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Joe Rokocoko migrated to New Zealand with his family at the age of 5, settling in
South Auckland, and attending
James Cook High School. He later won a scholarship to
Saint Kentigern College, where he was a member of the 2001 National Secondary Schools team. After an outstanding career with New Zealand international sides at under-16, under-19, and under-21 level, he started playing
Super 12 rugby for the
Blues in
2003.
Rokocoko made his first appearance for the All Blacks on
14 June 2003 against
England. He has so far had a high strike rate for the All Blacks, scoring 25 tries in his first 20 tests, and breaking the All Blacks single-season record for test tries previously shared by
Jonah Lomu and
Christian Cullen—his 17 test tries scored in 2003 equals the world record held by
Daisuke Ohata of
Japan. The International Rugby Players' Association named him new player of the year in 2003.
His incredible speed has been seen many a time through out his career and has a standing 40 meter sprint time of 4.66 seconds.
On
19 June 2004, in the All Blacks' second 2004 test with England, Rokocoko shredded the England defence for three tries in a 36-12 All Blacks victory over the reigning
Rugby World Cup champions.
Rokocoko made his
NPC debut for
Auckland in
2004. Rokocoko returned to the All Blacks line-up for the 2005
Tri Nations, punctuating his comeback with a two-try effort in the All Blacks' pivotal home fixture against
South Africa. As from the end of the 2006 season he has scored 35 tries in 39 test matches.
Rokocoko is a cousin of former Auckland Blues and All Black winger
Joeli Vidiri and NPC, Super 12, and
New Zealand sevens player
Iliesa Tanivula. He and fellow All Black wing
Sitiveni Sivivatu regard themselves as "cousins" as Sivivatu lived with the Rokocoko family, but they are not actual cousins.
In November 2006, Rokocoko asked New Zealand rugby management to list his name on team releases as Josevata, his Christian birth name, as opposed to Joe.
In January 2008, Joe got married to his long-time sweetheart Beverly Politini, the daughter of
Howard Politini, a
Major in the
Fiji Military. The wedding was attended by a large number of
All Blacks
This is a big tackle by Bryan Habana.