Peni Ravai Kovekalou (born 16 June 1990) is a Fijian

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 it ...

player, who currently plays at hooker and

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 ...

for the

Flying Fijians The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union competes every four years at the Rugby World Cup, and their best performances were the 1987 and 2007 tournaments when they defeated Argentina and Wales res ...

and the in Super Rugby. He previously played for in the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

in New Zealand, Aurillac in the

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 ...

, and Bordeaux Bègles and Clermont Auvergne in the

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 ...

. He has also played at centre and on the wings.

Career

Ravai grew up playing rugby in the backline. He played wing and centre. When he made it to provincial level, he started playing in the forwards as there was no place in the backline. He became Nadroga's starting prop and at times played on the flanks as well as in the backline. He has also played 7's rugby for Davetalevu. He joined the Fiji Barbarians team at the Uprising 7's tournament and helped them win the title. In February 2013, he was selected into the Fiji 7's team to replace the injured Josua Tuisova. He made his international 7's debut at the 2013 USA Sevens. He is also Fiji's first international prop to play international 7's rugby for Fiji. He was then recruited by Inoke Male, the Fiji 15's coach to join the team on their

2013 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2013 end of year rugby tests, also known as the 2013 Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between European sides - England national rugby union team, England, ...

. He made his debut off the bench at hooker against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. In August 2014, he was signed by

Greater Sydney Rams The Greater Sydney Rams, originally known as the Western Sydney Rams, is a former rugby union team from Australia that was disbanded in 2018. The Rams won the minor premiership in the 2007 Australian Rugby Championship (ARC), and then competed ...

to join the newly created,

National Rugby Championship The National Rugby Championship, known as NRC, was an Australian rugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following t ...

in Australia. He made his debut at hooker for the RAMS in October. In May 2015, he was named in the Fiji Warriors team to tour

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

in the 2015 mid-year rugby union internationals. He started at Loosehead prop in the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

match against

and kept his place in the starting XV a few days later when the Warriors faced Argentina Jaguars. The Warriors won all their games on tour. He was included in the Fiji side for the

2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup The 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup (formerly known as the IRB Pacific Nations Cup), an annual international rugby union tournament. The 2015 title was contested between the Tier 2 n ...

. He came off the bench against the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

in their one-off test. He then came off the bench against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

scoring a try in the 73rd minute to seal Fiji a win. He started at Loose-head prop against

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 week later. In May 2016, he captained the Fiji Warriors side to a 2 match win against the

national team during the

2016 mid-year rugby union internationals Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

. The same month he was signed by the Woodlands Rugby Club and would be in the hunt to make the

Southland Stags Rugby Southland (formerly the Southland Rugby Football Union) is the provincial rugby union who govern the Southland region of New Zealand. Their headquarters are at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill, which is also the home ground of the unio ...

side for the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup. In July 2016, he was included in the

side for the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup. He made his debut against Otago in the first round. In November 2016, he joined Fiji for the

2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the ''2016 Autumn Internationals'' in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries: ...

. He came off the bench against England national rugby union team in the 5th minute after Campese Ma’afu was taken off and gained metres with ball in hand. He then started at loosehead against Japan and played just as well He signed for Aurillac for the 2016–17 Rugby Pro D2 season playing 12 games and scoring 3 tries and his performance saw him getting signed by Bordeaux-Bègles in the

He was named in the Fiji team for the 2017 mid-year rugby union internationals as well as the 2017 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. On 23 May 2020, Ravai signs for

rivals Clermont Auvergne ahead of the 2020-21 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ravai, Peni Fijian rugby union players 1990 births Living people People from Tailevu Province Rugby union props I-Taukei Fijian people Greater Sydney Rams players Southland rugby union players Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne players Union Bordeaux Bègles players ASM Clermont Auvergne players Fiji international rugby union players Queensland Reds players