Men of Influence magazine


Faletau was born in Tonga in 1990. His family moved to Wales when he was seven.

His father Kuli, who played 20 Tests for Tonga, was recruited by Ebbw Vale and later played for Pontypool.

The Ebbw Vale captain at the time was Kingsley Jones, whose father Phil was Tonga coach.

That connection helped bring the Faletaus to Wales and Jones would later be Faletau’s forwards coach at Dragons.

“Kuli came over, initially on his own, before bringing his wife and family including Taulupe,” said Jones.

“Kuli is his own man, quiet and humble who also likes a laugh. He was made to feel welcome and warmed to that.

“There was a large Tongan culture in Wales and that helped them settle.

“Kuli was one of the leaders of the Tongan players in Wales and had a lot of respect.

“They had a house on the edge of Eugene Cross Park (Ebbw Vale’s ground). It became known as the ‘Tongan Embassy’.

“My first memory of Toby was him running around in the car park jumping on people’s cars and just being a little boy.

“He was always a humble, great guy.

“To coach him later on was strange because I had known him as a little boy and then all of a sudden he was this international rugby player.”

Faletau’s mum Vika told Scrum V in 2015 his schoolfriends and teachers found it hard to say Taulupe so he suggested using Toby. He would later revert to Taulupe during his rugby career.

A year after the Faletau family moved to Wales, Fe’ao Vunipola arrived from Sydney to join Pontypool.

Faletau played in the same East Wales Under-11 side as Vunipola’s sons, Mako and Billy.

The Vunipolas’ rugby and education took them to England, with Billy and Mako subsequently pledging their allegiance to the red rose.

Faletau was 16 when he moved to Filton College in south Bristol.

The college’s academy director George Tavner says they initially looked at recruiting England international Mako Vunipola, who went elsewhere, before becoming aware of Faletau.

“He came across as a respectful young man but you could also see he had huge potential,” said Tavner.

“He was extremely raw when we first met him but what he had was unbelievable athletic ability.

“We have only played a very small part in his development but I’m proud of what he has gone on to become.

“The biggest thing Filton did for Toby was put him in an environment where he was challenged every week, but he deserves the credit for what he has achieved. It’s awesome.”



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