Joe Apikotoa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joe Apikotoa
Full nameSosefo Losino 'Apikotoa
Date of birth (1996-07-18) 18 July 1996 (age 25)
Place of birthWellington, New Zealand
Height191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight120 kg (265 lb; 18 st 13 lb)
SchoolSt Patrick's College, Silverstream
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Current team Hawke's Bay, Moana Pasifika
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2017 Wellington 22 (0)
2018 Hawke's Bay 11 (5)
2019–2020 Ordizia RE 9 (10)
2020– Hawke's Bay 18 (0)
2021 Chiefs 5 (0)
2022– Moana Pasifika 0 (0)
Correct as of 13 November 2021

Joe 'Apikotoa (born 18 July 1996) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a prop for Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition.[1] He has signed with Moana Pasifika for the 2022 Super Rugby season.[2]

Early career[]

'Apikotoa was born in Wellington and attended St Patrick's College, Silverstream, where he played both rugby and league.[3]

Rugby[]

He played for his school's 1st XV team in the Wellington Premiership 1st XV competition in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

After his return from a brief league stint in Australia (see below), 'Apikotoa played for Hutt Old Boys-Marist in the Wellington Premier club rugby competition.[4][5]

He was part of the Wellington U19 team that finished fifth at the Jock Hobbs Memorial National U19 tournament in 2015.[6]

League[]

In 2012 and 2013, 'Apikotoa played for the Wellington Orcas U17 team. He was named the Wellington Orcas 17s Player of the Year and Junior Player of the Year in 2013.[7] A year later, he played for the premier Wellington Orcas squad.[4]

While still at school, he signed a 2-year contract with Melbourne Storm (starting in November 2014), but in December 2014 he already returned home to New Zealand and from then on focused on playing rugby.[4][5]

Senior career[]

While he was not named in the Wellington Lions squad for the 2015 ITM Cup season, 'Apikotoa played 5 games off the bench for them that year. He made his Wellington debut on 15 August 2015 against Taranaki.[3] 'Apikotoa was named in the Wellington Lions squad in 2016[8] and 2017[9] and played 22 games for the province.

In 2017, 'Apikotoa was selected in the Hurricanes squad for the inaugural Brisbane Global Rugby Tens.[10]

In search for more game time, he moved to Hawke's Bay the following year and was named in the Magpies squad for the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season.[11][12] He played 11 games for the province, that year.

In 2019, 'Apikotoa played a preseason game for the Highlanders, but it didn't result in a further call-up by the franchise.[13]

Later that year, 'Apikotoa had a brief stint in Spain, where he played 9 games for the Basque club Ordizia RE that competes in the Spanish División de Honor de Rugby.[14] He returned home before the end of their season, to look for playing opportunities in New Zealand.[15]

He went back to Hawke's Bay and was named in the Magpies squad for the 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season.[16] During that season, the Magpies won the Ranfurly Shield (taking it off Otago),[17] were successful in three more Ranfurly Shield defences (against Northland, Manawatu and Wellington), and won the Mitre 10 Cup Championship, thus securing a well-deserved promotion to the Premiership division.[18] The Magpies held on to the Shield during the entire 2021 Bunnings NPC season, winning all six Ranfurly Shield defences.[19]

After a successful 2020 season with the Magpies, while not named in the initial Chiefs' squad for the 2021 Super Rugby season, 'Apikotoa was signed by the franchise as an injury replacement.[20] He made his Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs on 20 March 2021 against the Hurricanes and played 5 games for the side, that year.[21]

On 9 November 2021, Moana Pasifika announced that the new franchise had signed 'Apikotoa for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season.[2]

International career[]

Rugby[]

'Apikotoa was invited to attend a New Zealand U20 Development Camp in November 2015 and an U20 trial camp in March 2016, but wasn't named in the New Zealand Under-20 squad for the 2016 Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship and the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.[22][23]

League[]

In 2013, 'Apikotoa played for the New Zealand Residents U18 team that played two tests against Australian Secondary Schools XIII.[24] A year later, he was selected again and played two tests against the New South Wales-based Taurahere Kiwis.[25]

Reference list[]

  1. ^ "2021 Magpies Squad". Hawke's Bay Rugby Union. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Azelo and Joe join Moana Pasifika". Moana Pasifika (Press release). 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Joe Apikotoa Wellington Lions Player Profile". Wellington Lions. 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Joe Apikotoa's rugby on the rise". Clubrugby.co.nz. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Young prop Joe Apikotoa swaps Melbourne Storm for Wellington Lions". NZ Stuff. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Wellington Under 19 2015: squad, matches and results" (PDF). Wellington Rugby. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Wellington Rugby League Newsletter "Pass It On"". Wellington Rugby League (27 ed.). 15 November 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Baumann and Lousi add bulk to young Lions". Wellington Rugby (Press release). 11 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Brad Shields to captain Lions into new era". Wellington Rugby (Press release). 11 August 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Jane raring to go for Global Tens". Hurricanes (Press release). 31 January 2017. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Joe Apikotoa pushes for Magpies starting berth". Hawke's Bay Today. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  12. ^ "2018 Magpies Squad Announced". Hawke's Bay Rugby Union (Press release). 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Highlanders to get underway in Alexandra". Highlanders (Press release). 31 January 2019. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Joe Apikotoa cierra la plantilla de Ampo Ordizia". El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 2 September 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Refuerzos para ampo y Hernani". Noticias de Gipuzkoa (in Spanish). 6 December 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Plenty of depth in Magpies Mitre 10 Cup rugby squad". Hawke's Bay App. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Ranfurly Shield roundabout continues". New Zealand Rugby. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Magpies crowned kings of the Championship". New Zealand Rugby. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  19. ^ "NPC: Hawke's Bay lock away Ranfurly Shield for summer after seeing off Waikato". Stuff NZ. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  20. ^ "More Magpies scoop Super contracts". Hawke's Bay Today. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Gallagher Chiefs named to face the Hurricanes in the Capital". Chiefs. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Search begins for 2016's NZ Under 20". allblacks.com (Press release). 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  23. ^ "New Zealand Under 20 hopefuls in trial camp". allblacks.com (Press release). 11 March 2016. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  24. ^ "New Zealand U-18, U-16 league squads named". Stuff NZ. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Busy times for age-group aces". New Zealand Rugby League. 18 September 2014. Archived from the original on 27 September 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""