Siosiua Halanukonuka (born 9 August 1986) is a Tongan

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player. He plays in the

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

position for the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

side Perpignan. Halanukonuka also represents

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

at international level.

Club career

After appearing three times for in 2009 and once for in

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, Halanukonuka made the move south to join the Tasman Makos for the

2013 ITM Cup Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

and turned out 11 times to help them gain promotion from the Championship division.

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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 . 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, . 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 Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

. 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. Several seasons of strong performances for Tasman in the National Provincial Championship brought him to the attention of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

-based Super Rugby franchise, the 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 . Tony Brown replaced the -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. On 28 July 2017, Siua travels to Scotland to sign for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

on a two-year deal from the 2017–18 season. Halanukonuka was drafted to

Marr Marr (Scottish Gaelic: ''Màrr'') is one of six committee areas in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has a population of 34,038 (2001 Census). Someone from Marr is called a ''Màrnach'' in Scottish Gaelic. Etymology The genesis of the name ''Mar ...

in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

for the 2017–18 season. Halanukonuka has been drafted to

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

in the

for the 2018–19 season. On 18 June 2020, Siua returns to France to join Pro D2 outfit Perpignan from the 2020–21 season.

International career

Halanukonuka made his test debut for Tonga on 8 November 2014 in a match against in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

, coming on as a second-half replacement in a 23–9 victory for his side. 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 The 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the ''2016 Autumn Internationals'' in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries: ...

where he played all 3 of Tonga's tests against; , the and . 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 Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

on 26 November 2016.

Career Honours

Tasman * ITM Cup Championship -

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Super Rugby statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Halanukonuka, Siua 1986 births Living people Tongan rugby union players Tonga international rugby union players Rugby union props Counties Manukau rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Tasman rugby union players RC Narbonne players Highlanders (rugby union) players Expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union players from Tongatapu Glasgow Warriors players Marr RFC players Ayr RFC players