Jone Macilai-Tori
Jone Macilai-Tori (born 27 August 1990 in Suva, Fiji), is a professional rugby union player. He plays for Northland in the ITM Cup. He was signed by the Crusaders in 2014 and will play for them in the 2015 Super Rugby season. Macilai plays predominantly as a winger.
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| Birth name | Jone Macilai-Tori | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 27 August 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Suva, Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 88 kg (13 st 12 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Career
Macilai was spotted by local 7's coach, Lote Rasiga and was included in the Red Rock 7's squad.[1] He was later spotted by Awanui RFC coach Glen Subritzky playing sevens at Coral Coast 7's tournament in Fiji in 2012 who included him in his squad.[2] His performance for Awanui saw him getting selected for Northland in 2013 alongside the returning Rupeni Caucau though he missed most of the games in that seasons due to a dislocated elbow.[3]
A strong performance in the 2014 ITM Cup saw him getting Super Rugby offers from Blues, Highlanders and Crusaders. He signed for the Crusaders and would partner block-busting Fijian winger, Nemani Nadolo.[4]
A broken arm in pre-season meant he was out for 3 months. He made his debut off the bench on 8 May scoring a try on debut against the Reds.[5]
He mainly played as a back-up winger for the crusaders in the 2016 Super Rugby season behind Nemani Nadolo, Johnny McNicholl and David Havili but a few injuries in the backline to Ryan Crotty and McNicholl saw him start a few games. He started against the Brumbies in Round 8 and scored a try set up by Matt Todd. In Round 10, he started on the left wing due to Nadolo being given a 4-week ban and scored three-tries, two of which were set-up by Israel Dagg and he also set up a try for Scott Barrett as well. He also chased-down a conversion successfully of Red's flyhalf Jake McIntyre which is a rarity in rugby[6]
References
- "Macilai Gets Crusaders Callup". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- Ali, Imran. "Winger poised to step up". NZ Herald. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- "Northland embarrass Wellington in NPC blowout". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- "Fruean, flying Fijian boost Crusaders". TVNZ. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- "Crusaders turn on Christchuch magic". Planet Rugby. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- "Crusaders hammer the Reds". Stuff. Retrieved 2016-05-07.