NOLA Gold signed Rodney Esekia Iona through the 2024 Major League Rugby season. The 31-year-old flyhalf is 5’10” and 196 lbs.
Rodney is from Melbourne, Australia, and attended Chandler High School in Keysborough. He played Tuggeranong Vikings from 2011-2016, as well as attended the Brumbies Academy where he won the World Club Sevens Championship in 2013, and also played in the World Club Tens that year in Singapore. He also played rugby with the Moorabbin Rams RFC.
From 2014 through 2016 he made 15 appearances with the Canberra Vikings in the National Rugby Championship and also made his first appearance in 2014 with the Super Rugby Brumbies against the Waratahs. This led to a full-time contract with the Brumbies in 2015, where he made 2 appearances.
He then signed with the French Pro D2 Club, Béziers, for the 2016-2017 season, making 22 appearances. Following his recovery from a neck injury, he played in the Spanish División de Honor de Rugby side UE Santboiana from 2017 to 2019.
In 2019-2020 he played with the Jersey Reds, and then with Melbourne Rising and the Brumbies.
Rodney also has national team experience with Samoa. He has 5 caps, starting twice after he made his debut against Fiji st Suva on June 9, 2018. The last of his tests was against Tonga at Hamilton, New Zealand on July 17, 2021.
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