Ratu Alipate Ratini (born February 17, 1991) in Namosi,

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

is a Fijian rugby union and rugby league footballer. He played wing for

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and previously for French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

side

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

. He is also a former high school sprint champion with a time of 10.7secs in the 100m. In January 2016, he signed for another Top 14 side,

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

. He signed for Stade Francais at the end of that season.

Career

Ratini was first discovered by former Flying Fijians head coach

Inoke Male Inoke Male (born 3 June 1963, in Nausori, Fiji), is a Fijian former rugby union footballer and former head coach of the Fijian national side. He played in the position of Number eight, but could also play Flanker during his playing career. Fi ...

who found him playing at a local tournament in

Vanua Levu Vanua Levu (pronounced , , ), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of and a population of 135,961 . Geology Fiji lies in a tectonic ...

. He joined the Vatukoula rugby team before getting selected to the Fiji under-20 in 2012 and alter joining the

Fiji Warriors The Fiji Warriors, also referred to as Fiji A, is a national representative rugby team of rugby union in Fiji. It is the second-tier side to the Fiji national team. The Warriors team is selected from players in the Fijian domestic competi ...

team. He first made his mark in the local 7's circuit playing for Namosi before getting selected by the Fiji 7's coach, Alifereti Dere. He made his 7's debut for Fiji the

2012 Gold Coast Sevens The 2012 Gold Coast Sevens was the first tournament of the 2012-2013 Sevens World Series. It was held over the weekend of 13–14 October 2012 at Robina Stadium (known for sponsorship reasons as Skilled Park) in Queensland, Australia, and was t ...

. He scored 7 tries in that tournament. He was dropped from the Fiji 7's team for the next leg due to injury. In December 2012, he signed a

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

contract with the

Cronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league compet ...

who were impressed with him after the Gold coast sevens. He didn't get a chance to play in the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...

but played in a few

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

games. He joined

side

after not being able to make the Sharks starting side. He made his Top 14 debut against

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

in September 2013. He scored 2 tries against the

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

in the

Amlin Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

. In May 2013, he returned to Fiji to try to win his place back to represent the Fiji 7's team at the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

. After an impressive outing, he led the try tally for Grenoble in the

2014–15 Top 14 season The 2014–15 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2013–14 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this season, Lyon and La Rochelle in plac ...

with 7 tries in 7 starts. He was named by Fiji coach, John McKee in the

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

team for the

2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2014 end-of-year rugby tests, also known as the 2014 autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were international rugby union matches predominantly played between visiting Southern Hemisphere countries and European nations. Brazil, Cana ...

and would make a poor international debut for Fiji against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

but did score his first try. In July 2015, he was fired by Grenoble because of poor behaviour. In January 2016, he was signed on by

for the remainder of the

2015–16 Top 14 season The 2015–16 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2014–15 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Agen and Pau in place of the two ...

. In June 2016, he signed a one-year deal with another Top14 side,

Stade Francais Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...

. He was dropped by Stade Francais as well after more indiscipline issues and was picked by 3rd division side

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, France' ...

. In August 2017, Perpignan also dropped him after 11 games and 7 tries citing indiscipline.

References

External links

* *
Alipate Ratini
at ItsRugby * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratini, Alipate 1991 births Living people Fijian expatriate rugby union players in France FC Grenoble Rugby players Fiji international rugby union players Fijian rugby league players Fijian rugby union players I-Taukei Fijian people Male rugby sevens players People from Namosi Province Rugby union wings Rugby league players from Namosi Province 21st-century Fijian sportsmen