Papali'itele Peter Momoe Fatialofa (
Samoan: ''Pita Fatialofa'') (26 April 1959 – 6 November 2013) was a Samoan
rugby player who captained Samoa in their first Rugby World Cup appearance in 1991. He was among the first of the New Zealand-based players to represent Samoa. He was nicknamed ''Fats''.
Early life
Fatialofa's father is from Lepa Aleipata, Samoa and his mother from Samoa too, but all his life was raised from his mother's side. Fatialofa was born in Auckland, but returned to Samoa when he was still at primary school.
Career
Fatialofa began his senior rugby career in Auckland playing for the Grafton Club as a 19-year-old
[ in the Auckland Senior B competition. He transferred to the Ponsonby club in 1981, winning the Gallaher Shield eight times with that team between 1981 and 1995. He played 72 representative games for Auckland and was part of their Ranfurly Shield reign from 1985 to 1993. In the late 80s and in the early 90s, he also played for ]L'Aquila Rugby
L'Aquila Rugby 1936 was an Italian rugby union club based in L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo.
The official colours of the club were black and green, the colours of the city of L'Aquila. The club went into liquidation and disbanded in 2018.
His ...
in Italy.
Fatialofa debuted for Samoa against Ireland in a test match on 29 October in their 1988 tour of Wales and Ireland. He first captained Samoa in 1989 and led them at 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 ...
. They lost to Scotland in the quarter-finals 28–6.
Fatialofa last played for Samoa against Fiji in Suva on 20 July 1996. ''Fats: Peter Fatialofa and the Manu Samoa Story'' an autobiography was published and released the same year. He subsequently worked as a director for his family-owned piano and furniture moving business.
Fatialofa died of a heart attack in Apia on 6 November 2013.[Samoan rugby great Peter Fatialofa dies]
''3 News NZ''. 6 November 2013.
Honours
In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supple ...
, Fatialofa was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby.
In 2019, Fatialofa was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, alongside Richie McCaw, Shiggy Konno Shiggy may refer to:
* Shiggy Konno (金野 滋 Konno Shigeru), Japanese rugby footballer
* Tetsuro Shigematsu, Canadian comedian
* ''Shiggi'', a village of the Umarzai (Muhammadzai)
* "Shiggy", a song by Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks from their 20 ...
, Os du Randt, Sir Graham Henry
Sir Graham William Henry (born 8 June 1946) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, and former head coach of the country's national team, the All Blacks. Nicknamed 'Ted', he led New Zealand to win the 2011 World Cup.
Henry played rugby union for ...
, and Diego Ormaechea.New rugbiers in the Hall of Fame
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatialofa, Peter
1959 births
2013 deaths
Rugby union players from Auckland
New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent
New Zealand rugby union players
Samoan expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Samoa international rugby union players
Auckland rugby union players
Rugby union props
Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit