He made his representative debut for Hawkes Bay in 1998, and from 1999 to 2005 he played for the Wellington Lions in the National Provincial Championship.

[4] After his arrival at the Exiles the team achieved a play-off place in the 2005–06 Guinness Premiership, losing to the Leicester Tigers.

[7] He was rewarded for an excellent 2007/2008 début season with Wasps, winning the League,[8] and he was named Player of the Year at the PRA awards.

Argentinian teenager Gabriel Capotosti suffered a broken nose and right eye socket that required corrective plastic surgery in an unprovoked assault by Flutey outside a mini mart.

Consequently, Flutey spent four nights in a police cell, then under house arrest at the team's hotel while the Wellington union arranged his bail of US$35,000 (NZ$84,800), before returning to New Zealand on 10 December 2001.

[21] The case was finally settled in December 2008, with the charges completely dropped on condition that Flutey does not reoffend for a set period.