League: Major League Rugby

Founded in 2017 with it’s inaugural season played in 2018, Major League Rugby (MLR) is the highest level of professional rugby in North America.

Dom Toluono

Sama Malolo

New Zealand born Samoan international Sama Malolo played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2021, and again in 2023. He represented the Utah Warriors (2021-2022), and the San Diego Legion (2023)

Internationally, Malolo is test-capped for Samoa, and was a stand out for his country at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

Malolo played his debut MLR season with the Utah Warriors in 2020, appearing in 2 games (1 start) during the COVID-shortened season before heading to Australia to play with the Southern Districts in the Shute Shield competition. He returned for the Warriors in the 2021 MLR season, earning 10 more appearances (8 starts) and scoring an impressive 11 tries (T-2nd in MLR that season). Malolo did not play in the 2022 season, instead returning to Australia as a member of the Waratahs extended squad, and again represented the Southern Districts.

Malolo returned stateside ahead of the 2023 MLR season, as the San Diego Legion announced his signing in November 2022. He earned another 16 appearances for the Legion (13 starts) and scored 4 tries during the Legion’s record-breaking season that saw Malolo pick up 3 Team of the Week selections as well as a spot in the All-MLR 2nd XV. The Legion advance all the way to the Championship Final after a league-best 15-1 regular season. They fell 24-25 to the New England Free Jacks in Chicago. Following an impressive 2023 MLR campaign, in which he earned 16 appearances and racked up almost 1000m gained as a hooker, Malolo earned a contract with Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby.

Achievements:

2023 MLR Runner-Up: San Diego Legion
All-MLR 2nd XV Selection – 2023
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 12
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 8
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 1
T-2nd in MLR Try Scoring: 2021 (11)
MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Conference Finals
MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Round 18

James Vaifale

Arizona raised winger James Vaifale played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2025. Vaifale represented the Utah Warriors (2020-2022), the Dallas Jackals (2023), and the San Diego Legion (2024-2025). He was also briefly a member of the NOLA Gold during the 2022 off-season, but did not represent them in a MLR season.

On August 5th, 2022, it was announced that Vaifale had been traded from Utah to NOLA Gold, in exchange for NOLA’s 2nd Round Pick (18th Overall) in the 2022 MLR Collegiate Draft. This pick was used to select University of Tennessee lock, Greg Janowick. Shortly after being traded to the NOLA Gold, Vaifale was traded again on 5th December 2022, to the Dallas Jackals along with NOLA’s 3rd Rd Draft pick in 2023 (32nd overall, used to select Ronnie McElligot – St. Mary’s) in exchange for 2023 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown).

Vaifale has earned 29 MLR caps (18 starts) to date with a career high 11 caps in 2021, where he his first 2 MLR tries. In 2022, he gained 86m on 9 carries, and made 21/25 tackles for a success rate of 84.00%. He equalled his personal best of 11 caps for the Dallas Jackals in 2023, earning 8 starts.

On 5th October 2023, Vaifale was traded for a third time. He was acquired by the San Diego Legion in exchange for 2024 Salary Cap Considerations to Dallas. Vaifale earned 2 tries in 3 games for the Legion (2 starts), including a 2-try game in Round 15 that earned him a Team of the Week selection. On November 11, 2024 the San Diego Legion announced the return of James Vaifale for the 2025 MLR season.

Achievements:

MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 15

Thomas Tu’avao

English flanker Thomas Tu’avao played in Major league Rugby between 2020-2024. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

Born and raised in England, Tu’avao played rugby league in the north of England before moving to California and playing football in high school. He attended American River College in Sacramento and began playing rugby with the Sacramento Blackhawks before going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints in 2017.

Upon his return in 2019, Tu’avao signed with the Utah Warriors and earned 2 appearances (both starts) in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. Tu’avao has earned 58 MLR appearances for the Utah Warriors between 2020-2024, starting 43 times and scoring 6 tries. He has recorded over 2000 career metres gained, and four 100+ tackle seasons for a career total of 521 in MLR.

achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 10

Puna Vuli

US-eligible Fijian lock/flanker Viliame ‘Puna’ Vuli played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2022, and again in 2025. He represented the Utah Warriors (2020-2022), and Anthem RC (2025).

A native of Suva, Fiji, Puna Vuli attended Queen Victoria School until his graduation in 2013, when he attended the University of the South Pacific from 2014-2015, and played rugby with the QVSOB Rugby Club while there. Vuli made the move to the United States following his time at the University of the South Pacific, settling in Santa Rosa, CA and attended Santa Rosa Junior College in 2016. He continued to play rugby, playing with Santa Rosa and Redwood Empire Rugby Clubs, as well as the Lomaiviti Barbarians at the Rugbytown 7s in 2018 &2019.

Puna Vuli signed with the Utah Warriors for the 2019 MLR season, but did not feature. He returned the following year and appeared in 4 games before the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vuli returned to the Warriors for their 2021 campaign, but it was not until 2022 that he would see MLR game time again, starting 7 times in 13 games and completing 90 tackles while running for over 400m gained in possession. After the 2022 MLR season he headed to Japan, signing with the Mie Honda Heat in the Japanese Rugby League One D2, where he played between 2022-2025.

On January 21st, 2025, Anthem RC revealed their full roster for the 2025 season, which included Puna Vuli.

Blake Hohaia

Hagen Schulte

New Zealand born German international Hagen Schulte played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2021. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

Born and raised in Christchurch, NZ, Schulte is Scottish-eligible through his grandmother, but elected to play for Germany for whom he is also eligible. Schulte developed his game in the Canterbury system, representing them at age-grade levels. Schulte signed with the Glasgow Warriors for the 2016/17 PRO14 season, making his debut against the Scarlets in February 2017. The following year he headed to Germany to play with Heidelberger RK for the 2017/18 season and during his time in Germany, he earned his test debut for the Black Eagles in November 2017 against the USA Eagles, and earned 8 international caps between 2017-2019.

Schulte signed for the Utah Warriors ahead of the 2020 MLR season, scoring 1 try and 43pts in 4 games (all starts) before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season with Schulte sitting 6th in league scoring. He followed this up with another try and 87pts in 16 games (14 starts) in 2021, taking his total to 130pts for the Warriors, just behind the club record of 134 set by Tim O’Malley, which stood until it was passed by Joel Hodgson in 2024. Schulte remains the Warriors 3rd highest scorer.

achievements

8th in MLR Scoring: 2021 (87pts)
6th in MLR Scoring: 2020 (43pts)

Dwayne Polataivao

Tyler Fisher

Jurie van Vuuren

South African back row/lock Jurie van Vuuren played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2026. He represented the Utah Warriors (2020-2023), Rugby FC LA (2024-2025), and the California Legion (2026).

Van Vuuren played rugby through High School and attended the Western Province Rugby Institute in 2011, playing with the U19s and U21s between 2011-2013, and the Senior side in 2014 despite still being U21 eligible. In 2012, he represented the South African U20 side at the IRB Junior World Championship. Van Vuuren joined the Stormers in 2014 and played with them until 2016, as well as with Western Province in the Currie Cup between 2014-2017. He joined the Southern Kings between 2017-2019, again in the Currie Cup.

Van Vuuren joined the Utah Warriors ahead of the 2020 MLR season and started all 5 games of the truncated season before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season. He returned to the Warriors for the 2021 season where he started 16 games and scored 6 of his 9 career MLR tries to date. Through his 4 seasons in Utah, van Vuuren earned 51 MLR caps (43 starts) and scored 8 of his 9 tries.

On 23rd August 2023, the Utah Warriors traded van Vuuren to Rugby ATL (soon to become Rugby FC LA) in exchange for 2024 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown). Van Vuuren played with the Tel Aviv Heat during the MLR offseason, and RFCLA‘s ownership group has some crossover with that RE Super Cup team, which might explain the healthy Heat contingent with LA, including Niall Saunders and Jordan Chait. He started all four of his games for RFCLA in their inaugural season, scoring 1 try and averaging 10 tackles and 22m gained before suffering an achilles injury that sidelined him for much of 2024. On January 4th, 2025, Rugby FC LA announced the return of Jurie van Vuuren for the 2025 season. That year he improved on his 2023 season across the board, starting all 13 of his appearances and scoring a 10th career MLR try, recording a 4th season with over 100 tackles recorded, passing 700 total tackles made in his 68 game MLR career (60 starts), with over 1,800m gained. Following RFCLA’s merging with San Diego in the 2025/26 MLR offseason to form the California Legion, Jurie van Vuuren remained in California and signed with the Legion on 11th September, 2026.