops Points Yel Red
2016 Reds 4 1 3 86 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2017 Reds 9 6 3 422 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2018 Reds 6 4 2 348 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2019 Reds 15 14 1 1,028 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2020 Reds 7 6 1 437 2 0 0 0 10 0 0
2020 AU Reds 10 10 0 725 1 0 0 0 5 0 0
2021 AU Reds 7 7 0 557 1 0 0 0 5 0 0
2021 TT Reds 5 4 1 349 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022 Reds 6 4 2 281 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 69 56 13 4,233 4 0 0 0 20 2 0

References

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  1. ^ a b "Lukhan Tui". Australian Rugby. 2017. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. ^ Tucker, Jim (8 March 2016). "The Tight Five with Jim Tucker: Reds players must fire up, phony suspensions and the howler of the round". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  3. ^ Phillips, Sam (29 March 2016). "Queensland Reds prospect Lukhan Tui likened to Brad Thorn — by the great man himself". The Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Lukhan puts family first, changes last name". rugby.com.au. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Player Profiles: Lukhan Tui". Queensland Rugby. 2016. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Wests beat Balmain 54-4 in U17s development match". Wests Tigers. 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Photos". Rugby League Samoa NSW. 2 June 2015. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Randwick Colt Lukhan Tui chats". Randwick Rugby. 2 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  9. ^ Seiser, Paul (4 July 2015). "Tui, Lukhan runs". SPA Images. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Australia name 28-man squad for U20 Championship". ESPN. 11 May 2015. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  11. ^ "2015 World U20 Championship: Wales U20 23-28 Australia U20". British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  12. ^ Ryan, Sam (2016). "Intrust Shute Shield graduating class of 2015". Rugby News. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  13. ^ Decent, Tom (29 September 2017). "Michael Cheika happy exposing players as Lukhan Tui set to become 24th Wallabies debutant since World Cup". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Wallabies v Springboks: Who starred and who flopped for Australia". Herald Sun. 1 October 2017. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  15. ^ "South Africa 27–27 Australia". ESPN. 30 September 2017. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Lukhan Salakaia-Loto signs for Northampton Saints". Northampton Saints. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Fraser Dingwall and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto: Northampton pair suspended for Champions Cup red cards". BBC Sport. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Player Statistics". its rugby. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
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