Tuala Mathew M. Vaea (born 12 September 1966 in Motootua) is a Samoan rugby union retired player who played as a scrum-half. He was the manager of the

Manu Samoa The Samoa national rugby union team (also known as Manu Samoa) represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samo ...

at the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

Playing career

His international debut was during a test match against Tonga, at Nuku'alofa, on 28 May 1991. He was part of the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

roster. In 8 games he scored 25 points - out of 25 points he scored 8 thanks to a try and two penalties in the

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

's victory in the

against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. His last match was against Scotland, at Murrayfield, on 18 November 1995.

Manager

During the

he was the manager of the Samoa national rugby union team, but after the World Cup his home village fined him 100 pigs (about

US $ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

25.000) for "bad behaviour". as it turned out, Vaea, who had a Tuala title, he did not fulfill his duties as coach during his stay in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, treating the campaign in New Zealand like a "holiday" and he often drank. According to the Samoan fans, Samoa did not pass the pool stage, contrary to the expectations after the victory against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Vaea paid the equivalent of a fine of 2000 tala (about £535 or US $840) and apologised to the village elders. In connection with the scandal, the President of the

Samoa Rugby Union Rugby Samoa ( sm, Lakapi Samoa) is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Samoa. Founded as the ''Apia Rugby Union'' in 1924, it was affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union the same year.Jones, p10 It joined the Internationa ...

and Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi demanded to conduct an audit and provide all data on the costs of the Samoan national team during the World Cup. After the dismissal, it was announced that they were looking for a new manager for the national team. As of March 2018, Vaea has been appointed as CEO of the

Samoa Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee The Samoa Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (IOC code: SAM) is the National Olympic Committee representing Samoa. See also *Samoa at the Olympics *Samoa at the Commonwealth Games References

National Olympic Committe ...

References

External links

Mathew Vaea at ESPN Scrum

Mathew M. Vaea at New Zealand Rugby History
1966 births Living people Samoan rugby union coaches Samoan rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Samoa international rugby union players Wanganui rugby union players Wellington rugby union players North Harbour rugby union players {{samoa-rugbyunion-bio-stub