Jona Nareki: Rugby World Cup Sevens winner, U20 world champion and 24 tries for the Highlanders

In July 2018 a 20-year-old wing from Otago stood in a New Zealand sevens squad that won the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco. A year earlier he had been an Under 20 world champion in Georgia. Jona Nareki, born in Fiji and raised in Whanganui, has since scored 44 tries in 78 matches for Otago and 24 in 60 for the Highlanders, and he is in the Highlanders' squad for 2027. This is the story of how a boy whose teachers could not say his name became a two-time Ranfurly Shield winner and a 50-game Highlander.

Where he comes from

Nareki was born in Sigatoka, Fiji, on 27 December 1997. He was a couple of months old when his family moved to New Zealand, the Otago Daily Times reported, and he grew up in Whanganui. One of his oldest friends is the sevens player and former Highlander Vilimoni Koroi. "We went to the same kindy together and have been mates ever since," Nareki told the ODT in 2017.

He was born Jona Malanicagi. Malanicagi gave his teachers trouble, he explained to the ODT's Adrian Seconi in August 2020. "Back in school, teachers used to pronounce my name wrong," he said, so when he became a New Zealand citizen he swapped his Fijian surname for Nareki.

School and the first honours

His schooling was split between Whanganui City College and Feilding High School: the Whanganui Chronicle described him as a City College student in September 2015, while national selectors and later the ODT listed him under Feilding High School.

By 2015 he was a Hurricanes Under 18 representative, alongside the future All Black Stephen Perofeta. That September he missed the cut for the New Zealand Schools side but was named on the wing in the New Zealand Barbarians Schools squad. The two teams met for the first time at Palmerston North Boys' High School on 19 September 2015. The Barbarians, with Perofeta, Tom Christie and Samisoni Taukei'aho in the squad, led 18-13 late on and lost 20-18 to a try in the final minutes, their first defeat in four seasons.

Heading south

At the start of 2016 Nareki moved to Dunedin. Brayden Whitelock, the father of the All Black Sam Whitelock, helped him make the move and steered him to the Alhambra-Union club, which is still his home club. He enrolled in a sports and management course at Otago Polytechnic. "I love it down here," he said a year later.

His rise was quick. He was not in the first trial squad for the 2017 New Zealand Under 20 team, but was called into the second camp in March after another player was injured. "I think not getting in there to start with just made me more determined," he told the ODT when he was named in the 28-man squad on 9 May 2017.

The World Rugby Under 20 Championship was held in Georgia, and Nareki scored a try in a 68-26 pool win over Italy at AIA Arena in Kutaisi on 4 June 2017. New Zealand went on to beat England 64-17 in the final at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi on 18 June 2017. Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Asafo Aumua, Dalton Papalii, Luke Jacobson and Braydon Ennor were among his team-mates. Wikipedia credits Nareki with three appearances and 10 points for the Under 20s.

Otago

Nareki made his Otago debut in the opening round of the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup, a 19-17 loss to North Harbour at North Harbour Stadium in Albany on 17 August 2017. His first try came 10 days later in a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Canterbury at Rugby League Park in Christchurch on 27 August 2017, lost 30-24. On 2 September 2017 he scored a hat-trick in a 40-30 win over Manawatu at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, and he finished his first provincial season with nine tries.

He added six tries in 2018, a year that ended with the Shield. Otago took it off Waikato 23-19 at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on 13 October 2018, and the Highlanders' profile lists Nareki as part of that Shield-winning team. In 2019 the province defended it five times, and Nareki scored in six Shield matches that year: one try in a pre-season defence against North Otago at Centennial Park in Oamaru on 26 July 2019, two against Southland on 17 August 2019, one against Manawatu, two against Taranaki, one against Waikato and one more in the 35-25 loss to Canterbury at Forsyth Barr Stadium on 5 October 2019, when Canterbury took the Shield. That is eight tries in six Shield matches in a single year. By August 2020 he had 24 tries in 30 games for Otago, what the ODT called "an outstanding strike rate".

The run stopped on 7 August 2021. About 15 minutes into the NPC opener against Southland at Forsyth Barr Stadium, a 26-19 win, his right knee gave way as he stepped off his right foot. Scans showed a torn anterior cruciate ligament; he needed surgery and at least nine months of rehabilitation, which meant missing the 2022 Super Rugby season. It was his first major injury. "Every athlete has one," he told the ODT. Otago general manager Richard Kinley called him "such a dynamic player ... and a great young man" and added: "He'll bounce back from this."

He was back for Otago by 6 August 2022, when he scored twice against Counties Manukau at Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe, though Otago lost 23-22. He scored three tries in 2023 and two in 2024.

The 2025 season brought the Shield back. On 20 September 2025 Otago won 38-36 against Canterbury at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch, with Nareki playing the full 80 minutes. They defended it against North Harbour a week later and reached the NPC final, played at the same ground on 25 October 2025. Canterbury won 36-28; Nareki scored Otago's last try two minutes from time. His six NPC tries that season were his most since 2019.

Otago kept the Shield through the summer, defending it against North Otago at Forsyth Barr Stadium on 16 June 2026 and against Mid Canterbury at Molyneux Park in Alexandra on 24 July 2026, when Nareki scored in a 78-14 win. Canterbury took it back 19-15 in Dunedin on 9 August 2026. A week later, against Manawatu at Central Energy Trust Arena in Palmerston North on 15 August 2026, Otago trailed 27-12 with ten minutes left. Nareki, moved into midfield, made the break and offload that set up the first of three late tries, and Otago won 29-27.

He scored five tries in the 2026 NPC, including one in each of the wins over Wellington (61-22), Waikato (43-38), Tasman (57-33) and Counties Manukau (50-21), and the last try of the semi-final in Whangārei on 16 October 2026, which Northland won 38-19 at Semenoff Stadium. His record for Otago now stands at 78 matches and 44 tries, 42 of them in the NPC.

The All Blacks Sevens

Nareki's speed took him into the All Blacks Sevens in 2018. He made his World Series debut at the Hong Kong Sevens in April 2018, scoring against Kenya on 8 April 2018, and went on to play in Singapore, London and Paris.

That July he was named No. 11 in Clark Laidlaw's 12-man squad for the Rugby World Cup Sevens at AT&T Park in San Francisco, led by co-captains Scott Curry and Tim Mikkelson. New Zealand beat Russia 29-5, France 12-7 in the quarter-final and Fiji 22-17 in the semi-final, then England 33-12 in the final on 22 July 2018 (US time) to win the Melrose Cup. Asked by the Highlanders to name his favourite rugby memory, Nareki chose that tournament.

He played nine of the ten World Series tournaments in 2018-19. New Zealand won one of them, the Sydney Sevens at Spotless Stadium on 2 and 3 February 2019, where he scored against Spain and Scotland in pool play and against France in the quarter-final, and New Zealand beat the United States 21-5 in the final. In all he played 13 World Series tournaments as well as the World Cup.

The Highlanders

The Highlanders signed him for the 2020 season, and he became Highlander No. 285 on 7 February 2020 against the Sharks at Forsyth Barr Stadium. He scored in the 61st minute of his debut, though the Sharks won 42-20. A week later he scored in a 23-22 win over the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium on 15 February 2020, and he scored again against the Crusaders in Christchurch on 21 February 2020. When Covid-19 stopped the competition and Super Rugby Aotearoa took its place, he scored in a 33-31 comeback win over the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato on 19 July 2020.

The club calls 2021 his breakout season. On 5 March 2021, at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton in front of a Covid-limited crowd of 700, he scored a hat-trick in the 33rd, 57th and 69th minutes as the Highlanders beat the Chiefs 39-23. His five tries in seven games made him the Highlanders' leading try scorer in Super Rugby Aotearoa that year, level with Will Jordan and Sevu Reece and behind only Codie Taylor across the competition. He added four more in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, including two in a 59-23 win over the Waratahs at Forsyth Barr Stadium on 5 June 2021, for nine tries in 13 games. The ODT later noted that some pundits had touted him as a potential All Black.

After the 2022 season lost to injury, he returned in April 2023 and scored in a 35-30 win over the Reds at Forsyth Barr Stadium on 26 May 2023. That July he was named in the All Blacks XV squad, selected by the All Blacks coaches, for the tour of Japan that brought a 38-6 win over a Japan XV at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo on 8 July 2023 and a 41-27 win over Japan at Egao Kenko Stadium in Kumamoto on 15 July 2023.

In 2024 he scored twice in a 39-3 win over the Fijian Drua at Forsyth Barr Stadium on 26 May 2024, and again in the quarter-final against the Brumbies at GIO Stadium in Canberra on 8 June 2024, which the Brumbies won 32-16. He scored twice in six games in 2025.

On 21 February 2026 he ran out against the Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium for his 50th Highlanders game, and scored in the third minute. The Chiefs won 26-23 in front of 15,476. He added tries against Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium on 27 March 2026 and the Brumbies in Dunedin on 10 April 2026, and played 12 games in the season. His Highlanders record is 60 games and 24 tries.

Style and standing

The Highlanders' profile calls him "an elite finisher with great defensive capabilities" and, at the time of his 50th game, the club singled out his footwork, acceleration and the left-foot kicking that helps the side exit its own half. Across Otago and the Highlanders he has scored 68 tries, including tries in Ranfurly Shield matches, an NPC final, an NPC semi-final and a Super Rugby quarter-final.

Off the field

Nareki studied sports and management at Otago Polytechnic after moving south. In the Highlanders' player questionnaire he names Westlife as his favourite band and Nasi Manu as his favourite rugby player. In August 2020 he went back to Alhambra-Union for his first club game in three years and played alongside his brother for the first time; both scored, though Kaikorai won 33-32.

Where he is now

Nareki has not played a Test for New Zealand or Fiji. He is one of seven outside backs in the Highlanders' 2027 squad, named on 28 October 2026, and the club describes him as an established senior member of the group who will help develop its younger players. The Highlanders assemble on 26 November 2026 and open the 2027 season against the Fijian Drua in Fiji on 13 February 2027, in the country of his birth.

Career at a glance

Highlanders figures are from Wikipedia's list of Highlanders players (last game 23 May 2026) and agree with the season-by-season match records. Otago figures combine Wikipedia's career total to May 2026 with the 2026 match records; RugbyPass gave 39 tries in 71 games on 21 August 2026, which matches. Under 20 figures are Wikipedia's; RUGBE could confirm one of the two tries, against Italy.