Tevita Veicavuaki Ikanivere (born 6 September 1999) 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 its m ...

player, currently playing for the . His preferred position is

hooker Hooker may refer to: People * Hooker (surname) Places Antarctica * Mount Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (South Shetland Islands) New Zealand * Hooker River * Mount Hooker (New Zealand) in the Southern Alps * Hoo ...

Professional career

Ikanivere was named in the Fijian Drua squad 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 ...

. He had previously represented the Drua in the

2019 National Rugby Championship The 2019 National Rugby Championship was the sixth season of the top flight of Australian domestic rugby union. The competition began on 31 August and concluded on 26 October. The match of the round was broadcast live each week on Fox Sports and ...

. Ikanivere is a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

international, having made his debut against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 2020. Nicknamed "Tex" by his teammate as an abbreviation of his first name, Ikanivere is a graduate of the development pathway in Fiji's HPU system being identified whilst being captain of his school's

Queen Victoria School (Fiji) Queen Victoria School (QVS) is a school in Fiji. It was established in 1906 in Nasinu to provide education to the sons of Fijian Chiefs. It later moved to Nanukuloa in Ra when World War II broke out; then the school was moved to Lodoni where the ...

U18 rugby team and recruited into the Fiji Rugby Union High Performance Unit and then onto all Fiji age-grade teams Fiji U18, Fiji U20, Fiji Warriors, Fijian Latui before becoming a fully fledged professional with the

Fijian Drua The Fijian Drua (currently known as the Swire, Swire Shipping Fijian Drua for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby union team based in Fiji that competes in the Super Rugby. The team was created by the Fiji Rugby Union and launched in ...

in the

Super Rugby Pacific 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 ...

competition. He is popular amongst the Fijian fans for his hard running leg power and stands out for his ginger head and boyish face.

References

External links

* 1999 births Living people Fijian rugby union players Fiji international rugby union players Rugby union hookers Fijian Drua players People from Ono-i-Lau Rugby union players from Lau Province 2023 Rugby World Cup players {{Fiji-rugbyunion-bio-stub