Kelly Meafua

Kelly Meafua
Date of birth(1990-10-16)16 October 1990
Place of birthSamoa
Date of death6 May 2022(2022-05-06) (aged 31)
Place of deathMontauban, France
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight114 kg (17 st 13 lb; 251 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker
Current team Montauban
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–2015 West Harbour 14 (5)
2015 Greater Sydney Rams 6 (10)
2015–2016 Narbonne 23 (20)
2017 Greater Sydney Rams 3 (0)
2017–2018 West Harbour 15 (35)
2018–2020 Béziers 30 (45)
2020–2022 Montauban 49 (45)
National sevens team
Years Team Comps
2013–2014 Samoa 19

Kelly Meafua (16 October 1990 – 6 May 2022)[1] was a Samoan rugby union player.[2] His position of choice was flanker.

Club career

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Meafua moved to Auckland when he was 14 but did not start playing rugby until he joined Otahuhu at 20 years old.[3][4] He played for both the Auckland under–21 and Auckland Sevens before moving to Sydney to play for West Harbour in the Shute Shield.[3] Meafua then played for the Greater Sydney Rams and was part of the Waratahs extended training squad.[3][5]

Professional career

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In 2013 Meafua played for the Samoa sevens team in the World Rugby Sevens Series before in 2015 he moved to France to play for Narbonne in the French Pro D2.[3][5] He returned to France again in 2018, this time playing for Béziers in the Pro D2 before in 2020 he switched to Montauban.[3][5]

Personal life

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Meafua was from the villages of Sala'ilua and Lalomauga and grew up in Samoa.[3]

On the 6 May 2022 while celebrating Montauban final home game and a win over Narbonne, Meafua died after jumping off the Pont-Vieux bridge into the river Tarn.[3][5]

References

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  1. ^ "Samoan player from Montauban Kelly Meafua kills himself by jumping from a bridge". time.news. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Kelly Meafua". www.nswwaratahs.com.au. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Samoan sevens star Kelly Meafua dies after jumping off bridge while celebrating win in France". Stuff. 8 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Former Samoa sevens player dies after jumping off bridge". NZ Herald. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "Rugby: Former Samoa sevens player Kelly Meafua dies after jumping off bridge in France". Newshub. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
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