1
VIDEO: Taufa'ao Filise has broken one of professional rugby's oldest records
By Ian Cameron
The Rugby Paper is reporting that Taufa’ao Filise is the oldest player ever to be awarded a new professional contract.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 6’2, 124kg prop has signed a fresh one year deal with the Cardiff Blues, where he’s played his rugby for the last decade.
Cardiff Blues prop Taufa'ao Filise: 1st pro in world rugby to win new contract at 40 @therugbypaper. He's even older than Gianluigi Buffon.
— Peter Jackson (@JackoRugby) August 13, 2017
The giant front row forward is an exceptionally strong player who can play on both sides of the scrum having joined the Cardiff Blues from Bath Rugby in 2006.
Filise, grew up in Tonga and went to Tupou College in Nuku’alofa. In 2000 he joined Bay of Plenty in New Zealand and later the Auckland Blues Super Rugby side, where he played alongside former Blues Number 8, Xavier Rush. Filise has represented Tonga 29 times and was a member of their 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cup squads.
Filise has confirmed his integral place in the Blues pack and is the leading appearance maker in the region’s history as he closes in on 200 games for Cardiff Blues – a feat never achieved by a player at the region.
