Isaia "Ice" Toeava (born 15 January 1986) is a former professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He was a part of the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

and World Cup winning

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

squads for New Zealand.

Early career

Toeava was born in Samoa but moved to New Zealand in 1994 to live with his grandmother. He attended De La Salle College, Mangere East, he played alongside Taniela Moa in the school's First XV rugby team. He represented New Zealand U-19 where he was named the IRB's Under-19 2005 player of the year. He played at second-five for New Zealand Under 19. Other early career highlights include playing second five for the Championship-winning Auckland Marist Under 21 side, coached by Peter Tubberty. His sister, Peta is an international netball player having debuted for the Silver Ferns in 2018.

Career

Toeava played for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

and represented

in Sevens rugby. In 2005 Toeava was a shock selection for the All Blacks Grand Slam tour at only 19 years of age. He had had no Super 14 experience, and limited Provincial experience with just eight games for Auckland, and only a solitary start at first-five against Northland. He played his first-class rugby mainly at

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and fullback. He played his provincial rugby for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in the Air New Zealand Cup and was drafted to the

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in the 2006 Super 14 season. He played for the

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for the 2007 season. He was instrumental in the success of the

in the

2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rug ...

, scoring four tries and setting up many others from the outside centre position. He was later nominated for Rebel Sport Super 14 Player of the Year at the 2007 Steinlager Rugby Awards. Toeava played the final two games of the 2011 Tri-Nations tournament. At the

, Toeava played in pool matches against Tonga (at left wing), Japan (at fullback) and Canada (coming off the bench in the second half). In July 2012, Toeava signed a two-year contract with the Tokyo-based Canon Eagles. In March 2016 Toeava joined Clermont as a medical joker to cover an injury crisis and has held his place at the powerful club. His form helped guide Clermont to the French Top 14 championship and to the lead in their pool of the Champions Cup in January 2017, before an arm injury that required surgery sidelined him for the rest of the season. On 16 June 2020, Toeava signs for

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 ...

rivals

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

ahead of the 2020–21 season. On 25 November 2021, he signed for another French side

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

in the second-tier

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

ahead of the 2021–22 season.

NZRU Annual Awards

* NZRU Age-Grade Player of the Year, 2005

New Zealand Representative Teams

* New Zealand Secondary Schools in 2003 * New Zealand Sevens rugby in 2005 * New Zealand Under 19 in 2005 * All Blacks in 2005–07, 2010

Career Notes

* Played every match in his first Super 14 season for the Hurricanes. * Scored two tries against Northland in his only start of the season for Auckland in the 2005 Air New Zealand NPC. * Received the 2005 IRB Under 19 Player of the Year award announced in November 2005 in Paris. * Scored 62 points in four matches for New Zealand Under 19 at the IRB Under 19 World Championships in South Africa in 2005, including five tries and 37 points from the boot.

References

External links

*
Auckland Rugby profileStatistics from Fox Sports
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toeava, Isaia 1986 births Living people Samoan rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Yokohama Canon Eagles players Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay players Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Rugby union wings New Zealand international rugby union players World Rugby Awards winners Sportspeople from Tuamasaga New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan People educated at De La Salle College, Māngere East 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players ASM Clermont Auvergne players RC Toulon players Aviron Bayonnais players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France