Sébastien Vahaamahina (born 21 October 1991) is a French

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 ...

player of

Wallisian Wallisian, or Uvean (), is the Polynesian language spoken on Wallis Island (also known as Uvea). The language is also known as East Uvean to distinguish it from the related West Uvean language spoken on the outlier island of Ouvéa near New Cal ...

origin from the French-administered South Pacific

overseas collectivity The French overseas collectivities ( abbreviated as COM) are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonies and other French ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. Vahaamahina's position is

Lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

and in 2014 played for Clermont Auvergne in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

. He began his career in

and after moving to France, played with

Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglome ...

before moving to

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

from 2011 to 2014. He was called up for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

for the 2012 autumn internationals. Born to parents from the Wallis and Futuna Polynesian community in Noumea, Vahaamahina began his rugby career in New Caledonia, in the South Pacific before moving to mainland France.

International career

Vahaamahina represented France in the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

and scored their first try in the quarter-final against Wales, but was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

after elbowing Welsh player

Aaron Wainwright Aaron James Wainwright (born 25 September 1997) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a Number 8 (rugby union), number eight for United Rugby Championship club Dragons RFC, Dragons and the Wales national rugby union team, Wales ...

in the head. Wales went on to win the match by a scoreline of 20-19. The day after the match he announced he would retire from international rugby.

International tries

References

1991 births Living people French rugby union players Sportspeople from Nouméa French people of New Caledonian descent French people of Wallis and Futuna descent Rugby union players from Wallis and Futuna USA Perpignan players ASM Clermont Auvergne players Rugby union locks France international rugby union players 2019 Rugby World Cup players CA Brive players 21st-century French sportsmen {{France-rugbyunion-bio-1990s-stub