Richard Hoeata (born 15 January 1988) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

player and the founder of Craft Smoothie, a New Zealand-wide smoothie box delivery service. He played in the

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

(and occasionally flanker) position for

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

and Tasman. Aged only 21, Hoeata started his career with

after he was named for their 2009 pre-season campaign. After his 2010 opening season, the impression left on selectors was positive, leading to Hoeata moving south from the North Island to make his provincial debut for Tasman during the

2011 ITM Cup The 2011 ITM Cup season was the sixth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 14, when Otago hosted North Harbour. It involved the top fourteen rugby uni ...

. He earned his first NPC start in Tasman's 9–19 loss over Northland in week one of the competition, he made a further six appearances and crossed the line once. Hoeata returned to play for

in 2014 and 2015 and was part of the ITM Cup Championship winning squad in 2014.

References

External links

Craft Smoothie website
1988 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union locks Taranaki rugby union players Tasman rugby union players Rugby union players from Tauranga {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub