Pierre Hola
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.
| Birth name | Raymond Pierre Hola | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 June 1978[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 124 kg (19 st 7 lb; 273 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Canterbury Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career
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. Other memorable moments was being the sole point scorer for Tonga vs the All Blacks and sending Canadian captain Al Charon unconscious off the field in his final match after accidentally knocking him out.
He has scored 465 points for Tonga. He also holds for the most points scored in one match for Tonga (44) against South Korea which included 2 tries and 17 from 17 conversions (world record). He has represented Tonga in the IRB Pacific 5 Nations where he was one of the players of the tournament for them as well as in the 2007 IRB Pacific Nations Cup.
In 2016 he began playing for the Helensvale Hogs.[3]
2007 RWC
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
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
- "Pierre Hola Tonga". ESPN. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- "Tonga squad named for World Cup". New Zealand Herald. 8 September 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- "Former Tonga Test rugby union fly half Pierre Hola playing for Helensvale Hogs". Gold Coast Bulletin. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- "Islanders pick cream of World Cup crop to face England". Reuters. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
