{"id":53114,"date":"2025-08-08T17:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T17:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/53114\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T17:00:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T17:00:22","slug":"newcastle-falcons-sign-amanaki-mafi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/53114\/","title":{"rendered":"Newcastle Falcons sign Amanaki Mafi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFriday 08 August 2025 Written by: Tom Grisedale\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Japanese international Amanaki Mafi has become Newcastle Falcons\u2019 latest signing ahead of the new season, joining on a one-year deal.<\/p>\n

The powerful back-rower is renowned for his big hitting and offloading, joining Newcastle from Japanese Top League side Canon Eagles.<\/p>\n

Set to enjoy his second stint in England after a spell at Bath Rugby, the 35-year-old boasts Super Rugby experience having played for Melbourne Rebels and Japanese side, Sunwolves.<\/p>\n

Born in Tonga, for whom he played international under-20s rugby, the 6 foot 2 forward moved to Japan for university and starred for the NTT Shining Arcs, spending five seasons with them and bursting onto the international stage.<\/p>\n

Representing the Brave Blossoms in the Rugby World Cup, director of rugby Steve Diamond is excited by the impact his new arrival can make.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmanaki is a big ball carrier with great footwork and an offloading game, and someone who will get our fans off their seats,\u201d said Diamond.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe makes impacts in both attack and defence, he will bring others into the game and I see this as a really significant signing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Speaking on his move, Mafi added: \u201cIt\u2019s a real honour to join a club like Newcastle Falcons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful for the opportunity and excited for what lies ahead. I\u2019m ready to work hard, learn, and do whatever I can to help the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

AMANAKI MAFI BIOG<\/p>\n

Position: Back row<\/p>\n

Born: 11\/1\/1990<\/p>\n

Height: 1.89m (6 foot 2)<\/p>\n

Weight: 112kg (17 stone 9)<\/p>\n

Honours: Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friday 08 August 2025 Written by: Tom Grisedale Japanese international Amanaki Mafi has become Newcastle Falcons\u2019 latest signing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-53114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}