Earl Va'a

Earl Va'a

Personal information
Born	1 May 1972 Wellington, New Zealand
Height	166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	79 kg (12 st 6 lb)
Playing information
Rugby league
Position	fullback, five-eighth
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
	Wainuiomata Lions
1994–1995	Wellington City	33	17	82	3	235
1996	Hutt Valley Dolphins	18	6	67	2	160
	Total	51	23	149	5	395
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1994–1995	Western Samoa
Rugby union
Position	Flyhalf
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
	Richmond
	L'Aquila
	Worcester
	Total	0	0	0	0	0
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1996–2003	Samoa	29				189
Source: RLP

Earl Va'a (born May 1, 1972)^[1] is a New Zealand rugby union footballer who played internationally for Samoa. Hes played as a fly-half.

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.

He is coaching the Wellington Lions in the 2015 ITM Cup.

Sources

• Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney

References

1. Earl Va'a player profile Scrum.com
2. Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p.50
3. New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1998.