Salesi Halaleva Lapota Fifita (born 29 July 1989) is a Tongan professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player who plays as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

United Rugby Championship 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 ...

club Connacht and the Tonga national team.

Professional career

Club

Fifita started his professional career in 2016 playing for

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, t ...

, having previously played for Hamilton Old Boys. In February 2017 he trained with the Chiefs development squad, but not play any of the three friendly matches scheduled for the team. In December 2017 he joined

Rugby Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as 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 i ...

team

FC Grenoble The Football Club de Grenoble Rugby (FCG) is a French rugby union club based in Grenoble and founded in 1892. FCG was champion of France in 1954 and runner-up in 1918 and in 1993 during a controversial final, being deprived of the title of cham ...

as a replacement for Mickaël Capelli. In March 2018 he extended his contract until June 2019. He later extended his contract for three more seasons. In June 2021 he activated his departure clause early, leaving Grenoble and signing with Irish team Connacht. He made his debut for the club in September 2021.

International

He made his international debut for Tonga against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 16 June 2017. He was also part of the Tongan team which emerged as runners-up to Fiji at the 2017 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. He was included in the Tongan squad for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

in Japan. He played four games in this competition, against England, Argentina, France and the United States. He was selected again to play against Scotland in Tonga's 2021 tour of the northern hemisphere.

References

External links

*
Leva Fifita
at Rugby Database 1989 births Living people Waikato rugby union players FC Grenoble Rugby players Connacht Rugby players Tongan rugby union players Tonga international rugby union players Rugby union locks {{Tonga-rugbyunion-bio-stub