Ofisa Francis Junior Tonu'u (born 3 February 1970) is a New Zealand former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and Samoa cricketer.

Rugby union

A halfback, Tonu'u represented

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

at the provincial level and the 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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. Of Samoan parentage, Tonu'u played 14 matches including five tests for

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

in 1992 and 1993. He was later a member of the New Zealand national side, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, from 1996 to 1998. He played eight matches for the All Blacks including five internationals.

Cricket

He played as a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman. In 2013, he was a member of the Auckland Cricket Society Premier Men's Cricket team. He still plays for Auckland Cricket Society in annual fixtures. In July 2019, at the age of 49, Tonu'u represented the Samoa national cricket team in the men's tournament at the 2019 Pacific Games. He made his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) debut against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

on 8 July 2019. On January 18, 2025, Tonu'u became the only player to participate in all 7 matches as wicket-keeper for Team Rugby in the annual Black Clash at

Hagley Oval Hagley Oval is a Cricket field, cricket ground in Hagley Park, Christchurch, Hagley Park in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1867, when Canterbury cricket te ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Match Fit

Tonu'u made his debut for ''Match Fit: Union vs. League'' in 2024. He was revealed to be at risk of diabetes and high blood pressure. On episode 3, he revealed that he travelled to Eden Park to his house in West Harbour, West Auckland on foot. At the final weigh in, he managed to lose enough weight to be out of the danger zone for cardiovascular diseases. In the final game, he was named as a hooker for rugby union and rugby league.

References

1970 births Living people Rugby union players from Wellington City New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent People educated at Rongotai College New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Wellington rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Hurricanes (rugby union) players London Irish players Newport RFC players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Wales Rugby union scrum-halves Samoa international rugby sevens players Samoan cricketers Samoa Twenty20 International cricketers Samoa international rugby union players Pacific Games bronze medalists for Samoa {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub