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Players & Officials / Joe Rokocoko
Joe Rokocoko
New Zealand
Full name Josevata Taliga Rokocoko
Born July 6, 1983, Nadi
Current age 27 years 24 days
Major teams Barbarians, Blues, New Zealand
Position Wing
Height 6 ft 2 in
Weight 216 lb
player portrait

Test career
Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop Won Lost Draw %
All Tests 2003-2010 63 61 2 225 45 0 0 0 51 12 0 80.95
Rugby World Cup 2003-2007 8 8 0 55 11 0 0 0 6 2 0 75.00
Bledisloe Cup 2003-2010 13 13 0 30 6 0 0 0 11 2 0 84.61
Tri Nations 2003-2010 26 25 1 70 14 0 0 0 18 8 0 69.23

Career statistics
Test debut New Zealand v England at Wellington, Jun 14, 2003 match details
Last Test New Zealand v South Africa at Auckland, Jul 10, 2010 match details
Test Statsguru Main menu | Career summary | Match list | Most points | Most tries | Tournament list
Profile

Josevata Taliga Rokocoko, more commonly known as Joe Rokocoko, is one of the most lethal finishers in the game and combines blistering speed and deceptive power to often devastating effect.

Born in Fiji, he moved to Auckland in New Zealand with his family when he was 5-years-old and would later go on to carve an impressive junior rugby career with international recognition at U16, U19 - winning the IRB Junior World Cup crown in 2001 - and U21 level and also appearing for the New Zealand 7s side.

He made his Super 12 bow for the Blues in 2003, before he had played for Auckland, and helped inspire them to the Super 12 crown. He was subsequently rewarded for an impressive domestic season with his first All Blacks cap against England at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington in June the same year. The then 19-year-old Rokocoko was the youngest player selected for the All Blacks since another great wing Jonah Lomu in 1994.

The speedster would go on to set the world stage alight with a total of 17 tries in 12 Tests appearances in 2003 - a world record for a calendar year - including hat-tricks against France and Australia.

An obvious choice for New Zealand's 2003 Rugby World Cup squad he would go on to score six tries in five appearances in the tournament - only bettered by team mates Doug Howlett and Mils Muliaina who both scored 7 tries in 7 appearances.

Rokocoko continued to inflict damage to the world's best with reigning world champions England put to the sword in 2004 with the winger scoring his third Test hat-trick and he made his Auckland debut the same year. He would continue his prolific scoring rate throughout the next two years, including New Zealand's grand slam tour of the UK & Ireland in 2005, switching on occasion to the right-wing in 2006, from his more accustomed left-wing berth, to accommodate fellow speedster Sitiveni Sivivatu.

His second Rugby World Cup appearance followed in 2007 and once again he weighed in on the try-count with 5 scores in just three appearances including his fourth Test hat-trick against Romania.

A wrist injury suffered on Super 14 duty and subsequent surgery meant Rokocoko had to wait 13-months before his next international appearance against Scotland on what would prove to be another grand slam tour of the UK & Ireland for the All Blacks. He failed to add to his Test try tally on the tour but did score a crucial try in the historic clash with Munster at Thomond Park that secured a narrow 18-16 triumph.

Rokocoko notched another record in 2010 when selected for the opening Bledisloe Cup clash of the year against Australia in Melbourne with his 64th Test appearance moving him ahead of John Kirwan and Jonah Lomu as the most capped All Blacks winger of all time.

Latest Articles
Power and pace personified (Jul 29, 2010) Ranger and Messam dropped for Australia trip (Jul 19, 2010) Rokocoko turns down Toulon switch (Jul 18, 2010) All Blacks turn to Ranger power (Jul 15, 2010) All Blacks hold fire on team announcement (Jul 13, 2010)
Joe Rokocoko news and articles 67 
Latest Photos
Jul 27, 2010
New Zealand's Joe Rokocoko in action during training
New Zealand's Joe Rokocoko in action during training
©  Getty Images
Jul 13, 2010
All Blacks winger Joe Rokocoko takes a break in training
All Blacks winger Joe Rokocoko takes a break in training
©  Getty Images
Jul 10, 2010
New Zealand wing Joe Rokocoko
New Zealand wing Joe Rokocoko
©  Getty Images
Jun 22, 2010
New Zealand's Joe Rokocoko claims a high ball in training
New Zealand's Joe Rokocoko claims a high ball in training
©  Getty Images
Joe Rokocoko rugby photos 37 »
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