Earl Va'a
Earl Va'a (born 1 May 1972)[1] is a former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played internationally for Samoa. He has played as a fly-half in union and as a fullback and five-eighth in league.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 1 May 1972 Wellington, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (166 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 79 kg (12 st 6 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby league | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback, Five-eighth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Flyhalf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
Va'a was born in Wellington, New Zealand.
Rugby league
Va'a started his career playing rugby league for the Wainuiomata Lions in New Zealand and in 1994 and 1995 he represented the Wellington City Dukes in the Lion Red Cup. He was selected in Samoa's squad for the 1995 Rugby League World Cup although he did not play any matches during the tournament. He toured New Zealand with Western Samoa in 1994.[2] Va'a scored 395 points in the three years of the Lion Red Cup, playing for both Wellington and the Hutt Valley Dolphins.[3]
Rugby union
After switching to rugby union he represented Samoa from 1996 until 1999 including the 1999 Rugby World Cup. He also played for Samoa at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He has played rugby for Richmond, L'Aquila and Worcester. He is also the top point scorer for Samoa.
At 5'5 Earl Va'a is one of the shortest professional players in world rugby and was officially the shortest player at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.[4]
He coached the Wellington Lions in the 2015 ITM Cup but resigned in 2016.[5]
Sources
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
References
- Earl Va'a player profile Scrum.com
- Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p.50
- New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1998.
- Paul Ackford (21 September 2003). "The little and large facts and figures". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- Hamish Bidwell (18 November 2016). "Wellington Lions on search for new coaching staff after Earl Va'a walks". Dominion Post. Retrieved 14 January 2021.