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Flying Fijian prop Yalayalatabua dead at 43

Alefoso Yalayalatabua (LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)

Former Flying Fijian and Highlanders prop Alefoso Yalayalatabua has died at the age of 43, according to reports from media outlets in Fiji.

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He becomes the fourth member of Fiji’s 2007 Rugby World Cup to pass away, a list which sadly includes Maleli Kunavore, Jone Railomo and Seru Rabeni.

A minute of silence was observed in honour of Yalayalatabua prior to the start of the Fiji Rugby Union Annual General Meeting, which was held this weekend.

A late bloomer in terms of his Test rugby career, Yalayalatabua made his international bow for Fiji in 2007, aged 30, in a 3-8 loss to Samoa.

A dynamic ball-carrying prop, he was named in his country’s squad at the 2007 Rugby World Cup finals, where he played just one game, in the 12-55 loss to Australia. He earned 10 caps for his national for Fiji, although his ties to the Fijian armed forced ultimately limited his Test career due to both New Zealand and Australia’s ban on military from the country. As a result, he was unable to participate in the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

The 5’11, 106kg loosehead featured for local side Namosi in 2003. He forced his way into the Highlanders squad for the 2007 Colonial Cup and later the Air Pacific Fiji Warriors and according to FijiRugby.com, his rapid rise in status saw him join the Flying Fijians squad and he made his aforementioned debut against Samoa later than year.

He finished his career at the Suva rugby club.

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EllenMoody 4 hours ago
Great moments in Lions tour history – JPR’s drop goal and the All Blacks' brutal revenge

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JWH 5 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

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