Jazz Tevaga


Jazz Iosefa Tevaga is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL.

Early years

Tevaga was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and is of Samoan and European descent.
Tevaga played his junior football for the Burnham Chevaliers in Christchurch and Papakura Sea Eagles in Auckland and he attended Papakura High School, where he played in the 2013 National Secondary School championship and was selected for the tournament team.

Playing career

Holden Cup

In January 2014, Tevaga attended a Junior Warriors training camp as an open trialist before being signed by the New Zealand Warriors, and playing in the Holden Cup. On 5 October 2014, Tevaga played at lock in the Warriors 2014 Holden Cup grand final winning team who beat the Brisbane Broncos 34-32. In 2015 he played both for the Junior Warriors and in the NSW Cup. On 2 May 2015, Tevaga played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos, starting at lock in the 22-20 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.
Originally a lock, Tevaga was converted to a during the 2014 season as he was considered too small for the lock position.

2016

In Round 3 of the 2016 NRL season, Tevaga made his debut for the New Zealand Warriors against the Melbourne Storm as a replacement for an injured Issac Luke in the Warriors 21-14 loss at Mt Smart Stadium. Tevaga became Warrior #209, and played 59 minutes due to an injury to bench hooker Nathaniel Roache.

2017

He played just 4 NRL games for the Warriors in 2017.
He represented Samoa in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and played all four games as the starting hooker, scoring a try in their loss to Tonga.

2018

In 2018 he cemented a position as a bench hooker for the Warriors, filling in for the starting 9 Issac Luke. He appeared in 20 games, 19 of which from the bench. His performance as a specialist bench player was rewarded at the 2018 Dally M Awards when he was given the first Interchange Player Of The Year award.

2019