Lydia Kavoa
Rugby player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lydia Kavoa (born 8 November 1993) is an Australian rugby union player. She competed for Australia at the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup. She announced her retirement from international rugby in October 2025.
| Born | 8 November 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life and career
Kavoa was born in New Zealand to Fijian and Tongan parents and was raised in Sydney.[1][2] She loved watching rugby union and league, but played soccer as a youngster.[1]
She joined the Navy as a 20-year-old and is now a Leading seaman in the Navy People Branch.[3] She discovered rugby while she was in the Navy.[4][5]
Rugby career
Kavoa started playing rugby in 2016.[1][3] She played for Navy in the ADF Tri service competition at Ballymore Stadium.[1] She was named rookie of the year and female MVP despite her only playing rugby for three months.[1][2]
In 2023, she made her Super Rugby Women's debut for ACT Brumbies against the Fijiana Drua in Nadi.[2]
She made her Wallaroos international debut against Fiji in July 2024 aged 30.[4][6] Later that year, she featured for Australia when they won their maiden WXV 2 title in South Africa in September.[6] She initially made her debut at Flanker before playing her second test at Loosehead prop at the WXV 2 tournament.[4][6]
In 2025, she was called into the Wallaroos side for the Women's Rugby World Cup in England.[7][8] She featured in three matches during the tournament and made her last appearance for Australia against Canada in the knockout stage.[4][6] On 15 October, she announced her retirement from international rugby.[4][6]