Clermont – RC Vannes rugby: who is the star of ASM Clermont, RC Vannes’ next opponent?

Clermont’s face is generally not the same whether he is on the field or not. George Moala is the main threat of ASM, the club he joined in 2018 from the Blues, the club from Auckland, his hometown.

To stop this powerful center of 1.88 m and more than 100 kg, it is often necessary to go with two or three. As proof, last season he topped the number of broken tackles (84 in 17 games). A ratio of almost five broken tackles (with a peak of 18 against Pau!) phenomenal. The second Théo Atissogbe, in a completely different style, had 82… in 24 matches.

New Zealand international… then Tongan

At 33 years old, and despite some physical problems in recent years, Moala still gives headaches to the opposing defense. Arriving a year after Brennus’s last ASM shield (2017), he did not experience the prosperous years of the Auvergne club, contenting himself with a lost Top 14 final and a European Challenge title, the two in 2019.

New Zealand international (4 caps), he won the Rugby Championship with the All Blacks in 2016, playing in a match against South Africa. But since the end of 2022, he has taken advantage of the relaxation of selection eligibility rules to represent Tonga, where his parents are from. George Moala has six selections, the last of which was during the 2023 World Cup in France. He missed the first matches of the competition after being suspended for five weeks for a cathedral tackle during a Test match against Canada.