Toutai Kefu is a rugby player who won 60 caps

Cap (sport)

In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 playing at number eight for the Australian rugby union side

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 (the Wallabies).

Career

Big, quick and powerfully built, he was a stand out school boy performer before making his international test debut at the age of 23 on 23 August 1997 as a replacement during the 1997 Tri Nations Series match against South Africa

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

. He took over the position of number 8 from fellow Tongan Willie Ofahengaue in 1998 when he gained his first starting appearance with Australia in their record 76-0 win over England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

. This score remains the biggest losing margin that England has suffered.

He played a vital role in the Australian side that lifted the 1999 Rugby World Cup

1999 Rugby World Cup

The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...

, scoring against Romania in the opening game. His father was once the heavyweight boxing champion of Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

One of his finest moments came in John Eales

John Eales

John Eales AM is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby.-Early life:...

' final game for the Wallabies when he scored the try which beat the All Blacks, gave the retiring Skipper a winning record against the New Zealanders and the perfect send off.

During the 2003 Tri Nations Series game against New Zealand

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

, he cracked a shoulder blade.

In 2007 Kefu signed on to play for Kubota Spears

Kubota Spears

Kubota Spears is a Japanese rugby union team which is based in Funabashi, Chiba and they play in the Top League.Their slogan for the 2006 season was FIGHT ON.-2011-12 Squad:...

 in the Top League

Top League

The Top League is a professional rugby union league created by the Japan Rugby Football Union to drive up the overall standard and popularity of the sport in the country and improve the results of the Japan national rugby union team. The first season was 2003-04 and featured 12 teams...

 in Japan.

In 2010 Kefu became head coach of the Sunshine Coast Stingrays

Sunshine Coast Stingrays

The Sunshine Coast Stingrays are an Australian rugby union club, based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. The club currently competes in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. The club is the most recent addition to the Premier competition, having their first season in 2005...

, a team in the Queensland Premier League. In 2011, he left the Stingrays temporarily to take up the role of assistant coach of Tonga

Tonga national rugby union team

The Tonga national rugby union team is nicknamed Ikale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Kailao . They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Fiji and Samoa...

 in preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup

2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...

.

External links

• Toutai Kefu photos & stats on Sporting Heroes
• http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/01/1043804571583.html
• Player Profile