Lolani Koko is a Samoan 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 league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played representative rugby union for

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 Island, Manono an ...

and representative rugby league for

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 ...

, including at the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup was held during October in the United Kingdom. It was the eleventh staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was marketed as the Halifax Centenary World Cup, reflecting the tournament's sponsorship and the fact ...

Rugby union career

Koko played for the

Samoa national rugby union team The Samoa national rugby union team (also known as Manu Samoa) represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samo ...

, making his debut in 1983. He moved to New Zealand in the early 1990s, playing for

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. He was invited to trial for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

but decided to stick with his native Samoa. Koko scored 11 tries for Wellington in the 1992 NPC season. He was named the Man of Honour at the 1993

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...

. Koko also spent time with the Boroondara Rugby Club in Australia.

Rugby league career

Koko switched to

at the start of the 1995 season. Koko joined the

Sydney City Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

in the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

competition and led the

team at the 1995

World Sevens The SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for Naming rights, sponsorship reasons, is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as ...

Koko also had a stint with the Narrandera Lizards in Group 20 Rugby League.Samoan's Ko-Kolossal pedigree
''Sydney Morning Herald'', 3 February 1995 He was part of the Western Samoa squad at the 1995 World Cup.

Personal life

Koko's brother

Kofe Koko Kofe may refer to * KOFE, an American radio station *Chorny Kofe Чёрный Кофе (Chorny Kofe, Russian for "black coffee") is a Russian heavy metal music, heavy metal band active since 1981. It is led by guitarist and singer Dmitry Varshav ...

also represented Samoa in rugby union and his nephew Ali Koko also represented both Samoa and Wellington in rugby union.Season 2007/08 - Aliinu'u (Ali) Koko - Wing
''Cornish Pirates''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koko, Lolani Living people Samoan rugby league players Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Samoan expatriate rugby union players Samoan expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Samoa international rugby sevens players Dual-code rugby internationals Rugby league wingers 1963 births Samoa international rugby union players Wellington rugby union players