Epalahame Faiva

Hame Faiva (born 9 May 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer who currently plays as a hooker for Waikato in the Mitre 10 Cup and the Blues in the international Super Rugby competition.

Born and raised in Auckland, Faiva attended Wesley College in the city and while there played for the Eden Rugby Club before later trying out rugby league. During his time at Wesley College he also played representative rugby for Counties Manukau before shifting south to Waikato where he was a member of their academy and also played under-20 rugby.

Faiva made his senior debut for Waikato in a Ranfurly Shield defense against Heartland Championship side Horowhenua-Kapiti in July 2013, aged just 19. He made his national provincial championship bow later in the year, but that was to be his sole appearance at that level in 2013. The following year brought more game time as he played 8 times and scored 2 tries as he began to establish himself as the Mooloo's first choice in the number 2 jersey. He subsequently played all 20 of Waikato's Premiership matches across the 2015 and 2016 seasons, 17 of these appearances came from the start and he also added 2 tries to his career total.

Several seasons of solid performances at provincial level were rewarded when he was named in the Blues squad ahead of the 2017 Super Rugby season.

Faiva was a member of the New Zealand Under-20 sides which competed in the 2013 and 2014 IRB Junior World Championships. He scored 4 tries in 8 appearances as the Kiwis finished in 4th and 3rd place respectively.