Te Rua Reihana Tipoki (born 11 August 1975 in

Te Puia Springs Te Puia Springs is a village on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, located 103 km north of Gisborne, New Zealand, Gisborne. Its population is estimated to be between 300 and 400 people. The village has a hospital and one sh ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

) brought up in

Te Araroa Te Araroa (The Long Pathway) is New Zealand's Long distance footpath, long distance Tramping in New Zealand, tramping route, stretching circa along the length of the country's two main islands from Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua, Cape Reinga t ...

in Gisborne, is a

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 captained North Harbour to

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

victory in 2006. Tipoki played for a wide variety of teams including

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster ...

. He currently plays for

Ruatoria Ruatoria ( mi, Ruatōria) is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the M� ...

-based

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a radio station in Co. Wicklow, Ireland * East Coast Swing, a f ...

Early career in New Zealand

In his early career he played for

Auckland Blues The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...

and

Otago Highlanders The Highlanders (formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 compet ...

in the

Super 12 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 ...

and the New Zealand 7s. He also played a major part in the

Bay of Plenty Steamers Bay of Plenty (often known as the Bay of Plenty Steamers) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. The union was originally established in 1911, with the National Provincial Championship establishe ...

first

win in 2004, played in the New Zealand Maori team which defeated the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

team for the first time ever in the history of Maori rugby in 2005, and led North Harbour to their first

victory in 2006. He played one season for the in 2007, before departing to

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following th ...

Munster

With Munster, he fashioned one of the best centre partnerships in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

with

Lifeimi Mafi Lifeimi Mafi (born 15 August 1982) is a Tongan-born, New Zealand former rugby union player. Career in New Zealand Born in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga, Mafi initially played his club rugby with Kia Toa (Kia Toa is a Māori term which translates to "be b ...

, playing with passion and flair, a strong tackle and a great handoff and step. He was part of the Munster team that won the Heineken Cup on 24 May 2008 beating Toulouse 16–13 in the final. In all he made 29 appearances (including 27 competitive & 10 Heineken Cup games) for Munster, scoring 3 tries. On 24 April 2009 Tipoki announced that he would return to his native New Zealand at the end of the season due to a hamstring injury that had consistently hampered him: ''"It has been a deeply frustrating time for me as I would dearly love to get back to helping the boys achieve the goals that they'd set out at the start of the year. At the minute however, I am not up to the level of fitness required and would not like to do the jersey or the team an injustice by taking the field when I know I can't give my all. This time in Munster has been brilliant for me and my family and while there is only one place you can call home, we will leave Munster with some great memories and having made lifelong friends."''

East Coast comeback

After a couple of years of recuperation in New Zealand, in 2011 Tipoki signed for the

based team,

. In 2012 he captained the side to win the

Meads Cup The Meads Cup is a rugby union trophy named after King Country and All Blacks player Colin Meads. It is contested during the Heartland Championship. It was first awarded in 2006, when the Heartland Championship format was introduced. Competi ...

."East Coast snare Meads Cup in dramatic fashion"
Gisborne Herald, 27 Oct 2012

References

External links

Munster Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tipoki, Rua 1975 births Bay of Plenty rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Living people Munster Rugby players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand rugby union players People from Te Puia Springs Rugby union centres People educated at Waitakere College Rugby union players from the Gisborne Region