Tevita Vaikona (born 18 August 1974) is a Tongan professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

and

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 ...

footballer, a winger who played rugby league and picked up many honours before switching codes to

. In 2002, Vaikona was voted best rugby league winger in the world.

Early years

Vaikona started playing rugby league when he was studying in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, at Lincoln University.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' He made the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

in 1994 and in 1994 Vaikona played for the Canterbury Country Cardinals in the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

and represented both

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, New Zealand Universities and the

New Zealand Residents The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected ...

.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

, 1994. p.13

Professional playing career

Rugby league

Vaikona moved to

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

in 1994 and played alongside fellow Cantabrian Shane Endacott. Vaikona was selected for

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

in the 1995 World Cup. In the Rugby League First Division he played for

, and in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

he played for the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

where his tries and powerful play saw him voted the best rugby league in the World. Vaikona played for the

on the in the

1999 Super League Grand Final The 1999 Super League Grand Final was the Second official Grand Final conclusive and championship-deciding game of the Super League IV season. The match was played between St. Helens and Bradford Bulls on Saturday 9 October 1999, at Old Traffor ...

which was lost to St Helens Vaikona also played for Tonga in the

2000 Rugby League World Cup The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth Rugby League World Cup, World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams, held between 28 October and 25 November and hosted between the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and France. ...

and was his country's top try-scorer for the tournament. Vaikona played for the

on the in their

2001 Super League Grand Final The 2001 Super League Grand Final was the Fourth official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League VI. The match was held on Saturday 13 October 2001 at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Bradfor ...

victory over the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. As

Super League VI Tetley's Super League VI was the official name for the year 2001's Super League championship season, the 107th season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the sixth championship run by the Super League. The season began ...

champions, the Bradford Bulls played against 2001 NRL Premiers, the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

in the

2002 World Club Challenge The 2002 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 1 February 2002, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and Newcastle Knights. Background Bradford Bulls The 2001 Super League Grand Fin ...

. Vaikona played on the in Bradford Bulls' victory. He was a Junior Kiwi and was called up for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 2002 but did not play a match. Vaikona played for the

on the in their

2002 Super League Grand Final The 2002 Super League Grand Final was the Fifth official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League VII. Held on Saturday 19 October 2002 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens and Brad ...

loss against St. Helens. Vaikona played for the

on the in their

2003 Super League Grand Final The 2003 Super League Grand Final was the 6th official Grand Final conclusive and premiership-deciding match of Super League VIII. Held on Saturday 18 October 2003 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between Bradford Bulls and Wigan ...

victory over the

. Having won

Super League VIII Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League. The season culminat ...

, Bradford played against 2003 NRL Premiers, the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

in the

2004 World Club Challenge The 2004 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 13 February 2004, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and the Penrith Panthers. Background Bradford Bulls Penrith Panthers Matc ...

. Vaikona played on the in the Bradford Bulls' 22–4 victory.

Rugby union

While still playing rugby league, Vaikona played

Rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

for

at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. Vaikona joined North London-based

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

from

in 2004 and went on to score a try on his début a few months later. In his first season in rugby union, he was the top off-loader in the premiership during the 2004/05 season. He has also represented

on numerous occasions. He was not selected for the squad for the 2007 World Cup. He is a rugby sevens athlete, having represented Tonga in the Commonwealth games and both the Bradford Bulls and the Saracens in the Twickenham sevens. He was also named Player of the Season during his first year at the Saracens. Injury stalled his 2005/06 campaign, but he soon came back to where he left off although 2006–07 was a less successful season in terms of points scored. He is known for his offloading ability, which has led to numerous tries for his club. In April 2007, Saracens announced that Tevita was leaving the club for pastures new and he signed a two-year contract with a French outfit, Racing Metro, Paris where he played during the 2007/08 season. In February 2008 Tevita signed for Hull Rugby Union Football Club on a two-year contract and made a try scoring début against Birkenhead Park on 1 March 2008.

Administration career

Tevita worked as the Director of Rugby at Hull Rugby Union Football Club and later as the Director of Sport at Bishop Burton College in the East Riding.

References

External links

Hull RUFC Official WebsiteTevita Vaikona
on saracens.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaikona, Tevita 1974 births Living people 20th-century Tongan sportsmen 21st-century Tongan sportsmen Bradford Bulls players Canterbury rugby league team players Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for Tonga Dual-code rugby internationals Tongan expatriate rugby union players in England Tongan expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Hull F.C. players Junior Kiwis players Male rugby sevens players Racing 92 players Rugby league wingers Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Rugby union wings Saracens F.C. players Tonga international rugby union players Tonga national rugby league team players Tonga international rugby sevens players Tongan rugby league players Tongan rugby union players Tongan expatriate rugby union players in France