Ex-NSW Waratahs star rugby player dies after jumping off a bridge in France in tragic accident 

Former NSW Waratahs star Kelly Meafua has died after jumping from a bridge in France just hours after playing a match, despite a teammate’s desperate attempts to save his life.

The 32-year-old leapt from the Pont-Vieux bridge into the River Tarn in the south of the country on Saturday, Australian time, while celebrating his Montauban club’s victory over Narbonne.

He was with teammates when he jumped into the water from a height of more than 20 metres, according to French news reports.

Kelly Meafua (with ball) was celebrating with teammates when he leapt into a river from a height of at least 20 metres and did not survive

Monauban prop forward Christopher Vaotoa tried to save Meafua but had to be rescued by firefighters and was hospitalised with hypothermia. He was discharged the following day.

The Union Sportive Montauban Sapiac team posted a tribute to him online. 

‘U.S.M. Sapiac painfully announces the death of Kelly Meafua on the night of Friday to Saturday,’ the club statement said. 

‘One of his teammates tried to rescue him, without success.

‘The entire club is shocked and everyone is thinking of his wife, his children, his teammates and more generally everyone who loves the club,’ a club statement read.

‘Kelly was a player who was well liked by everybody. His joy for life was infectious and radiant. Today we have lost a player, a friend and a brother.’

Teammate Christopher Vaotoa leaped in to try to rescue Meafua (pictured) but couldn’t save him and ended up being hospitalised with hypothermia 

The ex-Waratah jumped from the Pont Vieux Bridge over the Tarn River in southern France

Meafua, 32, played for the NSW Waratahs in the Global Tens tournament in 2018 and starred in Sydney club rugby for West Harbour and the Greater Sydney Rams.

He made the Samoa team for the 2013 World Rugby Sevens Series, moved to France to play for Narbonne in 2015 and switched to Beziers in 2018 before joining Montauban in 2020.