/ 15 October 1999

SAMOAN 91 HERO NAMED SON CARDIFF

SAMOAN centre To’o Vaega, the man whose controversial try broke Welsh hearts in 1991, was so overwhelmed by his team’s victory that he named his son Cardiff. Vaega, now 34 and one of four survivors from the 1991 team playing for Samoa against Wales on Thursday, scored the first try in his country’s shock 16-13 World Cup victory at Cardiff Arms Park. “My son was born on September 23, 1991, 13 days before we played Wales,” he said. “It was my first game for Samoa and my first try so we wanted to name him Cardiff – and did.” Welsh fans claim Vaega’s try should not have ben awarded – scrumhalf Robert Jones appeared to reach the ball first as the two men chased a kick – but the record books, and the Auckland register of births, say that it was.