Josh Kaifa
New Zealand rugby union player
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Josh Kaifa (born 21 July 1992 in New Zealand) is a former professional rugby union player, who most recently played as a loose forward for Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition.[1] He previously played – as an injury replacement – for Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby and Zebre Parma in the United Rugby Championship.
| Full name | Siosiua A. Kaifa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 21 July 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 103 kg (227 lb; 16 st 3 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Onehunga High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative | Tatafu Polota-Nau (cousin) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kaifa's retirement from rugby was announced in July 2025.[2]
Early career
Kaifa hails from Auckland, where he attended Onehunga High School. He played for the school's 1st XV team alongside future Auckland and Hawke's Bay teammate Stacey Ili.[3]
After leaving school, he moved to Australia where he played for Melbourne club Footscray in the Dewar Shield competition. During that time, in 2012, he played for – and captained – the Victoria Under 20 team in an interstate tournament, including a 42–5 win over Queensland Country in the final.[4]
The following year, he moved to Sydney where he played two seasons for the Parramatta Two Blues in the Shute Shield competition. He made his debut for Parramatta on 6 April 2013 against Sydney University[5] and played a total of 36 games for the club.[6]
He returned to New Zealand in 2015, where he played for – and captained – Manukau Rovers in the Auckland club rugby competition.[7] On 27 July 2015, Kaifa was named in the Auckland B squad.[8] At the end of the season, he was named the Auckland B player of the year.[9] A year later, he was named the Auckland Club player of the year.[10]
Kaifa is the cousin of former Australia hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau.[4]
Senior career
Kaifa was named in the Auckland squad for the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season.[11] He made his debut for the province, via the bench, against Northland on 26 August 2016.[3][12] He earned his first start for Auckland against Bay of Plenty on 25 September, that year.[13]
In 2017, Kaifa missed out on a spot in the Auckland's Mitre 10 Cup squad, but still made two appearances for the province as an injury replacement.[14]
In 2018, he moved to Hawke's Bay, where he played for Clive Rugby & Sports Club in the province's club rugby competition.[15] On 8 August 2018, he was named in the Hawke's Bay squad for the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season.[16] He made his first appearance and start for the province on 19 August 2018 against Southland and scored a try on debut.[17] Since that game, he's been a regular in the Hawke's Bay match day 23.
Since his arrival in Hawke's Bay, Kaifa played several games for the Hurricanes Development team,[18][19] but wasn't offered a Super Rugby contract. However, he received a call-up to train with the Crusaders during their preseason ahead of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season and played in the franchise's preseason game against the Highlanders on 4 February 2022.[20]
Kaifa made his Super Rugby debut on 19 March 2022 for Moana Pasifika against the Chiefs, after coming into the squad in place of Jack Lam.[21]
On 20 February 2024, Zebre Parma announced that the club had signed Kaifa as an injury replacement until the end of the 2023–24 United Rugby Championship season.[22] He made his debut for the club on 1 March 2024 in their round 11 game against Munster[23][24] and went on to play 4 games for the club.[25]
International career
On 21 June 2024, Kaifa – who is of Tongan descent and eligible to represent Tonga internationally – was named in the Tongan national team for a two-test series against Italy and Spain and the 2024 Pacific Nations Cup.[26][27] He made his debut for Tonga on 12 July 2024 against Italy in Nukuʻalofa.[28]