{
  "id": 1461065,
  "title": "Ex-Wales and Cardiff centre Halaholo retires",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/ex-wales-and-cardiff-centre-halaholo-retires",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-17T09:59:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ex-wales-cardiff-centre-halaholo-095952538.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Willis Halaholo, the former Wales and Cardiff centre, has announced his retirement from professional rugby. The 36-year-old, born in Auckland, qualified for Wales under residency rules and earned a total of nine caps for his country, with his final appearance coming in April 2022. After his tenure with Wales, Halaholo also had a brief stint playing for Tonga. His professional journey began in New Zealand with Southland before moving to Waikato and Hurricanes, where he secured a Super Rugby title. In 2016, Halaholo transferred to Wales to join Cardiff, where he played over 100 games over an eight-year period. Despite suffering from a series of niggling injuries, he decided to retire from the sport after the 2023-24 season, returning to New Zealand to join the Bay of Plenty side. Halaholo expressed his desire to shift his focus towards coaching in his post-playing career.",
  "summary": "Former Wales and Cardiff centre Willis Halaholo has ended his professional rugby career after 'a series of niggling injuries'.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}