Position: Number 8

Jimmy Hokafonu

Australian back row Jimmy Hokafonu played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the San Diego Legion for his entire MLR career.

Hokafonu has played with the Sydney-based Eastwood Rugby Club in the Australian Shute Shield competition since 2022, earning his debut for the first grade team in April 2023. He’s since been named as the Easts Player of the Week in the 2024 season.

On November 8th 2024, the San Diego Legion announced the signing of Jimmy Hokafonu for their 2025 campaign. He scored 1 try in his debut MLR season, starting 12 of his 13 appearances and completing 123 tackles while gaining 355m in possession. For his efforts, Jimmy Hokafonu was named as the San Diego Legion Newcomer of the Year for 2025.

achievements
  • 2025 San Diego Legion Newcomer of the Year

NARDB Player #1,324

Matt Oworu

Canadian born back row Matt Oworu played in Major League Rugby between 2025-2026. He represented the Chicago Hounds for his entire MLR career.

Born in Canada, Oworu and his family moved to Zimbabwe when he was a child, where he was introduced to rugby while at Lewisam Primary College in Harare. Oworu returned to Canada for University, and was invited to join the Pacific Pride high performance pathway program, eventually joining the Canadian 7s team. He made his debut for the Canadian 7s side in Vancouver in 2021 and have since earned over 100 caps with the 7s side. His performance for the national sevens team drew the attention of the 15s, and he was included in the squad for Canada’s 2022 summer tests, where he earned his test debut off the bench against Belgium. He has been a regular in the 15s squad when not representing the 7s team, and featured in the La Vila Cup in Spain in 2023, the Pacific Nations Cup in 2024, and was included in the Canada squad for their November 2024 internationals against Romania and Chile.

On 4th November, 2024, the Chicago Hounds announced the signing of Matt Oworu for their 2025 MLR season, joining a number of Canadian internationals in the Hounds squad. Oworu started 3 of his 13 games, gaining 130m in possession and completing 93 tackles to help the Hounds take the defending champions right to the edge in the Eastern Conference Final, where he came off the bench. On 12th December, the Chicago Hounds announced the return of Matt Oworu for the 2026 MLR season. He was the 4th Canadian player announced by the Hounds, and the 8th league-wide.

achievements
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2026 – Rd 5

NARDB Player #1,317

Tamarau McGahan

New Zealand back row Tamarau McGahan played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

Auckland native Tamarau McGahan plays his club rugby with Takapuna RFC, and has represented North Harbour since 2020, earning over 20 appearances in the Mitre 10/NPC.

On October 21st, 2024, the Utah Warriors announced the signing of McGahan for the 2025 MLR season.

NARDB Player #1,306

Kélian Galletier

French back rower Kélian Galletier played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the NOLA Gold for his entire MLR career.

Montpellier native Kélian Galletier began playing rugby at an early age at the Pic Saint-Loup rugby school until he was 15 when he entered the Montpellier HR academy system. He was a part of the U21 side that won the Frantz Reichel Cu in 2011, and became a French Espoirs Champion in 2013, having already earned his Top 14 debut in 2011. Galletier represented Montpellier for the majority of his professional career, earning well over 150 Top 14 appearances between 2011-2022, finishing as runners-up in 2018 and Champions in 2022. Following the 2022 season, Galletier moved from Montpellier to Perpignon where he played for two seasons until 2024. Galletier is a capped international, having earned 6 caps for France in 2016, following a string of excellent performances in the Top 14.

On 14th October 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the signing of a then–32yo Galletier for their 2025 MLR season, joining from USA Perpignan.

NARDB Player #1,300

Mason Barker

Utah back rower Mason Barker played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

The younger brother of MLR alum Zak Barker, Mason played rugby with Herriman High School before being selected to join the USA u18 side in 2018. He joined the Utah Warriors Academy in 2021 and following a good showing at the Warriors’ Pro ID camp in early October 2024, was announced as one of the first additions for the Utah Warriors 2025 season.

NARDB Player #1,296

Papa Matelau

Utah back rower Papa Matelau played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

A native of Salt Lake City, Matelau played rugby through high school at East High School before joining the Utah Warriors Academy in 2021. Matelau is a USA U18 player, touring with the age-grade side to face Uruguay and Argentina in South America. Matelau was one of the first additions announced by the Utah Warriors ahead of their 2025 season.

NARDB Player #1,295

Tomalati Ma’afu

Tongan back row Tomalati ‘Michael’ Ma’afu played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented Anthem RC for his entire MLR career.

Born in Tonga and raised in Arizona, Ma’afu attended Saguaro High School where he was a First-Team All-Conference and All-Region defensive lineman as a senior, helping Saguaro to a 5th consecutive AIA 4A state title in 2017. Saguaro did not have a rugby program so Ma’afu played with Arcadia High School as a junior, competing on state, regional, and national level teams, having picked up rugby while young in Tonga.

Ma’afu continued his football journey into university at the University of Idaho as a defensive tackle in 2018, before transferring to Carroll College in Montana, where he continued to play football. Ma’afu is no stranger to rugby, having played with Tempe Rugby Club as well as the San Diego Legion Academy, and signed with Anthem RC just before their inaugural season in 2024. He started 5 of his 6 games for Anthem in 2024, completing 55 tackles and running for just shy of 300m gained in possession. On January 21st, 2025, Anthem RC announced their complete 2025 roster which included Tomalati Ma’afu, who returns for a second season in MLR.

Aiden Kerr

Washington State native Aiden Kerr played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025 season. He represented the Houston SaberCats for his entire MLR career

Kerr’s signing was announced on March 20th, 2024 by the Houston SaberCats, having played for the SaberCats 2 from 2023-24. He joined the ‘Cats on a developmental contract and did not feature for the team in a MLR match, instead training with them and playing with the academy side. On December 17th, 2024, the Houston SaberCats announced the return of Aiden Kerr for the 2025 MLR season.

Semi Kunatani

Fijian back row Semi Kunatani played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2026. He represented Rugby FC LA (2024-2025) and Old Glory DC (2026).

Born in Nadi, Fiji, Kunatani grew up playing Rugby Sevens and won the Bayleys Fiji Coral Coast Sevens in 2013 before making his debut with the Fiji national sevens side in Dubai that same year. He had a standout World Rugby Sevens series in 2014/15, scoring 37 tries and being named to the Dream Team at 4 different tournaments. In total he played 94 games for Fiji Sevens across 17 tournaments, scoring 54 World Sevens Series tries, and represented Fiji at the Olympics in Rio de Janiero where they captured their country’s first ever Olympic Medal, a Gold. For this, Kunatani and the rest of the team were made Officers of the Order of Fiji (OF).

Following his sevens success Kunatani turned his attention to the 15s game. He signed with Stade Toulousain in the French Top 14, playing in 29 games between 2015-2018 before a stint in the English Premiership with Harlequins. Following 11 games for Quins between 2018-2020, he returned to the Pro 14 with Castres as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. between 2022-2023 he played with the Tel Aviv Heat in the Rugby Europe Super Cup.

Kunatani’s links with the Heat may have allowed him to land a spot on the Rugby FC LA roster for their inaugural MLR season in 2024. The RFCLA ownership group shares some overlap with the ownership of the Heat, explaining why they had a healthy Heat contingent on the west coast in their early years including Niall Saunders and Jurie van Vuuren. In his debut season in North America, Kunatani scored 10 tries in 15 games (11 starts), and gained more ground than any other forward that season with 1,126m, finishing 6th league-wide. Because of his standout performance, he was named as RFCLA’s Player’s Player of the Year for 2024, as well as the All-MLR First XV team.

On December 11th, 2024, Rugby FC LA confirmed the signing of Semi Kunatani for the 2025 season where he unsurprisingly took a step back from his spectacular 2024 campaign. He scored an 11th career MLR try and started 4 of his 11 appearances for Rugby FC LA in 2025, still gaining over 300m in possession and recording 70 tackles completed to push his career total to 231. Following the merger of RFCLA with the San Diego Legion to form the California Legion, Semi Kunatani looked elsewhere and signed with Old Glory DC, who announced the signing of Christmas Eve 2025 ahead of the 2026 season.

achievements

  • 2024 All-MLR First XV: Rugby FC LA
  • 6th in MLR Meters Gained: 2024 (1,126m)
  • T-5th in MLR Try Scoring: 2024 (10)
  • Rugby FC LA Player’s Player of the Year: 2024
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 14
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 13
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 12

Kalisi Moli

Utah native Kalisi Moli played in major League Rugby between 2024-2026. He represented the Utah Warriors (2024-2025) and the Seattle Seawolves (2026).

Born in California and raised in Utah, Moli attended Herriman High School where he was a two time High School All-American in rugby and an All-State and all-region in football prior to his graduation in 2015. Following a 2 year mission in Milwaukee with the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, Moli played football as a defensive tackle at Weber State University between 2018-2022.

Moli represented the Bull Moose in the 2023 iteration of the Crossroads Cup, the purpose of which is to identify promising players within Utah, and played with the Warriors Selects academy side in the fall of 2023. He was announced as a member of the Utah Warriors’ MLR squad in November 2023 ahead of the 2024 season, where he appeared in 12 games and started 4. For his efforts in his first MLR season, Moli was named the 2024 Utah Warriors Pathway Player of the Year. Moli returned for the Utah Warriors for a 2nd season in 2025, earning a number of career highs as the Warriors finished as the top team during the regular season. He scored his first MLR try and started 13 of his 16 appearances for the team that year, gaining over 120m for the 2nd season in a row, and more than doubling his career high in tackles from 67 in 2024 to 158 in 2025.

Following the late withdrawal of the Utah Warriors from Major League Rugby in the 2025/26 offseason, Kalisi Moli became a free agent and on 20th January 2026, the Seattle Seawolves announced that they had signed the Utah native for the 2026 season.

achievements