Samoan rugby player dies after jump from bridge

MONTAUBAN: Samoan back row forward Kelly Meafua died on Friday night ater jumping from a bridge into the river Tarn during an evening of festivities, his club Montauban confirmed on Saturday.

The 31-year-old had played in his side’s 48-40 win over Narbonne in the French second division on Friday.

“Everyone at USM is in complete shock, Kelly was so well liked. We haven’t just lost a player but also a friend and brother,” the club said in a statement.

According to several testimonies, Meafua had been celebrating Montauban’s last home game of the season with his teammates before he was seen jumping from the Pont-vieux, a height of 22 metres.

Oneofhisteammates,propchristophervaotoa, jumped into the water to help him.

Rescued by firefighters, Vaotoa was taken to hospital with hypothermia before Meafua’s body was found early Saturday morning.

Meafua played Sevens for Samoa and first came to France to play for Narbonne in 2015. He returned to play for Beziers in 2018 before switching to Montauban last season.

This season he had played 24 matches in Pro2, scoring eight tries.

“Everyone at USM is in complete shock, Kelly was so well liked.

“We haven’t just lost a player but also a friend and brother,” the club said in a statement.

An autopsy will be carried out to find out the reason for the death and to establish if the player from the Pacific Islands, passed by the clubs of Narbonne and Beziers, was under the influence of alcoholornarcoticswhenhejumpedfromthebridge.

Meanwhile, Former South Africa fly-half Joel Stransky believes Wales will need to pick a 10 who can do something “extraordinary” when they face the Springboks this summer.

Wales face the world champions in a three Test series this summer as they look to bounce back from a tough Six Nations that saw just one victory and a first ever-home defeat to Italy. With head coach Wayne Pivac under pressure ater another blunt display earlier this year, the prospect of a tour of South Africa is a daunting one.

For many, Wales’ chances of winning in South Africa are slim to none - but Stransky, who won a World Cup with the Springboks in 1995, believes that if they are to stand a chance of toppling Jacques Nienaber’s side.

Thatcouldmeangarethanscombe,whoenjoyed his finest game in an Ospreys jersey to date, challenging Dan Biggar for the fly-half jersey.

“The first point to consider is what is the greatest strength of this Boks team and how you combat it,” Stransky told Walesonline.