Siua Halanukonuka

Siua Halanukonuka
Full name Siosiua Halanukonuka
Date of birth (1986-08-09) 9 August 1986
Place of birth Tofoa, Tongatapu, Tonga
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Tighthead Prop
Current team Tasman / Highlanders
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2009 Counties Manukau 3 (0)
2012 Auckland 1 (0)
2013− Tasman 38 (5)
2014−15 Narbonne 10 (0)
2016− Highlanders 27 (0)
Correct as of 29 October 2016
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014− Tonga 6 (0)
Correct as of 10 July 2017

Siosiua Halanukonuka (born 9 August 1986) is a Tongan rugby union player who currently plays as a prop for Tasman in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Highlanders in the international Super Rugby competition.[1][2][3][4][5]

Senior career

After appearing three times for Counties Manukau in 2009 and once for Auckland in 2012, Halanukonuka made the move south to join the Tasman Makos for the 2013 ITM Cup and turned out 11 times to help them gain promotion from the Championship division. 2014 was another successful year as he played 10 times in a campaign that saw the Makos reach the final of the Premiership, ultimately going down 36-32 to Taranaki.[6][7]

The Makos were again Premiership semi-finalists in 2015 and made the final of the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup before losing out 43-27 to local rivals, Canterbury. Halanukonuka played 17 times across the 2 seasons, largely appearing as a second-half replacement.

As well as spending several seasons playing in New Zealand's domestic rugby competitions, Halanukonuka spent part of the 2014–15 Rugby Pro D2 season playing as an injury joker for Narbonne. In total he played 10 times for the French outfit and picked up 2 yellow cards during his time in Occitanie as they finished a disappointing 14th out of 16 teams in the competition.[2][8]

Super Rugby

Several seasons of strong performances for Tasman in the National Provincial Championship brought him to the attention of Dunedin-based Super Rugby franchise, the Highlanders and the then defending champions named him in their squad for the 2016 Super Rugby season. Faced with stiff competition for places in the Highlanders front row, Halanukonuka acquitted himself well, playing 14 times in his debut season including 8 starts. Unfortunately, his efforts weren't enough to help his franchise retain their Super Rugby crown and they were eliminated at the semi-final stage by the Lions.[2]

Tony Brown replaced the Japan-bound Jamie Joseph as Highlanders head coach ahead of the 2017 season and he opted to retain Halanukonuka in the squad for his first campaign in charge.[5]

International career

Halanukonuka made his test debut for Tonga on 8 November 2014 in a match against Georgia in Tblisi, coming on as a second-half replacement in a 23-9 victory for his side.[9] That was to be his only test appearance for over 2 years before he was recalled ahead of the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals where he played all 3 of Tonga's tests against; Spain, the United States and Italy. He started in the number 3 jersey in all 3 games which all resulted in victories, including a famous 19-17 win over Italy in Padua on 26 November 2016.[3]

Career Honours

Tasman

Super Rugby statistics

As of 11 January 2017[2]
Season Team Games Starts Sub Mins Tries Cons Pens Drops Points Yel Red
2016 Highlanders 14 8 6 546 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 14 8 6 546 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

References

  1. ↑ "Siua Halanukonuka Tasman Makos Player Profile". Tasman Rugby. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Siua Halanukonuka itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Siua Halanukonuka ESPN Scrum Player Profile". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Siua Halanukonuka Highlanders Player Profile". Highlanders Rugby. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Highlanders 2017 Squad Guide" (PDF). All Blacks.com. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "Taranaki vs Tasman 25 October 2014". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Siosiua Halanukonuka New Zealand Rugby History". Rugby History.co.nz. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "Transfert Pro D2 - Narbonne recrute Siosiua Halanukonuka, joker médical tonguien" (in French). Rugbyrama. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Georgia vs Tonga 8 November 2014". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
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