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Samoan rugby player dies after jumping off bridge in France

By Ian Cameron

07 May 2022

Kelly Meafua of the Waratahs competes at the lineout during the 2018 Global Tens match between the New South Wales Waratahs and the Highlanders at Suncorp Stadium on February 9, 2018 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

A Samoan ProD2 player has died after jumping from a bridge in France on Friday, Montauban have confirmed.

32-year-old back row Kelly Meafua was reported to have jumped from a bridge after his side’s 48-40 win over Narbonne in the French second flight.

According to multiple witnesses, Meafua had been enjoying Montauban’s final home game of the season with his teammates before the former Waratahs player was seen jumping 22 meters from the Pont-Vieux bridge.

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Prop Christopher Vaotoa, one of his teammates, jumped into the water in a bid to save the former Samoan Sevens star.

Vaotoa was rescued by firefighters and sent to the hospital with hypothermia. Meafua’s body was discovered early Saturday morning.

“USM Sapiac painfully announces the death of Kelly MEAFUA on the night of Friday to Saturday.

“The 32-year-old fell in the Tarn in the early morning, and did not survive. One of his teammates tried to rescue him, without success. Transported to the hospital for hypothermia, he was released this morning in good health. All training is suspended until further notice.

“The entire USM Sapiac club is shocked by this tragedy, and has a thought for his wife, his children, his teammates, and more generally, all club lovers. Kelly was a player very appreciated by all, his joie de vivre was infectious and radiant.

“Today we lost a player, a friend, a brother,” the club concluded in a statement.

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Comments on RugbyPass

johnz 11 minutes ago

All Blacks talk late-game adjustments after clutch England win

I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.

Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.

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ColinK 11 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Whatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.

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johnz 19 minutes ago

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JWH 1 hour ago

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Kia koe 1 hour ago

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