 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2017) |
| Date of birth | 13 November 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Hamilton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 8 December 1998 (aged 27) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Sea, off Coromandel Peninsula | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 98 kg (216 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aaron Remana Hopa (13 November 1971 – 8 December 1998) was a New Zealand international rugby union player whose career was cut short when he died in a diving accident at sea.
Hopa was born in 1971 in Hamilton, Waikato, a province of New Zealand's north island.
He was an All Black in 1997 and played four matches on that year's tour of Britain and Ireland. [1] He played for Waikato at provincial level including the Ranfurly Shield winning team in 1997 and he also played for the Chiefs in the Super 12. Hopa was outstanding in his position of loose forward.
In 1998, Hopa drowned in an accident while on a diving expedition near Slipper Island, off the Coromandel Peninsula coast of Waikato. [1] He was 27.
Sir Colin Earl Meads was a New Zealand rugby union player. He played 55 test matches, most frequently in the lock forward position, for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks, from 1957 until 1971.
Donald Barry Clarke was a New Zealand rugby union player who played 89 times as a New Zealand international from 1956 until 1964. He was best known for his phenomenal goal kicking ability that earned him the nickname "The Boot". He was born at the small settlement of Pihama, near Ōpunake in the Taranaki Region.
Todd Blackadder is a retired New Zealand rugby union player and professional rugby coach. He played 12 tests for the All Blacks, and had 14 appearances as captain. Blackadder captained the Crusaders to three Super Rugby titles during his time with the franchise. He also won two National Provincial Championship titles with Canterbury. Blackadder coached the Crusaders for nine seasons from 2009 to 2016.
Robert Norman Waddell is a New Zealand Olympic Gold Medalist and double World Champion Single sculler rower, and America's Cup yachtsman. He is a triple New Zealand Supreme 'Halberg Awards' Sportsperson of the year winner, 1998 to 2000. He holds the third fastest 2000 metre indoor rowing machine time in the world, clocking a time of 5 mins 36.6 secs (5:36.6), which was the previous world record for 19 years before the time was improved by Joshua Dunkley-Smith. He also held the record for 5000m on the rowing machine with a time of 14min 58sec. This made him the first person to go below 15 min for this distance. He holds a black belt in judo. He played rugby union for Waikato. Waddell was Chef de Mission of the 2014 and 2018 New Zealand Commonwealth Games teams, and the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Sir Wilson James Whineray was a New Zealand business executive and rugby union player. He was the longest-serving captain of the national rugby union team, the All Blacks, until surpassed by Richie McCaw in 2014. Rugby writer Terry McLean considered him the All Blacks' greatest captain.
Hamilton Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand and is the largest secondary school in the Waikato region. The school was established as Hamilton High School in 1911 but was later split into separate boys' and girls' schools, with the current school opened in February 1955. Its sister school is Hamilton Girls' High School. The school crest features a lion, sash and star, and bears the motto "Sapiens Fortunam Fingit Sibi" which translates to "a wise man carves his own fortune". The school colours are black and red.
The Waikato Rugby Union (WRU) is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Headquartered in Hamilton, WRU was founded in 1921.
Mark Stephen Bill Cooksley is a former professional rugby union player and All Black lock.
Stephen Rex Donald is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays for the NEC Green Rockets in the Japanese Top League. A first five-eighth or centre, he has won 24 international caps for New Zealand. Nicknamed 'Beaver', he is best known for kicking the winning penalty in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final.
Roger Quentin Randle is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a wing for the All Blacks. He is currently assistant coach for Chiefs and Maori All Blacks.
Matthew James Andrew Cooper is a former New Zealand international rugby union player. He made his All Black test debut against Ireland on 6 June 1992, setting a then-world record of 23 points on test debut, with the last of his eight caps coming on 3 July 1994 against France.
Tawera Nuieia Nikau is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative forward, he played club football at a number of different clubs in New Zealand, England and Australia during his career, including the Melbourne Storm's victory in the 1999 NRL season Grand Final.
Royce Kevin Willis was an international rugby union player who represented New Zealand in 12 matches between 1998 and 2002.
The 1998 New Zealand rugby league season was the 91st season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the National Provincial competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. Auckland won the National Provincial Competition by defeating Canterbury 44-8 while Waikato ended the season holding the Rugby League Cup.
Aaron Luke Smith is a New Zealand professional rugby union player. A scrum half, Smith played for the Highlanders in Super Rugby where upon retirement in 2023 was the club's all time leader in caps, and for Manawatu in the ITM Cup. He has won 124 caps for New Zealand and is their 2nd most-capped back after Beauden Barrett.
Scott James McLeod is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former second-five eighth and centre. McLeod played 10 tests for the All Blacks from 1996 to 1998, and played domestic rugby for Waikato, Waikato Chiefs, and Toshiba Brave Lupus. McLeod is currently the assistant coach of the All Blacks. He replaced Wayne Smith as defence coach for the All Blacks after their third Bledisloe test against Australia on 22 October 2017.
Hopa is a city and a district in the Artvin Province of Turkey.
Shaun Stevenson is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as an outside back for North Harbour in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Chiefs in the international Super Rugby competition.
Aaron Collins is a New Zealand rugby union player and now coach. He normally played at the Centre position; and previously played for Glasgow Warriors and Glasgow Academicals and West of Scotland.
Dylan Collier is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a forward and captains the New Zealand national sevens team.
 | This biographical article relating to New Zealand rugby union, about a person born in the 1970s, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |