Ross Ami Filipo (born 14 April 1979) is a retired New Zealand

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 ...

footballer. Filipo's career included long stints with

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 ...

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 ...

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

, and

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

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 ...

competition, and appearances 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 ...

in 2007-2008.

Career

New Zealand

Filipo first played provincial rugby for

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

in 2001. He then played for Wellington B in 2002, and made his debut for

in 2003. Although he had played for the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

development squad in 2003, he was not selected for the Hurricanes in 2004 and instead was drafted into the

for the 2004

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. He then stayed with the Crusaders for the Super 12 and Super 14 until the 2009 season whilst playing for Wellington in the

Air New Zealand Cup The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

(formerly the National Provincial Championship) until 2008. Filipo played for the New Zealand Māori in 2005 when they defeated the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

for the first time – he cites this as a career highlight. After the

2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at ABSA Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rugby. The ...

where Filipo scored six tries he was selected for the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

. After injuries to

All Black 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, ...

locks

Ali Williams Alexander James "Ali" Williams (born 30 April 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union player who played at lock, spending almost all of his playing career in his homeland. At provincial level, he played mainly with Auckland, though he spent one seaso ...

and Keith Robinson, Filipo was called into the All Blacks squad. Filipo was also selected for the All Blacks end of season Grand Slam tour at the end of 2008; he played against Scotland and Munster during this tour. He was also one of the regular guests on the Rugby Roundtable, which is a rugby union podcast based out of New Zealand.

Europe

In April 2009 it was announced that Filipo would be signing for

in the French

competition; he left for Bayonne at the conclusion of the

2009 Super 14 season The 2009 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2009 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 30 May, when the Bulls won their second Super Rugby title with a decisive 61–17 victory over the Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld sta ...

. On 11 April 2011 it was announced that Filipo would be signing for

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

in the English

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

Return to New Zealand

Filipo retired from professional rugby and returned to New Zealand in 2014, before being called up to play for the Chiefs in 2015. This reawakened his passion for playing and he turned out for Hamilton Marist as a player-coach, winning the Waikato Club Rugby title with them. This preceded a stint in France with

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

in the

before returning to New Zealand with

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

. From there he turned to coaching properly, taking a role as assistant-coach with the

Coca-Cola Red Sparks The Coca-Cola Red Sparks ( ja, コカ・コーラレッドスパークス) was a Japanese company-owned rugby union team based in Fukuoka city, Kyūshū. The team was initially founded as Kitakyushu Coca-Cola and then changed its name to Coca- ...

in the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

in 2017, where he stayed for two years. He was asked to play as well. 2019 saw Filipo move to an assistant coach role with Taupiri as well as entering a Coach Educator role with Waikato Rugby. In 2020 Filipo assisted with coaching

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

in the

, working on defence and the forwards. Filipo was subsequently appointed as the Head Coach of the Waikato team for the 2021 Mitre 10 Cup season.

External links

* * * * *
Profile Ross Filipo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filipo, Ross 1979 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Lower Hutt Expatriate rugby union players in France Māori All Blacks players Crusaders (rugby union) players Chiefs (rugby union) players Wellington rugby union players Aviron Bayonnais players Wasps RFC players Racing 92 players Expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Hawke's Bay rugby union players