Abraham Papali’i

He scored the try that put Samoa into the 2027 World Cup. Five years earlier he was sent off twice in his first three matches of union.

Abraham Papali’i scored the try that qualified Samoa for the 2027 World Cup, in the repechage in 2025. It was the same year he made his international debut. He was 32.

No. 8 at Castres, 1.94m and 126kg, and he spent the first half of his career playing rugby league.

Born and raised in Auckland into a Samoan family, he went to Massey High School, played league for the Glenora Bears and the Point Chevalier Pirates, and union as a junior for Massey. The New Zealand Warriors signed him out of school. He played fifteen matches and scored four tries for their Under-20s in 2013, moved into their reserve grade in 2014, and left at the end of that year. The Sydney Roosters took him on two years and he made his NRL debut against South Sydney in 2016, playing twice.

The switch to union did not begin quietly. Connacht signed him in July 2020 and he was sent off on debut against Munster for a dangerous tackle on Conor Murray, then sent off again in his third match against Zebre. He played his way past it on sheer physical weight and Connacht extended him in May 2021. He played for the Barbarians in 2021-22.

Brive took him in 2022 and Castres from 2023-24, where he has been used as the heavy carrier in a back row that has otherwise leaned on speed.

An enormous, direct carrier who was a professional league forward before he was a union one, and who has the disciplinary record that transition usually produces.