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