Joe Rokocoko
St. Kentigern College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Joeli Vidiri (cousin) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Josevata Taliga "Joe" Rokocoko (pronounced [rokoˈðoko], born 6 June 1983) is a New Zealand former professional rugby union player, who played as a wing.
Born in Fiji, Rokocoko grew up in New Zealand and played for the Blues and Auckland. He later played for French clubs Bayonne and Racing 92.
He won 68 caps for New Zealand between 2003 and 2010, and scored 46 tries. He is New Zealand's joint-second-top try scorer.
Early life
Born 6 June 1983 in
Playing career
Rokocoko played for the
Rokocoko returned to the All Blacks line-up for the 2005 Tri Nations Series, punctuating his comeback with a two-try effort in the All Blacks' pivotal home fixture against South Africa. By the end of the 2006 season he had scored 35 tries in 39 test matches – and in total scored 46 tries with the All Blacks in 68 tests, including 4 hat-tricks: against France (2003), Australia (2003), England (2004) and Romania (2007). He scored his first try since the 2007 Rugby World Cup against Italy in June 2009.
In 2011, after 68 games for New Zealand and 96 for the Blues, he signed with
Personal life
Although often known as Joe, Rokocoko asked New Zealand rugby management to list his Christian birth name, Josevata, on team releases.[2]
He is a cousin of former Auckland Blues and All Black winger Joeli Vidiri and New Zealand sevens player Iliesa Tanivula.[3] He and fellow All Black wing Sitiveni Sivivatu regard themselves as cousins because Sivivatu lived with the Rokocoko family, but they are not blood relations.[4]
In January 2008, Rokocoko married Beverly Politini, the daughter of
Honours
- 2015–16[7]
References
- ^ "Joe Rokocoko to join Dan Carter at Racing 92 | Sport | 3 News". Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ Smith, Tony (11 November 2006). "Joe becomes Josevata". Fairfax Media / Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
- ^ Jan de Koning. "Joe Rokocoko – An ace up the Blues' sleeve". Rugby World. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2006.
- ^ "Traditional post-match kava will have to wait this time", New Zealand Herald, 1 September 2006
- ^ "All Black getting married". Fairfax Media / Stuff.co.nz. 4 January 2008. Archived from the original on 4 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
- Stuff.co.nz. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ "Racing 92 beat Toulon to win Top 14 Rugby title". rugbyweek.com. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2021.