Ross Filipo

Ross Ami Filipo (born 14 April 1979) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer.

Filipo's career included long stints with Wellington in the Mitre 10 Cup, Crusaders in Super Rugby, and Bayonne in the Top 14 competition, and appearances for the All Blacks in 2007-2008.

Filipo played for the New Zealand Māori in 2005 when they defeated the British and Irish Lions for the first time – he cites this as a career highlight.

This reawakened his passion for playing and he turned out for Hamilton Marist as a player-coach, winning the Waikato Club Rugby title with them.

From there he turned to coaching properly, taking a role as assistant-coach with the Coca-Cola Red Sparks in the Top League in 2017, where he stayed for two years.