Jone Tawake (born 17 April 1982), is a Fijian born rugby union player. He currently competes in the

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 French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

for

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

. He previously played in the

Super 14 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition for the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inhab ...

and the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

. His position of choice is

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

or number 8. He is also noted for having had a finger amputated to aid his game.

Career

Tawake originally attended the

Kinross Wolaroi School , motto_translation = Knowledge, Friendship, Integrity , city = Orange, New South Wales , former_name = Wolaroi Methodist Boys College , type = Independent co-educational early lear ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower * Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...

before joining Super 14 team, the

. He made his debut for the Waratahs in 2002 against the Chiefs and even managed to score a try. At the conclusion of the

2003 Super 12 season The 2003 Super 12 season was the eighth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2003, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular seaso ...

, Tawake left the Waratahs after playing in ten matches over two seasons. He joined the

in 2004 but was hampered by injury.

Personal life

Jone Tawake immigrated to Australia at a young age from

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest 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 Rewa Province, Central Di ...

, Fiji. Tawake was a

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

schoolboy star during his earlier days before switching to Rugby Union. He goes by the nickname of 'Wacky'. He's a big fan of American-Canadian actor/comedian

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy t ...

. Tawake married the beautiful Nadene Wells on 9 December 2006. During some time spent in

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had an estimated urban population of 19,318 at June 2018. Wangaratta has recorded a population growth rate of almost 1% annually ...

(the home town of his wife) in early 2009, Jone was instrumental in getting local Volleyball team "Just Do It" from 9th (of 10 teams) to 4th, and competing with them in the Quarter Finals of the local Volleyball season.

Finger amputation

In October 2006, Tawake made the tough call to have his right ring finger amputated after breaking it badly during the course of the

2006 Super 14 season The 2006 Super 14 season started on 10 February 2006. The Grand Final was held on 27 May 2006. Super 14 is a provincial rugby union competition with 14 teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. This season was the first of the expansion ...

. He originally had surgery to hold the finger in place after dislocating it, but the finger developed an infection and the only alternative was amputation. He made a full recovery, and had hoped to gain a place on Australia or Fiji's list for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to ...

, however this was not the case.

References

External links

Toulon Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tawake, Jone Fijian rugby union players Fijian amputees Sportspeople with limb difference ACT Brumbies players 1982 births Living people New South Wales Waratahs players RC Toulonnais players Fijian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Fijian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Fijian expatriate sportspeople in France Sportspeople from Suva Rugby union flankers