Earl Va'a (born 1 May 1972)
Scrum.com is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played internationally for Samoa. He has played as a fly-half in union and as a and in league.

Background

Va'a was born in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

Rugby league

Va'a started his career playing

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.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994'', New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p.50 Va'a scored 395 points in the three years of the Lion Red Cup, playing for both Wellington and the Hutt Valley Dolphins.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'', New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1998.

Rugby union

After switching to

he represented

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

from 1996 until 1999 including the 1999 Rugby World Cup. He also played for

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 coached the Wellington Lions in the 2015 ITM Cup but resigned in 2016.

Sources

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Va'a, Earl 1972 births Living people 1999 Rugby World Cup players 2003 Rugby World Cup players Dual-code rugby internationals New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent People educated at St Bernard's College, Lower Hutt Richmond F.C. players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Wellington City Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Wellington City Samoa international rugby union players Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan expatriate rugby union players in England Samoan rugby league players Samoan rugby union players Wainuiomata Lions players Wellington rugby league team players Worcester Warriors players