2011 Rugby World Cup player profile: Nicky Little of Fiji
Submitted by TemoL on Wed, 17/08/2011 - 8:20am
By Deborah Muller, Yahoo! Contributor
The only thing little about Fiji Rugby's most talented player is his last name. New fans and old undoubtedly will be hearing the crowds cheer for Nicky Little when the 2011 Rugby World Cup competition gets underway from September 9 through October 23 in New Zealand.
Little is Fiji Union's much-heralded fly-half and he's a formidable one at that, standing six foot one inches tall and weighing in at 224 pounds. Fiji's most capped player with 191 Pacific points, Little has scored 652 points for Fiji and is the Pacific region's second highest point scorer of players who are currently active.
As the nephew of All Black's centre Walter Little and fellow Fiji International player Lawrence Little, Nicky Little grew up in the game of rugby and it shows in his dependability and cool head. A solid defender with a world class kicker boot, Nicky Little is described on his Fiji Rugby team website as the "ideal fly half for today's physically demanding game."
Little played for many international teams since making his Test debut with Fiji International at the age of 19, including Canterbury, North Harbor, Sale Sharks, Dax, Pontypridd, Saracens, Petrarca and currently Bath.
History has shown Little to be dynamic in championship play and a leading point producer for Fij and has proven himself in past World Cups. In 2003, Little entered the 2003 Rugby World Cup as Fiji's all-time highest points scorer, with 488 points. He got four caps for Fiji at the 2003 World Cup in Australia, scoring a total of 45 points in those games. Little also stood out in the 2007 competition in France when Fiji defeated Wales to reach the quarter-finals, but was injured late in the final group game and missed the quarter-final.
Though the competition's host nation's New Zealand team is favored to win the cup, Fiji could be the long shot with its deep roster of team players led by the talented and experienced Nicky Little.
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