Tone Kopelani (born 22 April 1978) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. In 1997 Kopelani played rugby league in the U19 Super League (Australia) competition for the Penrith Panthers. He was selected for the Junior Kiwis before returning to New Zealand and converting to rugby union. Kopelani made his debut for Canterbury as a flanker in the National Provincial Championship in 1999. He changed his position to hooker in 2001 and went on to play for Canterbury and Wellington in the Air New Zealand Cup and for the Crusaders and Hurricanes in the

Super 14 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 ...

competition. He was also selected for the Junior All Blacks in 2007. In 2008 Kopelani signed with French club CS Bourgoin Jallieu 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 for 3 seasons. In 2011 Kopelani joined

FC Grenoble The Football Club de Grenoble Rugby (FCG) is a French rugby union club based in Grenoble and founded in 1892. FCG was champion of France in 1954 and runner-up in 1918 and in 1993 during a controversial final, being deprived of the title of cham ...

in the

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

competition where they won promotion to the

. In 2012 Kopelani returned to New Zealand and signed with Northland in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

. In 2014 Kopelani graduated as a police constable from the

Royal New Zealand Police College The Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) is the central training institution for police recruits and police officers in New Zealand. It is located at Papakowhai, approximately 2 km north of Porirua City. Recruits at the college underg ...

External links

Crusaders ProfileHurricanes Profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopelani, Tone 1978 births New Zealand rugby union players Living people Junior Kiwis players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand police officers Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Auckland People educated at Royal New Zealand Police College CS Bourgoin-Jallieu players FC Grenoble Rugby players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France Crusaders (rugby union) players Hurricanes (rugby union) players