New Zealand born Samoan fly-half/center Alai D’Angelo Leuila played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

Born and raised in Auckland, NZ but Samoa-eligible on Ancestry grounds, Leuila earned his international debut for Samoa against Georgia in 2016, but didn’t play professional team level rugby until 2019 when he represented Auckland in the Mitre 10 Cup (now the NPC). Leuila only represented Auckland for a season in 2019, but was named in teh Waikato side that would go on to be crowned NPC Champions in 2021. He has represented Waikato for 3 NPC seasons, while also playing with the Moana Pasifika Super Rugby side between 2022-2024, and representing Samoa at the Rugby World Cup in France in 2023.

On October 15th, 2024, the Utah Warriors announced the signing of D’Angelo Leuila for their 2025 Major League Rugby campaign. He earned both MLR Team of the Week and Player of the Week honours on his MLR debut during the Utah Warriors’ Round 2 victory over the Chicago Hounds on the road. Leuila enjoyed an excellent 2025 season for the Warriors, earning 4 Team of the Week Selections and scoring 1 try and 95pts (finishing T-4th League wide) to help the Utah Warriors end their postseason drought and claim their first playoff victory, defeating the Seattle Seawolves before falling to the Houston SaberCats in the Western Conference Final. D’Angelo Leuila was an All-MLR Honorable Mention for his performance in 2025.

achievements

• All-MLR Honorable Mention
• T-4th in MLR Scoring: 2025 (95pts)
• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 10
• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 9
• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 6
• MLR Player of the Week: 2025 – Rd 2
• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 2

NARDB Player #1,301