Rodney Esekia Iona (born 17 August 1991) is a professional

rugby union player 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 ...

who plays as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

for

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

club

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2017. The Seawolves won two MLR championships in 2018 and 2019, and los ...

(MLR). Born in Australia, he represents

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

at international level after qualifying on eligibility grounds.

Professional career

Originally from Melbourne, Iona made his way north to Australia's capital

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

in an attempt to forge out a rugby career for himself. In 2011 he linked up with the

Tuggeranong Vikings The Tuggeranong Vikings are a rugby union club based in Tuggeranong, Australian Capital Territory. It is supported by 4 licensed clubs based in Wanniassa, Greenway, Conder, Chisholm. The club has been successful in local and national competit ...

who play in the

ACTRU Premier Division The ACTRU Premier Division is a rugby union club competition based in Canberra, Australia, and conducted by the region's governing body, the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union The ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby ...

while attending the academy. He represented the Brumbies at sevens and won the World Club Sevens Championship in 2013 and also played in the World Club 10s tournament in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. A spate of injuries for the Brumbies in the middle of the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

saw Iona earn his first cap in a derby match against the in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. His debut didn't go quite as well as he'd have liked with his first pass being intercepted which resulted in a Waratahs try. Despite this Iona was offered a full-time one-year contract with the Brumbies ahead of the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

. Iona also played for the Canberra Vikings in the first ever National Rugby Championship in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

making 6 appearances. Iona joined French

Rugby 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 ...

side

AS Béziers Hérault Association sportive de Béziers Hérault (; ), often referred to by rugby media simply by its location of Béziers, is a French rugby union club currently playing in the second level of the country's professional rugby system, Pro D2. They earn ...

in July 2016. He made 18 appearances in his first season, but suffered a serious neck injury after just four matches in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

that threatened his career. He was released by Béziers and joined Spanish

División de Honor de Rugby The División de Honor de Rugby is Spain's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The División de Honor de Rugby Championship is organised by the Federación Española de Rugby ( Spanish Rugby Federation) and currently consists of ...

side

UE Santboiana Unió Esportiva Santboiana is a professional Spanish rugby union club. The club was established in 1921 and currently competes in the División de Honor de Rugby competition, the highest level of Spanish club rugby. The club are based in Sant Bo ...

Statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iona, Rodney 1991 births Living people AS Béziers Hérault players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Canberra Vikings players Jersey Reds players Melbourne Rising players Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Melbourne Samoa international rugby union players Samoan rugby union players New Orleans Gold players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Australian expatriate sportspeople in Jersey Australian expatriate sportspeople in France Samoan expatriate sportspeople in Jersey Samoan expatriate rugby union players in France Samoan expatriate rugby union players in England Australian expatriate rugby union players Samoan expatriate rugby union players in the United States Samoan expatriate rugby union players in Spain 21st-century Australian sportsmen Seattle Seawolves players