Richard Piakura is a Cook Islander

Cook Islanders

Cook Islanders or Cook Islands Māori are residents of the Cook Islands, which is composed of 15 islands and atolls in Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean.- Citizenship and nationality :...

 former athlete and professional rugby football

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

er who has played for the Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

 in rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 and rugby sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

.

Athletics career

Piakura represented the Cook Islands in the high jump

High jump

The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....

, setting his personal best of 1.83m in Tereora in 1998. This is the Cook Islands record

Cook Islands records in athletics

The following are the national records in athletics in the Cook Islands maintained by the Cook Island's national athletics federation: Athletics Cook Islands .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:-External links:* *...

 in high jump.

Rugby league career

Piakura played in the domestic Cook Islands rugby league competition in 2001.

Piakura played for the Eastern Tornadoes

Eastern Tornadoes

The Eastern Tornadoes were a New Zealand rugby league franchise that competed in the New Zealand Rugby League's Bartercard Cup and Auckland Rugby League's Super 12 competitions. They were formed to represent the rugby league clubs of East Auckland.-History:...

 in the 2004 Bartercard Cup.

Representative career

Piakura made his début for the Cook Islands

Cook Islands national rugby league team

-2008 World Cup Qualifying:See 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifyingThe Cook Islands played Fiji, Tonga and Samoa in the Pacific pool of Qualifying for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Fiji and Tonga qualified, and Samoa earned a second chance in the repecharge round...

 at the Pacific Challenge. He later played at the 1997 World Nines tournament.

Piakura won caps for Cook Islands

Cook Islands national rugby league team

-2008 World Cup Qualifying:See 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifyingThe Cook Islands played Fiji, Tonga and Samoa in the Pacific pool of Qualifying for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Fiji and Tonga qualified, and Samoa earned a second chance in the repecharge round...

 in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup

2000 Rugby League World Cup

The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was held during October and November of that year in Great Britain, Ireland and France...

.

He later represented the Cook Islands in test series against New Zealand Māori

New Zealand Maori rugby league team

-See also:* New Zealand national rugby league team* New Zealand Māori rugby union team* New Zealand Māori cricket team-External links:* Google Books...

 in 2003.

Rugby union career

Piakura represented the Cook Islands in rugby sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

 at the 2002 Commonwealth Games

2002 Commonwealth Games

The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...

 in Manchester and the 2006 Commonwealth Games

2006 Commonwealth Games

The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...

in Melbourne.