Jope Tuikabe (born 27 November 1966) is a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

an former

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 ...

and rugby sevens player. He played as a flanker. He has played for

Fiji sevens The Fiji Sevens, also known as the Suva Sevens is an international rugby union sevens tournament held at the National Stadium in Suva, Fiji. It was a part of the Sevens World Series in 2000, but in the wake of the Fijian coup d'état later tha ...

since 1996. One year later, he was called up for the

1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament and the first to be held in Hong Kong. It was the last major sporting event to be held in the then British dependency before the transfer of sovereig ...

, which the Fijians won. He was elected as a star of tournament's team. Following the tournament, Post Fiji issued a series of stamps commemorating the winning team, which also included

Waisale Serevi Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi (born 20 May 1968) is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long car ...

Taniela Qauqau Taniela is a given name of Pacific Islander origin. Notable people with the name include: *Taniela Lasalo, Australian rugby league player *Taniela Moa, Tongan rugby union player *Taniela Rawaqa, Fijian rugby union player *Taniela Tuiaki, New Zealan ...

, Leveni Duvuduvukula, Inoke Maraiwai, Aminiasi Naituyaga, Lemeki Koroi,

Marika Vunibaka Marika "Dawainavesi" Vunibaka (born 3 November 1974) is a Fijian former rugby union player. He represented the Fiji national team on numerous occasions, including at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales and the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. ...

Luke Erenavula People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

and

Manasa Bari Manasa Bari (born 27 May, 1974) is a Fijian former rugby union footballer and currently, coach. He played as Wing (rugby union), wing. Career Bari was first capped Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji during the test match against Samoa national ...

. However, the Fijians did not manage to defend their title at the

2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the third edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens and was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. New Zealand defeated Australia to win the tournament for the first time. This was the first major rugby event ever held ...

, as they were eliminated in the semi-finals of the main tournament after losing to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Overall, Tuikabe scored nine tries in both of these tournaments. He appeared twice in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

: in Kuala Lumpur 1998 and Manchester 2002, winning a silver medal in both tournaments after their final defeats against

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 ...

. He, however won the rugby sevens tournament at the 2001 World Games. He also took part at the IRB Sevens World Series during the 1999/2000, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 seasons. During three years of appearances in the rugby union squad, he played in 20 matches, including 17 official international matches, scoring 15 points - all tries. In 2001, thanks to his performances in both squads, he was awarded the Player of the Year Award. He was a soldier by profession and trained the Army rugby sevens team, and at international level he was in the coaching staff as assistant coach or head coach.

References

External links

Jope Tuikabe international statistics
at ESPN Scrum

at itsrugby.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuikabe, Jope 1966 births Fijian rugby union players Living people Rugby union flankers Fiji international rugby union players I-Taukei Fijian people Fijian rugby sevens players Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Fiji Rugby sevens players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games