Joe Cokanasiga

Joe Cokanasiga (/ˈðɒkænəˌsɪŋə/;[2] born 15 November 1997) is a professional rugby union player for the England national rugby union team. He plays wing for Bath, having previously represented London Irish. He helped his former team win promotion from the RFU Championship in 2016–17 season to the English Premiership for the 2017–18 season.[3]

Joe Cokanasiga
Birth nameRatu Josateki Tuivanuavou Waqanivalu Cokanasiga
Date of birth (1997-11-15) 15 November 1997
Place of birthSuva, Fiji
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight112 kg (247 lb; 17 st 9 lb)[1]
SchoolBushey Academy
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Merchant Taylors ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017–2018
2018–		 London Irish
Bath		 35
65		 (65)
(115)
Correct as of 30 April 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017
2018–		 England U20
England		 4
12		 (10)
(60)
Correct as of 6 November 2022

Early life

Cokanasiga was born in Fiji but before his third birthday, moved to England with his father, Ilaitia, who was in the British Army. He has lived in Germany and Brunei as his father toured those countries and learned to play rugby. They formed a father-son centre partnership for the Army Vets team before returning to the UK in 2013.[4]

Joe's first adult rugby match - on his 17th birthday - was for Old Merchant Taylors' FC on 15 November 2014, vs HAC. OMTs were then playing in London 2NW (Level 7). Joe became the top try-scorer for the club, despite only playing a part of the season. Joe continued to play for OMT and Team Honeybadger 7s throughout 2015, before moving to London Irish.[5]

Professional career

He joined the London Irish academy in 2015 and played for their sevens team in the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series[6] and in October 2016, he signed a two-year deal to stay with the club.[7] He made his debut in the 2016–17 RFU Championship on 30 October 2016 against London Scottish and scored a brilliant individual try beating multiple defenders, demonstrating his raw power and pace.[8]

In May 2018, it was announced that Cokanasiga had signed for Bath on a three-year deal. A two-year extension to this was announced in March 2021.[9]

International career

In 2016 Cokanasiga played for the England U18 side that toured South Africa.[10] In the 2017 Six Nations Under 20 Championship he played in England U20 side against France, scoring a try.[11]

Cokanasiga was called up to the senior England squad by Eddie Jones for their 2017 summer tour of Argentina.[12] When questioned on why he had plucked the player from relative obscurity, Eddie Jones was typically blunt: "He’s big and he’s fast."[13] He did not actually play due to picking up an injury in London Irish's end-of-season playoff battles for promotion from the Championship back to the Premiership.[14]

In November 2018, Cokanasiga was selected to make his international test debut against Japan. Eddie Jones, citing his reasons for the selection, simply stated "He’s got power and he’s got pace, there’s something a little bit special about him". Cokanasiga scored on his international debut in a hard-fought win over Japan.[15] He retained his place for the next match in the Quilter Autumn Internationals, against Australia, and put in a powerful performance capped by a try in the second half.[16]

On 12 August 2019, Cokanasiga was named as part of Jones' 31-man squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.[17] He would only make one appearance in the tournament, starting in England's pool game against the United States.[18] He scored two tries in a 45-7 win but did not make the match day squad for the rest of England's campaign

Cokanasiga returned from the World Cup with a serious knee injury.[19] He was out for almost a year following surgery, meaning that he was unavailable for the 2020 Six Nations.[20]

His next England selection came on 10 June 2021, when Jones named him as part of his squad for the 2021 Summer Internationals against the USA and Canada.[21] Cokanasiga started against the United States on 4 July 2021, scoring two tries.[22] He then went on to score two more tries the week after in England's 70-14 victory over Canada.[23]

Cokanasiga again injured his knee in a preseason game for Bath against Cardiff Rugby,[24] meaning that he missed out on selection for the 2021 Autumn Nations Series. He has now scored 12 tries in 12 Test matches.

International tries
As of 6 November 2022 [25]
TryOpposing teamLocationVenueCompetitionDateResultScore
1 JapanLondon, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2018 Autumn Internationals17 November 2018Win35 – 15[26]
2 AustraliaLondon, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2018 Autumn Internationals24 November 2018Win37 – 18[27]
3 WalesLondon, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up match11 August 2019 Win33 – 19[28]
4  Ireland London, England Twickenham Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up match 24 August 2019 Win 57 – 15[29]
5
6  United States Kobe, Japan Kobe Misaki Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup 26 September 2019 Win 45 – 7[30]
7
8  United States London, England Twickenham Stadium 2021 July rugby union tests 4 July 2021 Win 43 – 29
9
10  Canada London, England Twickenham Stadium 2021 July rugby union tests 10 July 2021 Win 70 – 14
11
12  Argentina London, England Twickenham Stadium 2022 Autumn Nations Series 6 November 2022 Loss 29 – 30

Honours

References
  1. "RFU".
  2. "Joe Cokanasiga on his Fijian name and playing for Eddie Jones". 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  3. "London Irish confirm squad for the 2017/18 campaign". London Irish. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  4. Morgan, Charlie (29 April 2017). "Joe Cokanasiga's meteoric ascent and how England came calling". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 May 2017. formed a father-son centre partnership
  5. "No ordinary Joe: England U20's flying winger". Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  6. "London Irish Name Squad for Singha Premiership Rugby 7s Series". London Irish. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2017. Singha Premiership Rugby
  7. "Seven Academy players commit future to London Irish". London Irish. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2017. Joe Cokanasiga has penned a two-year deal with Irish
  8. "London Irish move in to top gear to overpower Scottish at the Athletic Ground". londonscottish.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2017. with a brilliant individual try from Joe Cokanasiga.
  9. "England wing Cokanasiga signs Bath deal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  10. "U18 name squad for South Africa Schools A clash". Rugby Football Union. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  11. "Malins on fire as England Under-20s get off to a flyer". rbs6nations.com. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  12. "England v Argentina: Dylan Hartley, Joe Launchbury & George Ford in squad". BBC Sport. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  13. Meagher, Gerard (15 November 2018). "Joe Cokanasiga has power and pace to add to England's strength in depth". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  14. "REACTION: Kennedy on reaching the final, Cokanasiga injury and facing Yorkshire – The Wokingham Paper". The Wokingham Paper. 6 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  15. Twickenham, Paul Rees at (17 November 2018). "Joe Cokanasiga scores debut try to help spare England's blushes against Japan" – via www.theguardian.com.
  16. "England 37-18 Australia: May, Daly, Cokanasiga and Farrell all cross". BBC Sport. 24 November 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  17. "Ludlam & McConnochie in England squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  18. "Ruthless England thrash United States". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  19. "Bath's Cokanasiga out with knee injury". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  20. Coles, Ben (21 September 2020). "Joe Cokanasiga to return for Bath after almost a year out through injury". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  21. "England announce 34-man summer training squad". Six Nations Rugby. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  22. "Cokanasiga shines in England win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  23. "Radwan hat-trick as England crush Canada". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  24. "Injury Update: Joe Cokanasiga and Ben Spencer". Bath Rugby. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  25. "Joe Cokanasiga". 16 November 2021.
  26. "England 35-15 Japan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  27. "England 37-18 Australia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  28. "England 39-19 Wales". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  29. "England 57-15 Ireland". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  30. "England 45-7 USA". skysports.com. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
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