Taufa’ao Filise joined Cardiff ahead of the 2006–07 season after moving from Bath and went on to become one of the club’s most durable front-row forwards.
The Tongan international made 255 appearances for Cardiff, including 195 starts, and scored nine tries. Capable of playing on either side of the scrum, Filise also made two appearances for the ‘Rags’.
Raised in Tonga and educated at Tupou College in Nuku’alofa, Filise moved to New Zealand in 2000 to join Bay of Plenty before later featuring for the Auckland Blues in Super Rugby.
He won 29 caps for Tonga and represented them at the 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cups. His final Cardiff appearance came in the 2018 European Challenge Cup Final in Bilbao, where Cardiff defeated Gloucester 31–30.
Among his favourite Cardiff memories were the 2009 EDF triumph over Gloucester at Twickenham and the 2010 victory over Toulon. For Filise, Cardiff Arms Park became his ‘Home away from home’.
