Vaea Fifita

Vaea Tangitau Lapota Fifita (born 17 June 1992) is a Tongan born New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a lock or loose forward for the All Blacks, for Wellington in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup, and for the Hurricanes in the international Super Rugby competition.^[1][2][3][4]

Early career

Born and raised on the Tongan island of Vava'u, Fifita attended Tonga College on the larger island of Tongatapu and while there earned selection for the Tonga Schools side ahead of their tour to New Zealand. Impressive displays against New Zealand and Australia Secondary Schools Teams brought him to the attention of Tamaki College who offered him a rugby scholarship.

After graduating high school, Fifita spent time with former All Black number eight Murray Mexted at his international rugby academy in Palmerston North. This opened the way for him to make his way further south to play club rugby for the Wellington Axemen, whom he joined in 2012. He scored an incredible 26 tries in debut season of Wellington club rugby and then in 2013 he helped the Wellington sevens side lift the national title for the first time since 2002.^[5][6]

Senior career

Fifita first played provincial rugby with Wellington during the 2013 ITM Cup, making a sole appearance in a 35–27 win over North Harbour. The Lions were in fine form in 2013, finishing top of the log and reaching the Premiership final before going down 29–13 to Canterbury, however 2014 would be a different story as they finished 7th and last in the Premiership table which saw them relegated down to the Championship for 2015. Fifita saw plenty of game time in a constantly changing Wellington side, scoring 2 tries in 9 games and then going on to score an impressive 6 tries in 10 games as the Lions failed to win promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking, finishing 2nd on the log behind Hawke's Bay before being defeated 26–25 by the same opposition in the playoff final.

2016 also proved to be a year of frustration for the men from New Zealand's capital as they once again finished 2nd in the Championship table, this time behind Otago before suffering a surprise 40–37 defeat at home to North Harbour in the playoff semi-finals. Playing largely as a loose forward, Fifita featured in 8 of Wellington's 11 matches during the year and contributed 2 tries.^[4]

Super Rugby

Although he was not initially named in the Hurricanes squad ahead of the 2015 Super Rugby season, Fifita was called up to provide injury cover midway through the campaign and debuted in a 29–5 victory over the Blues in Auckland. In total he played twice during 2015 and that in addition to his good form for his provincial side, Wellington, saw him sign a three-year deal with the Hurricanes prior to the 2016 season.^[5][7]

His first full season of Super Rugby would prove to be one to remember as he played a part in all 18 games and forged a strong second-row partnership with Michael Fatialofa that helped the Hurricanes lift the Super Rugby title after a 20–3 win over South African side, the Lions in the final. Fifita scored 3 tries during the year including 1 in the 41–0 thrashing of the Sharks in the quarter-finals.^[4]

Fifita competed at the 2017 Brisbane Global Tens with the Hurricanes but was injured and missed the first half of the season as a result.

On the 27th June 2017, Fifita started at blindside flanker for the Hurricanes against the touring British and Irish Lions side. Despite being behind 7-23 at half time, the Hurricanes managed to make a comeback. Fifita scored a try for the Hurricanes with ten minutes left as part of this comeback, pushing past Lions forwards George Kruis and CJ Stander to score. Fifita's try allowed the Hurricanes to draw 31-31 against the Lions.

International career

Fifita was called up to the All Blacks end-of-year tour in 2016 as a replacement for Luke Romano, after Romano left the tour due to a bereavement. Fifita was not capped on the tour.

Fifita was named in the All Blacks team in 2017 for the British and Irish Lions series and test against Samoa in Auckland, being called up as injury cover for All Black captain Kieran Read. Fifita quickly became a regular starter for New Zealand and made six appearances for the All Blacks in 2017. Fifita and his Hurricanes team-mate Jordie Barrett both earned their first cap for New Zealand in the 78-0 win against Samoa on 16th June 2017, one day prior to Fifita's 25th birthday, where Fifita replaced veteran Jerome Kaino off the bench 57 minutes into the test. Fifita performed well and scored a try on debut, following an offload from winger Israel Dagg.

Fifita was given his first test start on the 9th September 2017, against Argentina at Taranaki in the Rugby Championship. Fifita made a solid impact, scoring his second test try and getting fans, players, and the media raving about his performance. His try sparked a comeback for the All Blacks and was a 40m solo try where he out-ran winger, Santiago Cordero and fullback Joaquín Tuculet. Fifita was awarded Man of the Match for his 80-minute performance, which heavily contributed to the All Blacks' 39-22 win. Fifita started again against Argentina in Buenos Aires on 30th September, but failed to make the same impact as the previous match.

Fifita started against the Barbarians in a 31-22 win, and with injury to Jerome Kaino and illness to Liam Squire, Fifita made a start against France in the 38-18 win on the end-of-year tour's first test. Fifita started once more on the tour, against Scotland in a 22-17 win. Fifita's efforts on the end of year tour produced a try against the Barbarians, but a mixed performance against Scotland.

Career honours

Hurricanes

• Super Rugby – 2016

Super Rugby statistics

As of 24 January 2017^[4]

References