Pierre Hola (born 9 June 1978) is an Australian-born former rugby union footballer. He represented Tonga and played club rugby in the Australian Shute Shield for Eastwood.

Pierre Hola
Birth nameRaymond Pierre Hola
Date of birth (1978-06-09) 9 June 1978 (age 46)[1]
Place of birthSydney, Australia
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight124 kg (19 st 7 lb; 273 lb)
SchoolCanterbury Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly half, Centre, Fullback, Wing
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
West Harbour ()
2008–2009 Kobelco Steelers ()
2009–2010 Viadana 9 (39)
2010 Parramatta ()
2011–2014 Eastwood ()
Helelensvale Hogs ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1998–2009 Tonga 39 (317)
2008 Pacific Islanders 1 (5)

Career

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Hola made his debut for Tonga in September 1998 in a match against Samoa, and has since earned 57 test caps, including representing Tonga at the 2003 Rugby World Cup[2] in Australia where he was their top scorer and the 2007 Rugby World Cup.[citation needed]

In 2016 he began playing for the Helensvale Hogs.[3]

2007 RWC

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He was an integral part of Tonga's successful rugby world cup 2007 campaign again being their top scorer kicking 44 points for the 2nd consecutive world cup tournament. A memorable moment for him came from the hard-fought 30-25 loss to the eventual champions South Africa. Trapped inside the Tongan 22, he launched a cross field kick to set up a counterattack which resulted in one of the tries of the tournament (scored by Viliami Vaki).

Pacific Nations Cup

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Hola was a late call-up for the Tongan team in the 2008 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. He would play in their 35-13 loss to Japan, 15-20 defeat to Samoa and 27-16 victory over Fiji. He has since been selected for the 2008 Pacific Islanders rugby union team to tour Europe in November playing games against France, England and Italy.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Pierre Hola Tonga". ESPN. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Tonga squad named for World Cup". New Zealand Herald. 8 September 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Former Tonga Test rugby union fly half Pierre Hola playing for Helensvale Hogs". Gold Coast Bulletin. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Islanders pick cream of World Cup crop to face England". Reuters. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
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