Chris Hala'ufia (born 24 October 1978) is a back row forward who plays rugby union football for English club London Welsh in the Aviva Premiership and Tonga. He is well known for his ability to break tackles. Hala'ufia originally made a name for himself with Bradford & Bingley RFC, when he made his début in the English game in the 2003–4 season. At that time Bradford & Bingley were in North 1, but ran away with the league title, with Hala'uifa contributing 27 tries during the campaign. The club also won the Intermediate Cup at Twickenham in April 2004, Hala'uifa's final game for the club before moving on to Italy for the 2004/5 season.
| Birth name | Chris Hala'ufia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 24 October 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Neiafu, Tonga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 107 kg (16 st 12 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hala'ufia returned to England to play for Rotherham Titans in the 2005/6 season where he made his name and reputation as someone with the potential to play at the highest level. He subsequently moved to Harlequins for 2006–08 along with David Strettle.
He moved onto London Irish for the 2008–09 season, where he appeared in 31 out of 34 games and helped take them to the Guinness Premiership Final against Leicester Tigers.
In January 2010 he was banned for four weeks for punching an opposing player.[2] In October 2011 he was suspended for seven weeks for dangerous tackling.[3]
In June 2014, it was confirmed that Hala'ufia had signed for Welsh region the Scarlets.[4] But, he left the club just months after joining, without making a single appearance. He moved to London Welsh, originally on loan, before making the move permanent in October 2014.[5]
In May 2015 he was banned for five matches for striking Laurence Pearce during a game.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Christopher HALA'UFIA". Its Rugby. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Chris Hala'ufia given four-week ban". Evening Standard. London. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Hala'ufia hit with seven-week ban". ESPN. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Scarlets recruit Tongan number eight Chris Hala'ufia". BBC Sport. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ "Scarlets send Chris Hala'ufia out on loan to London Welsh". WalesOnline. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ Mike Averis (6 May 2015). "Chris Hala'ufia banned for five matches after striking Laurence Pearce". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
External links
edit- London Irish profile
- StatBunker.com profile