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.

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.

achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 15
5th in MLR Tackling: 2021 (199)
5th in MLR Tackling: 2020 (67)

Calvin Whiting

South African centre Calvin Whiting played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2023. Whiting represented the Utah Warriors for the entirety of his MLR career.

Whiting is a capped USA Eagle, qualifying for the US through residency after he moved from South Africa to Utah in high school. Whiting attended Brigham Young University in Utah between 2015-2019 as a Management major, earning his International debut for the USA in February 2017, against Chile in the Americas Rugby Championship.

The Utah Warriors announced the signing of Calvin Whiting in February of 2019 ahead of the 2019 season, but he didn’t earn his MLR debut until the 2020 season where he started all 5 games of the COVID-19 shortened season, scoring his first MLR try. From the 2020, Whiting was a regular in the Warriors lineup, earning 49 MLR caps between 2020-2023, starting 43 times. He scored a total of 4 tries and 115pts, with a personal best of 58pts in 2022 and a total success rate of 75.47% from the tee (40/53). As of the conclusion of the 2023 MLR season, he was one of only 5 players to have scored over 100pts for the Warriors. He earned a total of 6 MLR Team of the Week selections, 3 of these coming in the 2023 season where he gained over 700m and made 131 successful tackles.

On 26th September, 2023, Whiting announced his retirement from professional rugby at the age of 27.

Achievements:

MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 15
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 14
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 12
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 16
10th in MLR Tackling: 2021 (183)
MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Round 15
MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Round 11

Bailey Wilson

Australian born USA-eligible flanker Bailey Wilson played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2026. He has represented the Utah Warriors (2020-2025), and the New England Free Jacks (2026).

Originally from Sydney, Wilson attended high school in Utah and played with United Rugby Club, earning USA High School All-American honors. He captained the USA U19 team at Rising Junior All-American Winter Camp, and the USA U20s against Canada in 2019. He is US Eligible through residency and earned his full test debut for the USA at the Vila International Rugby Cup in 2023, playing against hosts Spain as Eagle #570.

Wilson signed with the Utah Warriors ahead of the 2020 MLR season, and started all 5 games before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. He finished 6th league-wide for tackles. He returned in 2021 to Captain the Warriors, and has earned 66 caps for Utah (59 starts) across his 5 seasons with the team to date, amassing over 2000m gained with ball in hand and over 650 tackles including an impressive 201 in the 2022 season when he finished T-8th in MLR. He has captained the Warriors on the field in each season from 2021-2023. On November 13th, 2024, the Utah Warriors announced the return of Bailey Wilson for their 2025 campaign where he started 9 of his 14 appearances and recorded 100+ tackles for the 5th season in a row. Wilson now sits on 782 tackles in his 80 game MLR career, along with 7 tries scored and just shy of 2,200m gained.

Following the withdrawal of the Utah Warriors from Major League Rugby in November 2025, Bailey Wilson headed east and signed with the New England Free Jacks on 23rd December, 2025. Wilson joins his brother Mitch in New England, who returns to the Free Jacks for the 2026 season after a season with Anthem RC.