NOLA Gold Rugby re-signed Jojo Tikoisuva for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 25-year-old wing is 5’11” and 205 lbs.
JoJo signed with Gold for 2020, but played only during the preseason and also played for New Orleans RFC. During the Fall, he played for NOLA Gold Academy.
In 2019 he played 386 minutes in 11 matches, starting 4 times, and scored 3 tries. In 2018 he played 575 minutes in 8 matches, starting 7 times, and scored 2 tries.
Tikoisuva was born in Burlingame, California, and grew up in Sacramento, where he graduated from Rosemont High School in 2014.
In an interview by Liz Entwhistle, Jojo indicated that rugby was a big part of his life growing up. His “family would go to the USA Sevens tournaments every year since it was hosted in LA 2002 through the 2014 Vegas Sevens.”
Encouraged by his brother, “I started playing touch rugby when I was 9 years old and stopped for a while. When I was in the 7th grade I started playing wing for the Sacramento Islanders High School Rugby Club in Sacramento, California. I played in many All-Star games representing Sacramento, and Northern California.”
While in high school, his rugby talents were known nationally. In 2013 he played on the Under-17 USA High School All-Americans on their England tour. He also played for the Under-19 USA High School All-Americans for their Argentina tours in 2013 and in 2014.
Jojo Tikoisuva & Rugby Sevens
He was not only a talented rugby 15s player but excelled at rugby sevens as well. In 2014 he played with the HSAA U19 team at the Las Vegas Invitational with the team winning first place. He also was selected to represent the USA at the Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China. He culminated that year playing in the prestigious Central Coast 7s Tournament with Stars Rugby 7sin Brisbane, Australia. In 2015, he was invited to the Fiji 7s training camp. He also competed with the USA Falcons in 2016 in the 2016 Las Vegas invitational sevens tournament.
Jojo played with the Metropolis RFC Sevens team in both the 2017 and the 2018 USA Rugby Men’s Club Sevens Nationals. In 2019 he played for New Orleans Rugby Club, which came in second place in the Red River competition. He was also selected to play for the team at the Rugbytown 7s.
Jojo Tikoisuva & Club Rugby
Jojo Tikoisuva also played club rugby for the Sacramento Lions from 2013 to 2014. He then went to Minnesota and played for the Metropolis RFC from 2015 to 2018, with a stint with PRO Rugby’s Sacramento Express during the Spring and Summer of 2016. In 2017 he selected to play for the USA Islanders against the Saracens in Bermuda.
Following the 2018 NOLA Gold Rugby Club season, he returned to Minnesota and resumed playing with Metropolis. During the 2019 MLR season, JoJo played in 10 matches and will be expected to contribute in more during 2020.
NOLA Gold 2020 Comments
Ryan Fitzgerald, General Manager, said that “At 23, and entering his 3rd year in MLR, the best years are still ahead of Jojo. He’s a great teammate that puts in hard work at training and competes for every day. By sticking around here the entire summer & fall with the guys and working with Ed Cosner, he’s taking his game to the next level and shows his dedication and the standard we are looking for.“
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