| Birth name | Mailo Potumoe Leavasa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 27 November 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Apia, Samoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 242 lb (110 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Potumoe Leavasa, better known as Potu Leavasa, (born 27 November 1971 in Apia) is a Samoan former rugby union player who played as a lock and coach.
He was selected for the Hurricanes in 1997 on the strength of a strong 1996 NPC season with Hawke’s Bay and an impressive tour to Britain with Western Samoa that followed.
His only appearance in the Super 12 competition was when he came as a flanker against the Crusaders in the second round.
Leavasa played for the Central Vikings five times in 1997, previously capped 29 times for Hawke’s Bay.
His first cap for Samoa was during a match against Tonga, at Nuku'alofa, on 29 May 1993. He was part of the 1995 Rugby World Cup roster, playing three matches. Leavasa took also part to the 1996 Samoa tour to Britain. His last international cap was during a match against South Africa, at Pretoria, on 6 July 2002.
Since 2016 he has been working in the coaching staff of the second national team of Samoa, preparing it for matches in the framework of the Americas Pacific Challenge. [1] [2] He holds the post of backs coach under Brian Lima as head of the coaching staff. [3]
He is father of Potu Leavasa Jr. (born 1996), also a rugby player, who plays as lock for Samoa A national team. [4] He was formed at the Melbourne Rebels Academy [5] and was recruited by the Warringah Rats. [6]
In 1997, Leavasa Sr. was a suspect in the case of the rape of a woman by one of the Hurricanes players in Durban. [7]
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