Solomone Funaki (born 25 April 1994) is a Tongan

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, who currently plays as a loose forward for in New Zealand's domestic

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

competition and 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 ...

Early life and career

Funaki was born in Fanga 'o Pilolevu in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. In 2015, he moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in New Zealand, where he played club rugby for Grammar TEC. That same year, he was named in the

Colts squad. Due to visa problems, he had to go back to Tonga, but in 2016 he returned to New Zealand to play club rugby in Whakatane for Paroa Sports Rugby Club in the Eastern

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

competition. In August 2016, he was named in the Bay of Plenty Development squad. In 2017, Funaki was named in the Bay of Plenty Wasps side to play the New Zealand Universities team in an

Anzac Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...

match. He also played a few preseason games for the

Bay of Plenty Steamers Bay of Plenty (often known as the Bay of Plenty Steamers) are a Rugby union in New Zealand, New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union, union was originally established in 191 ...

, but wasn't named in the squad for the

2017 Mitre 10 Cup The 2017 Mitre 10 Cup season was the twelfth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 17, when North Harbour hosted Otago. It involved the top fourteen ...

season. Later in the year, he was named in the Bay of Plenty Sevens team.

Senior career

Funaki moved to

Hawke's 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 ...

in 2018, where he played club rugby for Maori Agricultural College (MAC) Sports Association. He was included in the squad for the

2018 Mitre 10 Cup The 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season was the thirteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 16, when North Harbour hosted Northland. It involved the top f ...

season as a temporary injury replacement and made his debut for the Magpies on Sunday 30 September 2018 against . It was his only Mitre 10 Cup game that year. In 2019, he was named in the Magpies squad as a full squad member, but missed the entire

2019 Mitre 10 Cup The 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fourteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 8, when Southland hosted Northland. It involved the top fourtee ...

season due to suffering two broken wrists. He was again part of the Hawke's Bay squad for the

2020 Mitre 10 Cup The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fifteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour hosted Canterbury. It involved the top ...

season and earned his first start for the side on 15 November 2020 in an away game against , in which he scored two tries and had a third controversially disallowed. During that season, he helped the Magpies win the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

, successfully defend the Shield three times and win the Mitre 10 Cup Championship, thus securing a well-deserved promotion to the Premiership division. Although not named in the initial squad for the

2021 Super Rugby season The 2021 Super Rugby season was the 26th season of Super Rugby, an annual men's international rugby union tournament organised by SANZAAR, involving teams from Australia and New Zealand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was wholly reg ...

, Funaki joined the squad in May 2021 on an injury replacement contract. He didn't get any game time for the Southern franchise. After another successful

2021 Bunnings NPC The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the sixteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top f ...

season with that included 6 successful

defences,

Moana Pasifika Moana Pasifika is a rugby union team made up of players from various Pacific island nations as well as New Zealand or Australian born players of Pasifika heritage, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands. The team was originally creat ...

announced on 16 October 2021 that the new franchise had signed Funaki for the

2022 Super Rugby Pacific season The 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Pacific in Australia and DHL Super Rugby Pacific in New Zealand) is the 27th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams fr ...

. On 4 March 2022, Funaki wrote history by scoring Moana Pasifika's first ever try in their inaugural Super Rugby game against the .

International career

Funaki played for, and captained, the Tonga U20 team at the

2014 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy The 2014 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy was the seventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, second-tier world championship. The event was held in Hong Kong and was organized by rugby's governing body, the Inte ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. On 13 May 2018, he played for Tonga A in a

World Series Rugby Global Rapid Rugby was an international rugby union competition that launched a showcase series for six professional teams in 2019, played in locations across the Asia-Pacific region. Rapid Rugby matches are slightly shorter than the tradition ...

match against

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. Funaki made his test debut for

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 ...

on 3 July 2021 against

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 ...

Mount Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium (formerly known as Ericsson Stadium) is a multipurpose stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League, and occasionally hosts rugby union and internatio ...

. Unfortunately, he broke his hand in that match and was, therefore, not available for Tonga's remaining matches in July 2021. On 27 May 2022, he was again named in the Tongan national team for the 2022 Pacific Nations Cup and the Asia/Pacific qualification match for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the cou ...

Notes

Reference list

External links

*
Rugby History profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funaki, Solomone 1994 births Living people People from Nukuʻalofa Tongan emigrants to New Zealand Tongan rugby union players Tonga international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Hawke's Bay rugby union players Moana Pasifika players