Sione Fakaʻosilea (born 13 January 1987) is a rugby union player from Tonga. He plays in the centre position for professional SuperLiga club Baia Mare.[1][2]
 Sione Fakaʻosilea playing for CSM Baia Mare in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Sione Ingo Fakaʻosilea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 13 January 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tonga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 109 kg (17 st 2 lb; 240 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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He played for the Tonga national rugby sevens team in 2013 and went on to play for Romania's national 15-a-side team, making his international debut at the 2017 Rugby Europe Championship in a match against the Russian Medvedi.[3] However, after featuring in 13 internationals for Romania, including six in Rugby World Cup qualification matches for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, questions were raised over Fakaʻosilea's eligibility to represent Romania.[4][5][6] As Fakaʻosilea had previously represented Tonga in Sevens rugby at the 2013 Gold Coast Sevens, this rendered him ineligible to represent Romania under World Rugby rules on switching nationalities.[4]
Honours edit
- SuperLiga: 2014
References edit
- ^ "Sione Fakaʻosilea's SuperLiga Profile". 20 March 2017.
- ^ "Sione Fakaʻosilea's Baia Mare Profile". 20 March 2017.
- ^ "Romania Rugby Union debuts". 20 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Serious Questions asked of Romanian player eligibility". Americas Rugby News. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ "Rugby-Russia Seeks Clarification on Romanian Player Eligibility". The New York Times. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ "Eligibility controversy in World Cup 2019 qualifying". Rugby World. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
External links edit
- Sione Fakaʻosilea at ESPNscrum
- Sione Fakaʻosilea at ItsRugby.co.uk
- {{#if: 1592
| Sione Fakaʻosilea at Romanian Rugby SuperLiga (in Romanian)
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