Born and raised in Fiji, Tavatavanawai played for the Fiji national under-20 rugby union team before moving to New Zealand where he started playing for the Central Rugby Club in the Marlborough Region. He was part of both the Crusaders and Highlanders wider squads during the 2021 Super Rugby season.[2][3] He was named in the Tasman Mako squad for the 2021 Bunnings NPC.[4] Tavatavanawai made his debut for Tasman in Round 1 of the competition against Bay of Plenty, starting at number 14 in a 14-27 win for the Mako. After a very impressive first 7 games for Tasman Tavatavanawai was signed by Moana Pasifika in October 2021 for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season.[5] Tasman went on to make the final before losing 23–20 to Waikato. Tavatavanawai made his debut for Moana Pasifika, starting at number 11 in Round 7 of the 2022 season against the Blues.
