Ioane Fitu "John" Afoa (born 16 September 1983) is a

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 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. His position of choice is at

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

. Afoa currently plays for Crusaders in Super Rugby.

Personal life

Afoa was a student at Auckland's

Papakura High School Papakura High School (PHS) is a co-educational state secondary school based in the Auckland suburb of Papakura in New Zealand, catering for students from Year 9 to Year 13. The school was established in 1954 and is now made up of a diverse stu ...

, then St. Kentigern College, where he played first XV rugby alongside fellow All Blacks

Joe Rokocoko Josevata Taliga "Joe" Rokocoko (pronounced , 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 f ...

and

Jerome Kaino Jerome Kaino (born 6 April 1983) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. In 2004, he was named IRB International Under-21 player of the year. In 2011, he was named the New Zealand Rugby player of the year, finishing ahead of Richie McCaw ...

Domestic career

New Zealand

Auckland

Afoa played for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

between 2002 and 2011.

Blues

Afoa played for the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and made his debut in 2004 against the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

. He made 101 appearances with the team between 2004 and 2011.

Europe

Ulster

Afoa played for

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

from 2011 until 2014.

Gloucester Rugby

On 6 December 2013, Afoa officially joined

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

in the English

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

on a four-year contract worth £400,000 per season. This made him one of the highest-paid players in the Premiership and the third highest-paid player in European rugby.

Bristol Bears

On 20 January 2018, it was confirmed that Afoa would leave Gloucester to join local rivals

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

ahead of the 2018-19 season.

Vannes

On 2 May 2022, it was confirmed that Afoa would leave Bristol after four seasons to travel to France to join

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as 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 in ...

side

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...

from the 2022-23 season.

Crusaders

On the 27 May 2023, Afoa answered a call from

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

coach Scott Robertson due to the Crusaders mounting injury crisis for front row forwards. Afoa flew from back from France, where he had been playing, and debuted as the tight head prop for the Crusaders match against the Waratahs. Afoa became the oldest ever super rugby player at the age of 39 years and 233 days.

International career

Afoa has moved through a number of international representative sides. In 1999, Afoa made the New Zealand U16 team, the youngest national representative team. Through 2000 and 2001, Afoa had played in the more senior New Zealand Schools' side. Moving steadily through the age grades, he was a member of the New Zealand under-19 teams of 2002 and 2003. In both 2003 and 2004, Afoa was part of the New Zealand

Under 21 Rugby World Championship The IRB Under 21 Rugby World Cup was the premier tournament for male rugby union players under the age of 21, organised by the sports governing body the International Rugby Board (IRB) annually from 2002 through 2006. Both it and the Under 19 Rugby ...

team. The New Zealanders won the tournament both years. In 2003 Afoa was one of four kiwis named in the IRB's team of the tournament. In 2005 Afoa was selected for the All Blacks Tri-nations squad. Despite this, he never took the field in that competition and didn't earn his first test cap until the end-of-year tour. In November 2005, Afoa finally became the All Black number 1062 when he started against Ireland at Lansdowne Road. In 2010, Afoa was experimented to be used at hooker. The same year against Wales, Afoa scored his first test try showing some great running for a prop with a 30-meter dash to the try line. Afoa's test career ended after the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

. He played 36 tests, 30 as a substitute.

Coaching career

Afoa was appointed scrum coach at Bristol Bears from the 2021–22 season. He would also continue his playing duties.

References

External links

John Afoa , Rugby Database Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Afoa, John 1983 births Living people Blues (Super Rugby) players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union props New Zealand international rugby union players People educated at Saint Kentigern College Ulster Rugby players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in Northern Ireland Rugby union players from Auckland People educated at Papakura High School New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in England Rugby Club Vannes players Gloucester Rugby players Bristol Bears players Crusaders (rugby union) players