Sam Talakai

Sam Talakai is an experienced Australian tighthead prop, born on 4 September 1991, who has taken his scrummaging into the United Rugby Championship with Glasgow Warriors. He arrived in Scotland after a long Super Rugby career in Australia, bringing with him a well-developed body of work at the professional level. Talakai's value is built on the technical fundamentals of tighthead play. He is a heavy, low-bodied scrummager who works to keep his side of the scrum stable under load, and he backs that set-piece platform with direct ball-carrying in the tight channels and a willing defensive profile around the field. That combination gives the Warriors an option who can both anchor a scrum and contribute in general play. Before his move to Glasgow he spent a significant stretch of his career in Super Rugby, racking up a substantial tally of caps and establishing himself as a senior front-row operator in the Australian system. That grounding in Southern Hemisphere forward play has translated into a scrum presence that fits well with the physical demands of the URC. At Glasgow he functions as a senior tighthead option, adding depth, experience and scrum craft to a Warriors front-row unit that competes in both the URC and European competition.