Josua Tuisova Ratulevu (born 4 February 1994) is a Fijian

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. A

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, he currently plays for

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...

in France's

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 ...

. He won a gold medal in sevens as part of the

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 ...

team at the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Known for his strong running and physical play, he is nicknamed "Human Bulldozer" and "The Bus".

Career

He began his career in Fiji, playing sevens for Westfield Barbarians, captained by his older brother and ex-Fiji sevens player, Pio Tuwai. He made his international sevens debut for Fiji in the 2013 Wellington Sevens against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

at rover.fijitimes"> In July 2013, he was signed by French

club

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

(Toulon). He made his debut against

Racing Métro 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity domed stadium Paris La Défense Arena, l ...

in August, and scored his first try against

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 May 2015, he signed a four-year deal to stay at Toulon. He was included in Fiji's squad for the 2023 World Cup in France. He played on in the tournament until Fiji's exit in the quarterfinals, despite tragedy striking him during the pool stage when his son died.

Personal life

On 30 September 2023, Tuisova's seven year old son Tito died after a long illness, hours before he was to partake in Fiji's 2023 World Cup match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Despite this, Tuisova decided to continue playing on and missed his son's funeral.

Honours

* Winner of the 2013–14 Top 14 * Winner of the

2013–14 Heineken Cup The 2013–14 Heineken Cup was the 19th and final season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The pool stage began on 11 October 2013 and ran through to 17� ...

* Winner of the 2014–15 ERC Cup * Olympic Gold Medallist for Fiji sevens at the

References

External links

* *
Lyon OU profile

ERC Rugby profile
1994 births RC Toulon players Lyon OU Rugby players Racing 92 players Living people Fijian rugby union players Rugby union wings Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Ba Province Fijian expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players for Fiji Fiji international rugby sevens players Olympic gold medalists for Fiji 21st-century Fijian sportsmen Male rugby sevens players Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Fiji international rugby union players People from Yasawa 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players {{Fiji-rugbyunion-bio-stub