Kitiona Vai (born 23 April 2001) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for the
New Zealand national sevens team.
Career
He attended
De La Salle College, Auckland. He played for Power in the 2020 Ignite Rugby Sevens league. In May 2023, he joined the Southern Headliners in the Premier Rugby Sevens.
International career
He was selected for the
New Zealand national sevens team for the first time in 2020. He made his debut during the Singapore Sevens in April 2022.
In April 2024, he was selected for the New Zealand rugby sevens team alongside his brother
Cody Vai, they are the sixth pair of brothers to play for New Zealand sevens side.
Personal life
His father
Kitiona Nanai Vai was a
Western Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...
international who played in their
1991 Rugby Union World Cup
The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...
team. He is the brother of rugby players
Melani Nanai and
Cody Vai. His sister
Corina Nanai-Vai is also a rugby player and played in the
Farah Palmer Cup
The Farah Palmer Cup (formerly known as Women's Provincial Championship until 2016), is the highest level domestic women's rugby union competition in New Zealand and is named after the former Black Ferns captain, Farah Palmer. This contest is hel ...
for the Auckland Storm.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vai, Kitiona
2001 births
Living people
New Zealand rugby union players
New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent
Rugby union flankers
Rugby union number eights
Auckland rugby union players
Bay of Plenty rugby union players
New Zealand international rugby sevens players
People educated at De La Salle College, Māngere East