Sio Tomkinson (born 27 May 1996) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a centre for Dragons RFC in the United Rugby Championship. He has previously played for the Highlanders.

Early career

Hailing from

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

on New Zealand's South Island, Tomkinson was originally schooled at Kavanagh College in Dunedin before switching to Otago Boys' High School in 2011. He enjoyed a hugely successful time with Otago Boys', winning the Highlanders' first XV competition in each of his seasons with the school as well as scoring a record number of points in a year, more than 450 in 2014. After leaving school, he began playing for the Harbour Hawks in the local Otago club rugby competition.

Senior career

After signing a 2-year deal with the Otago Razorbacks in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, Tomkinson debuted for his home province in round 4 of the ITM Cup, a 17-34 defeat at home to . In total he played 6 games in his first year at provincial level as the Razorbacks finished 3rd on the championship log before going down comprehensively to in the competition's semi-finals. He got more game time as a 20-year-old in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, playing 10 of Otago's 12 games throughout a year which ended with them in 1st place on the championship log before they surprisingly lost out to in the final which consigned them to another season of championship rugby in 2017. In April 2022 it was announced that Tomkinson had signed for the Welsh club Dragons RFC in the United Rugby Championship for the 2022/23 season.

Super Rugby

An impressive debut season for the Razorbacks in provincial rugby in 2015 saw him named as a member of the wider training group ahead of the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

. The presence of experienced backline players such as

Malakai Fekitoa Malakai Fonokalafi Fekitoa (born 10 May 1992) is a Tongan rugby union player who plays as a centre. He currently plays for Irish club Munster. He previously played for the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition, in the ITM Cup, and for ...

, Matt Faddes and Rob Thompson in the Highlanders set-up meant that Tomkinson had to spend the year kicking his heels on the sidelines, however, in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, new Highlanders head-coach, Tony Brown promoted him to the senior squad.

International

Tomkinson represented New Zealand Schools in 2014, scoring a try and being named MVP in their 34-24 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He was also a member of the New Zealand Under-20 side which finished 5th in the

2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the ninth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in England by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations took part in the tournamen ...

in England, scoring 2 tries in 5 matches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomkinson, Sio 1996 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Otago rugby union players People educated at Otago Boys' High School People educated at Trinity Catholic College, Dunedin Living people Highlanders (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Dunedin Dragons RFC players