Lopeti Timani

Forty players based in 10 countries have been selected for the upcoming matches against Scotland, England, the French Barbarians and Romania, including 22 based in France, although Tonga Rugby Union CEO Peter Harding says not all players will be available for every game.

The other new faces up front include former Hurricanes prop Loni Uhila, who is now with Hyères-Carqueiranne in the French third tier, former Australian schoolboys hooker Maile Ngauamo, Northland lock Setefano Funaki, and Grenoble utility forward Tanginoa Halaifonua.

The 29-year-old backrower was charged after a brawl in The White Rabbit nightclub in La Rochelle in south-west France where he plays for the La Rochelle club, coached by ex-All Blacks lock Jono Gibbes and captained by former All Black Victor Vito.

French news outlets reported that Timani had been fined €10,000 ($NZ17,650) this week by the Rochelle Criminal Court.

Timani was booted out of the nightclub after a 4.30am brawl on May 12, 2019.

The court heard that as he resisted removal, he threw a bottle in the face of one of the bouncers.

The 29-year-old back row, who won the last of his twelve Wallabies caps in November 2017, was being prosecuted for “violence with a weapon” – in this case, a bottle.

According to a report in L’Equipe, after being kicked out of the nightclub in 2019 for nudging a security guard inside the establishment, La Rochelle forward Timani threw a bottle which hit another security guard in the face. 

This man and one of his colleagues then attacked the player, one of the two guards hitting him with a security barrier as well as punching and kicking.