Malakai Fekitoa

Malakai Fekitoa
Fekitoa representing New Zealand during the Rugby World Cup
Full nameMalakai Fonokalafi Fekitoa
Date of birth (1992-05-10) 10 May 1992 (age 32)
Place of birthHa'apai, Tonga
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight100 kg (220 lb; 15 st 10 lb)
SchoolTonga College
Liahona High School
Wesley College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre, Wing
Current team Italy Benetton
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012–2017 New Zealand Auckland 29 (30)
2013–2014 New Zealand Blues 6 (10)
2014–2017 New Zealand Highlanders 65 (100)
2017–2019 France Toulon 39 (50)
2019–2022 England Wasps 48 (35)
2022–2023 Ireland Munster 19 (10)
2023– Italy Benetton 9 (5)
Correct as of 23 January 2024
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–2017 New Zealand New Zealand 24 (40)
2022– Tonga Tonga 11 (0)
Correct as of 23 January 2024
National sevens team
Years Team Comps
2021 Tonga Tonga 1 (4pts)
Correct as of 23 January 2024

Malakai Fonokalafi Fekitoa (born 10 May 1992) is a Tongan professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Benetton and the Tonga national team.[1]

Early life

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Fekitoa was born in Haʻapai, Tonga. The son of a carpenter and Meleane Fekitoa, he is the eighth of eight boys and seven girls.[2] After playing for Tonga 7s on a tour of New Zealand, he was offered a rugby scholarship and enrolled at Wesley College.[3][4]

Club career

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Fekitoa made his debut for Auckland in the ITM Cup in 2012,[3] making 12 appearances and scoring 3 tries,[5] and was signed by the Blues for the 2013 season.[6][7][8] However, he only made one appearance in 2013 for the Blues against France,[9] and signed with the Highlanders for the 2014 Super Rugby season.[10][11][12][13] He was a key member of the Highlanders title winning-side in 2015. In July 2017, Fekitoa confirmed that he had signed a two-year contract with French Top 14 side Toulon.[14] In January 2019, it was announced that Fekitoa had signed for English Premiership Rugby side Wasps from the beginning of the 2019–20 season.[15]

Fekitoa moved to Ireland to join United Rugby Championship club Munster on a two-year contract from the 2022–23 season,[16] and made his senior competitive debut for the province in their 20–13 defeat away to Welsh side Cardiff in round one of the 2022–23 United Rugby Championship on 17 September 2022.[17] Fekitoa featured off the bench in Munster's historic 28–14 win against a South Africa XV in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on 10 November 2022.[18] He left Munster upon the conclusion of the 2022–23 season, despite having signed a two-year contract.[19] In his final game for the province, Fekitoa started in Munster's 19–14 win against the Stormers in the final of the 2022–23 United Rugby Championship on 27 May 2023.[20]

Fekitoa joined Italian United Rugby Championship club Benetton on a three-year contract from the 2023–24 season.[21][22] He made his debut in Round 2 of the 2023–24 season against the Munster.[23]

International career

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New Zealand

[edit]

Fekitoa became eligible for selection for the New Zealand after completing three years post-education residency in New Zealand. After completing his residency period, he was selected as a rookie in the New Zealand squad for the June 2014 test series against England, with coach Steve Hansen having signalled interest in him during the Super Rugby season.[24] He made his debut as a replacement player in first test of that series, a 20–15 win. With first-choice centre Conrad Smith injured out of the third and final test of the series, Fekitoa moved into the starting XV. His performance earned praise, with the Herald on Sunday saying that "the All Blacks coach has found the most elegant of solutions for Conrad Smith's back-up, one who carries more of an attacking threat than the veteran centre".[25]

Fekitoa was selected again in 2014 for the New Zealand squad for The Rugby Championship. He was originally named as a reserve for the first test against Australia, however, with Conrad Smith and his wife expecting, Fekitoa was called up into the starting XV.[26] He was a member of the 2015 Rugby World Cup winning New Zealand side.[27]

Fekitoa became a regular starter for the All Blacks in 2016, combining with Ryan Crotty to form the midfield partnership for the Wales series in June. Fekitoa began to experience very erratic form however, and did not play against Argentina and South Africa that year. Fekitoa lost his starting spot to Anton Lienert-Brown, coming off the bench for the final Bledisloe Cup and the first Ireland fixture that year. Fekitoa re-gained his starting spot for the next two tests due to Crotty being injured, with Lienert Brown moving to inside centre so that Fekitoa could play outside centre. Fekitoa scored 2 tries in two games, the All Blacks were against Italy and Ireland. Fekitoa was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle against Ireland, so was cited and suspended for the final test match of the year.[28]

Fekitoa was not initially selected for the All Blacks in 2017 for the British & Irish Lions tour but was called up for the third test match after Sonny Bill Williams was issued a red card for a shoulder block hit on Anthony Watson of the Lions in the second test match.[29][30] Fekitoa played his final test match for New Zealand on 8 July 2017 in the final test against the Lions, coming off the bench to replace Ngani Laumape.

Tonga

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In 2022, Fekitoa was selected in the Tongan squad for the 2022 Pacific Nations Cup, having become eligible after World Rugby's eligibility rules were amended to allow for players to switch national allegiance after completing a stand-down period.[31] He made his debut for Tonga on 2 July 2022, in a 36-0 loss to Fiji.[32] He played in 3 matches in the Rugby World Cup 2023 with a 59% tackle success.[33]

Honours

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Fundraising

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Following the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami, Fekitoa, whose family still lives in Tonga, set up a fundraising appeal to provide aid, raising in excess of £50,000.[34] Wasps, Fekitoa's club at the time, supported his fundraising effort by donating 20% of the match ticket revenue from their fixture against Saracens on 30 January 2022.[35]

Munster
New Zealand

References

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  1. ^ "Malakai Fekitoa". Benetton Rugby.
  2. ^ Chris Jones and Shanti Das, Vunipolas and Fekitoa in rush to get help for Tonga, Sunday Times, London, 23 January 2022, page 15.
  3. ^ a b Long, David (26 August 2012). "Newcomer Malakai Fekitoa fending for himself". Rugby Heaven. Fairfax. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  4. ^ Napier, Liam (7 October 2015). "Malakai Fekitoa's journey from Tonga to All Blacks had some timing issues". Rugby Heaven. Fairfax. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Malakai Fekitoa Auckland Player Profile". Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  6. ^ "Auckland rookie gets Blues Super call-up". Stuff. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Malakai Fekitoa Blues Player Profile". Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Blues squad announced for 2013" (Press release). Blues. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  9. ^ "Classic hits keep coming for softly spoken Fekitoa". New Zealand Herald. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Highlanders 2014 Squad Announced" (Press release). Highlanders. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  11. ^ Cheshire, Jeff (7 April 2014). "Six stepping up for Highlanders". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  12. ^ Rattue, Chris (11 April 2014). "Fekitoa shows star potential". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  13. ^ Eade, Shaun (27 April 2014). "Fekitoa pushes claim for place in All Blacks". Rugby Heaven. Fairfax. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  14. ^ "Fekitoa confirms Toulon move". Planet Rugby. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Wasps capture All Black centre Fekitoa". Wasps. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Malakai Fekitoa To Join Munster Rugby". Munster Rugby. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Report | Munster Beaten In Cardiff". Munster Rugby. 17 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Report | Munster Secure Historic Victory Over SA Select XV". Munster Rugby. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Munster's Malakai Fekitoa set to depart after one year with the province". The42. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  20. ^ "Magical Munster see off Stormers to win URC title and end trophy drought". Irish Examiner. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Malakai Fekitoa set to leave Munster for Benetton Rugby". The42. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  22. ^ "COLPO DI MERCATO DA URLO: MALAKAI FEKITOA SARA' UN LEONE". Benetton Rugby. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  23. ^ "A MONIGO I LEONI PAREGGIANO 13-13 CONTRO I CAMPIONI IN CARICA DI MUNSTER". Benetton Rugby. 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Hansen admits All Blacks interest in Fekitoa" (Press release). All Blacks. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  25. ^ McKendry, Patrick (22 June 2014). "All Blacks: Fekitoa takes big step up to centre stage". Herald on Sunday. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  26. ^ Mortimer, James (16 August 2014) Conrad to have baby, Wallabies to get Malakai. allblacks.com. Retrieved on 4 November 2015.
  27. ^ "Four-year journey takes Malakai Fekitoa from the RWC fan zone to the field". Stuff. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  28. ^ "New Zealand's Malakai Fekitoa suspended for high tackle in Ireland match". BBC Sport. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  29. ^ "Lions tour: All Blacks call up Malakai Fekitoa for third Lions test". Stuff. 2 July 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  30. ^ "Sonny Bill Williams handed four-week suspension for shoulder charge on Lions wing Anthony Watson". The Telegraph. 2 July 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  31. ^ Stuff sports reporters (27 May 2022). "Israel Folau joins ex-All Blacks Malakai Fekitoa and Salesi (Charles) Piutau in Tonga squad". Stuff. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  32. ^ "Fiji 36 Tonga 0". World Rugby. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  33. ^ rugbybworldcup.com. "Malakai Fekitoa (Tonga) | Rugby World Cup 2023". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  34. ^ "Malakai Fekitoa's one call from Tonga: 'She's still devastated, the sound of her voice'". Coventry Telegraph. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  35. ^ "Wasps to support Malakai Fekitoa's fundraising efforts for the Tongan tsunami". Wasps RFC. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
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