Josaia Wini Raisuqe (born 22 July 1994) is a Fijian rugby union footballer. He played wing for French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

champions,

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

. His current club is French

Rugby 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,

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

Career

Early career

Wini was born in Lutu, Naitasiri and he took up rugby at a very young age. He dreamed of playing for the Fiji 7's team and it came to fruition when the then Fiji 7's coach Ben Ryan spotted him playing in the Martintar and Marist 7's and selected him for the Fiji 7's team for the

2015 Hong Kong Sevens The 2015 Hong Kong Sevens was the 40th edition of the Hong Kong Sevens and the sixth tournament of the 2014–15 Sevens World Series. Format As in the last tournament, there will be a main draw with the fifteen World Series core teams and one in ...

. He played in 5 tournaments for Fiji scoring 14 tries but in July 2015, French

side,

signed him up for the 2015–16 Top 14 season.

Stade Français

He made his debut on October 31 against

Agen The communes of France, commune of Agen (, ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. ...

off the bench. He also made the side for the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage. He scored two tries against Benetton Treviso. but in a game against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

two weeks later, he was

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

ed for eye-gouging Munster captain

CJ Stander Christiaan Johan Stander (born 5 April 1990) is a South African-Irish former rugby union player. Stander's career began in his native South Africa, where he played for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup between 2010 and 2012 and for the Bulls in ...

and even though Stade won the game, Raisuqe was charged for

Eye-gouging __NOTOC__ Eye-gouging is the act of pressing or tearing the eye using the fingers or instruments. Eye-gouging involves a very high risk of eye injury, such as eye loss or blindness. Eye-gouging as a fighting style was once a popular form of ...

and suspended for 15 weeks. He returned to rugby the following season and then went on to make the Stade side for the

2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup pool stage The 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup pool stage was the first stage of competition in the third season of the European Rugby Challenge Cup. It involved 20 teams competing, across 5 pools of 4 teams, for 8 quarter-final places – awarded t ...

as Stade were demoted after failing to make the cut for the

2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup was the third European Rugby Champions Cup championship (22nd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The competition replaced the Heineken ...

after being unable to finish in the Top 8 in the 2015–16 Top 14 season. He helped Stade make the Cup Quarter-final but in their quarter-final match against

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

, he received a yellow carded for foul play which was followed by another yellow card (and a red) after entering a ruck from the side but videos for the game showed he

stamped Stamped may refer to: * Stamped (application), an iPhone app * Stamped (song), by The Verve *'' Stamped from the Beginning'', a book by Ibram X. Kendi See also *Stmpd Rcrds Stmpd Rcrds (stylised in all caps; pronounced "stamped records") is ...

on Osprey winger,

Keelan Giles Keelan Giles (born 29 January 1997) is a Welsh rugby union player, who plays for the Ospreys as a winger. He is a Wales under-20 international and received a call up to the Welsh senior team for their 2016 tour of New Zealand. He made the fin ...

for which he was cited and later given a 10-week suspension.

Controversy

On July 22, 2017, he decided to celebrate his birthday drinking at a club along with teammate,

Waisea Nayacalevu Waisea Nayacalevu Vuidravuwalu (born 26 June 1990) is a Fijian rugby union footballer. He plays wing for Fiji and Toulon in the Top 14 . Career Waisea, along with his brother, Avenisi Vasuinubu both played for Melbourne Rugby in the Victor ...

. They both left the club intoxicated and on the way they met a woman, Raisuqe grabbed the woman and physically molested her by fondling her breasts. Her friends tried to help but both Raisuqe and Nayacalevu punched them. Raisuqe and Nayacalevu were picked up by police at around 3am and spent the whole day in jail. They were taken to court two days later and a trial date was set for 29 November. On 18 August,

Stade Francais Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

fired Raisuqe for "gross misconduct" and gave Nayacalevu a formal warning.

Return to rugby

In September 2017, he was picked up by

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,

for the

2017–18 Rugby Pro D2 season The 2017–18 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2017–18 season. It ran alongside the 2017–18 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LN ...

. He enjoyed an excellent 2018–19 season, helping his club to a top six finish, and was the league's top try scorer with 15 tries. In January 2021, after winning a tough game against Béziers (30-25), he lifted the referee in the extra time and got sent off. He was subsequently banned for 5 weeks for that incident. As of today, Raisuqe has 10 yellow cards and 5 red cards to his name in french rugby as well as a yellow card he collected when playing with the Fiji 7's team.

Honours

Personal *

top try scorer: 2018–19 (15 tries)

References

External links

Josaia Raisuqe
at ItsRugby.fr * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raisuqe, Josaia 1994 births Living people Fijian rugby union players Fijian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union wings Fijian expatriate sportspeople in France Stade Français Paris players I-Taukei Fijian people