Timoci Tavatavanawai: eight eggs a morning, from a Fijian village to the All Blacks midfield

He grew up in a Fijian village of about a hundred people with no television at home, and when he arrived in Marlborough in 2017 he weighed around 70kg. He fixed Jeeps, put up scaffolding and did landscaping while he played club rugby, and he ate eight eggs every morning to build the frame he needed. In 2026 Timoci Tavatavanawai, now 106kg, finished level on votes for Super Rugby's Player of the Year, and on Sunday morning NZ time the Highlanders co-captain sits on the All Blacks bench at Murrayfield.

Where he comes from

Tavatavanawai was born on 14 February 1998 in the Nausori Highlands of Fiji, according to New Zealand Rugby, and is known as "Jim". The third of nine children, he was raised in his father's village of Naikawaga, in Namara in the province of Tailevu, PMN News reported in 2025. He went to three district primary schools in Tailevu and played for the province in Kaji Rugby, the primary schools competition.

There was no television at home, and by his own account he knew next to nothing about Super Rugby when he came to New Zealand. What he did have was a father who wanted to see him in a black jersey, and who told him to chase his dream wherever it led.

Queen Victoria School and Fiji

For his secondary schooling Tavatavanawai went to Queen Victoria School. In 2016 he was in the QVS under-18 side that won the Deans Trophy, Fiji's national secondary schools title, alongside Meli Derenalagi, Tevita Ikanivere and Simione Kuruvoli, all now Fijian Drua players. The team toured Japan.

He made the Fiji Schools under-18 team that toured New Zealand and played Australia that year. "Tough defensive player with speed to burn," said the Fiji Schools coach, Josaia Rokomarawa, who singled him out as one of the standouts against Australia and New Zealand. Tavatavanawai told the Fiji Times that October that his aim was to play for Fiji, sevens or fifteens, and that he would be the first from his village to do it. He had been offered a scholarship to study and play in New Zealand, he said, but was still weighing it up. He went on to play for the Fiji under-20 side.

Marlborough, and eight eggs a day

In 2017 he arrived in Blenheim to train with the Central club. At around 70kg he was too light for the next level, he has said, and for several years rugby was something he fitted around work. He repaired Jeeps, worked on scaffolding with his brother, and later moved to Nelson to work for a landscaping company while still playing his club rugby in Blenheim. At one point a delay in renewing his visa sent him back to Fiji until the paperwork was sorted.

The transformation came when coaches and a nutritionist got hold of him. His breakfast became eggs and toast, about eight eggs a morning, plus protein, and he put on around 30kg. Marlborough Now later described the result as a "destructive midfielder and winger" whose ability to gain metres after contact was unmatched.

In early 2021 the Crusaders brought him in as injury cover and he scored twice in a 28-26 pre-season win over the Highlanders. He was in both clubs' wider training groups that year.

Tasman

Tasman named him in their squad for the 2021 NPC, and on 8 August 2021 he made his first-class debut on the right wing in a 27-14 win away to Bay of Plenty. He scored twice against Southland in October, scored again in the semi-final win over Hawke's Bay, and started on the right wing in the Premiership final, which Tasman lost 23-20 to Waikato in Hamilton on 20 November 2021.

He has remained a Mako ever since. In 2024 he scored six NPC tries, and on 7 September that year Tasman took the Ranfurly Shield from Hawke's Bay with a 25-24 win at McLean Park in Napier. Tavatavanawai scored in both successful defences, against Wellington and Auckland, before Taranaki took the Shield away in October. He was still playing for Tasman in the 2025 NPC when he broke his arm.

Moana Pasifika

His NPC form in 2021 earned him a Super Rugby contract with the new Moana Pasifika club, which announced him as its first Fijian signing that October. He made his debut on the left wing against the Blues in round seven of the 2022 season, and at the end of the year he won the club's back of the year award and its award for attacking player of the year.

That December his father died, while Tavatavanawai was making plans to bring him to New Zealand to watch him play. Covid border restrictions meant he could not travel home for the funeral, and Moana Pasifika flew his mother to New Zealand to be with him, PMN reported.

In 2023 he had what the Highlanders called a stellar season, proving "one of the hardest men to bring down in the competition". He played 20 games for Moana Pasifika before moving south. "It has been an incredible honour to represent my culture," he said when he left.

The Highlanders

He joined the Highlanders in 2024 on a two-year deal, started every game of his first season and, according to the NZ Rugby Museum's profile, topped Super Rugby Pacific for turnovers won at the tackle. For 2025 head coach Jamie Joseph made him co-captain alongside Hugh Renton. He called it "a real privilege for me to be asked to lead this team with Hugh".

At the club's awards in May 2025 he won five trophies: the Highlander Man award for living the club's values, back of the year, players' player, fans' player and most valuable player. He re-signed through to the end of 2027. Joseph called him "a leader who sets high standards and drives our culture forward", and Tavatavanawai said the fans and the environment "make Dunedin feel like home".

The Highlanders kept the same co-captains for 2026. The team missed the finals, but Tavatavanawai, by now a midfielder, polled as one of the competition's leading players. When the Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year votes were counted in June he was level with the Chiefs' Quinn Tupaea on 43, and Tupaea took the award on the tiebreaker, having received the maximum three votes from the independent media panel more often. Tavatavanawai was named at centre, beside Tupaea, in the competition's first Team of the Year.

The All Blacks

Choosing New Zealand over Fiji paid off in June 2025, when Scott Robertson named him in his first squad of the season. He missed the call. "I was by myself, just doing some gardening at home," he told Sky TV, and he had to ring Robertson back.

He was named on the bench for the second Test against France in Wellington, ahead of Tupaea. "He's pretty much like another number seven over that ball," said team-mate Tupou Vaa'i, adding that it was good to have him on your side "because you don't have to tackle him". On 12 July 2025 he came on to become All Black No 1228 in a 43-17 win that sealed the series. New Zealand Rugby had helped his mother and two of his younger brothers make a last-minute trip from Fiji, and he was overcome with emotion during the anthem. A week later he came off the bench again in a 29-19 win in Hamilton.

Then came a setback. At the end of August 2025, playing for Tasman, he fractured the radius in his arm. He needed surgery and missed the rest of the Rugby Championship.

When Dave Rennie took over in 2026, Tavatavanawai was not in his squad for the July Nations Championship Tests. He was one of 10 players added for the four-Test tour of South Africa, played three of the four tour games, against the Sharks, the Bulls and the Lions, and scored his first try in an All Blacks jersey off the bench in the 54-0 win over the Sharks in Durban. He did not feature in the Tests.

He was named on the bench again for the second Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney on 17 October 2026. Hours before kick-off Jordie Barrett was ruled out with a tight calf, and Tavatavanawai started at second five-eighth, his first Test start. 1News noted his "powerful runs", and early in the second half one of them, a bruising carry, set up Josh Moorby's second try. The All Blacks won 43-21. He has played three Tests, and won all three.

Style and standing

At 1.75m and 106kg he is built low and heavy. The NZ Rugby Museum's profile describes a player who regularly breaks tackles, forces turnovers and finds the try line, and who can play in the midfield or on the wing. Joseph values him as a leader as much as a player, and his Highlanders team-mates voted him their players' player in 2025.

Off the field

Family remains at the centre of his story. When he was named an All Black in 2025, he used his media interview to thank his mother: "Thank you, Mum, for your support. Thank you, Mum, for your love."

Where he is now

Tavatavanawai is contracted to the Highlanders until the end of 2027 and is in their 2027 squad. On Sunday 8 November (NZ time) he is on the bench, wearing 22, against Scotland at Murrayfield, with Wales and England to follow and the Nations Championship finals weekend at Twickenham at the end of the month.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026.