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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Auckland, NZL |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Watching films, spending time with his family, boxing, riding his scooter. (irbsevens.com, 04 Feb 2013) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Leading the New Zealand sevens team, and winning gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. (dailymirror.lk, 02 Aug 2013) |
| Hero / Idol | New Zealand rugby union player Michael Jones. (allblacks.com, 27 Jul 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Gordon Tietjens [national], NZL |
International Debut | |
| Year | 2006 |
| Competing for | New Zealand |
| Location | Wellington, NZL |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Languages | Maori, English |
General Interest | |
| Awards and honours | He was named New Zealand Sevens Player of the Year in 2007, 2008 and 2014. (stuff.co.nz, 07 Aug 2015) He received the World Series Player of the Year in 2008, and was named in the Dream Team for the 2013/14 season. (dailymirror.lk, 02 Aug 2013; allblacks.com, 2014) |
| Injuries | He missed the Las Vegas leg of the 2014/15 World Series after injuring his left foot during the previous leg in Wellington in February 2015. (telegraph.co.uk, 27 Feb 2015) He missed the last three legs of the 2012/13 World Series in Tokyo, Glasgow and London because of a foot injury [plantar fasciitis], but returned in time to play at the 2013 World Cup in Moscow, Russian Federation. (stuff.co.nz, 22 Jun 2013; stuff.co.nz, 26 Apr 2013) He injured his hamstring during the Wellington leg of the 2010/11 World Series, and missed the following leg in Las Vegas as a result. (3news.co.nz, 07 Feb 2011) |
| Ambitions | To compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and get involved with coaching when he retires. (irbsevens.com, 21 Mar 2012; LinkedIn profile, 26 May 2016) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Preferred position / style / stance / technique | Forward |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He was first introduced to rugby at age five in Auckland, New Zealand. He first played rugby league, then moved to rugby union, and eventually switched to sevens. |
General Interest | |
| Other information | STEPPING DOWN In August 2015, after discussions with coach Gordon Tietjens, he announced he would step down as the captain of New Zealand's sevens team in order to concentrate on making the squad for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "My key focus is on getting my body to 100% and by stepping aside from the responsibilities of captain I can focus solely on what I need to do to get in the best shape mentally and physically." (stuff.co.nz, 07 Aug 2015) CAPS He became New Zealand's most-capped sevens player during the Glasgow leg of the 2013/14 World Series. It was his 68th sevens tournament for New Zealand. "It's pretty special, I never thought I would be around this long." (supersport.com, 03 May 2014) SEVENS He played rugby union at provincial level in New Zealand for Counties Manakau until 2013, when he made the decision to focus only on sevens in order to prolong his career. (dailymirror.lk, 02 Aug 2013) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Family | Wife Lisa, son Titus, daughter Sarai |
| Higher education | Business Management - Otago Polytechnic: New Zealand |
General Interest | |
| Other sports | He has played rugby union at provincial level in New Zealand. (dailymirror.lk, 02 Aug 2013) |
| Famous relatives | His uncle Peter Fatialofa played international rugby union for Samoa, and captained the team at the 1991 World Cup. (thenational.ae, 27 Nov 2013) |
| Nicknames | Deej (rio2016.com, 2015) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | “It is probably the hardest thing about wearing the fern, that you are expected to win regardless of what the guys are going through or how good the competition is getting." (thenational.ae, 27 Nov 2013) |