Uale Mai Vala (born 20 July 1978) is a retired

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who played for the country's national teams,

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 Sam ...

and Samoa Sevens. He is a former captain of the Samoa Sevens team which represent

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); ...

internationally in the

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the co ...

. He was at the time of his retirement sevens rugby's most capped player (a record since surpassed by New Zealand's

DJ Forbes Derek Jamie "DJ" Forbes (born 15 December 1982) is a New Zealand former rugby union player and captain of the All Blacks Sevens team. Forbes is part Samoan, and also played rugby fifteens as a loose forward for Counties Manukau. Forbes was b ...

), and Mai is considered one of the greats in the international sport. Mai has been one of the top points scorers in the IRB World Sevens Series. Mai is from

Vailoa Vailoa (Vailoa i Palauli) is a village on the island of Savaiʻi in Samoa. Vailoa is the capital of Palauli district on the south east of the island.

village in

Palauli Palauli is a districts of Samoa, district and village of Samoa, with a population (2016 Census) of 9,300. It consists of two sections on the southern side of Savai'i. The capital is Vailoa which is also referred to as Vailoa i Palauli (Vailoa in P ...

district on the island of Savai'i. Mai was the first Samoan to be awarded the

IRB International Sevens Player of the Year The World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year is awarded by World Rugby each year. It was first awarded in 2004. The award is based in large part on the player’s performance over the course of the World Rugby Sevens Series, along with other Sevens to ...

, which he received for the 2005–06 World Sevens Series. The ceremony took place in Glasgow on 26 November 2006. Mai was awarded Player of the Tournament at the 2007

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...

. In 2008, he was awarded the Samoan Senior Player of the Year and also received a nomination for the IRB International Sevens Player of the Year. In 2009, Mai took a short break from the ''Samoa Sevens'' team but returned in 2010 under new coach Stephen Betham. In fifteens, he is comfortable at

flyhalf In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

and scrumhalf, where he represents Samoa in the

Samoa national rugby union team 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 Sa ...

. In 2010, he joined

CR El Salvador Club de Rugby El Salvador, known for sponsorship reasons as SilverStorm El Salvador on the men's category and as Crealia El Salvador on the women's, is a Spanish rugby union club. The club was established in 1960 and currently competes in the men' ...

in Spain's Division de Honor. " I also do this for my son Sene Nuulua now educated at NUS" Mai was awarded the Head of State's Service Medal in the

2014 Samoa Honours and Awards The 2014 Samoa Honours and Awards were appointments made by the ''O le Ao o le Malo'' of Samoa, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, to various Orders, decorations, and medals of Samoa under the Honours and Awards Act 1999. The investiture ceremony was h ...

References

External links

ESPN Scrum Profile
Living people World Rugby Awards winners Rugby union fly-halves Samoan rugby union players 1978 births Male rugby sevens players People from Palauli Samoa international rugby union players Samoan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Spain Samoan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Samoa international rugby sevens players Recipients of the Head of State's Service Medal {{Samoa-rugbyunion-bio-stub