After three years, he was successful in his endeavour and, at the age of 16, moved to New Zealand to attend Hastings Boys' High School.
[3] While there, he played First XV rugby alongside future Hawke's Bay teammates Devan Flanders, Lincoln McClutchie, Danny Toala and Kianu Kereru-Symes.
[9] Fakatava made his debut against Southland on 19 August 2018[1] and went on to play eight games that first season, mostly as a replacement for incumbent scrum-half Brad Weber.
[12] His efforts in the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season earned Fakatava a three-year Super Rugby contract with the Highlanders.
[18][19] On 5 December 2020, Fakatava played for the Moana Pasifika team in a one-off match against the Māori All Blacks.