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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Californian back row Dylan Fortune played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented Anthem RC for his entire MLR career.
A native of San Diego, CA, Fortune attended Cathedral Catholic High School, playing football as a defensive end/tackle while there, also playing rugby with the San Diego Youth Rugby Mustangs. Fortune attended Lindenwood University between 2022-2024, playing with the Lions while there. He was also selected for the USA U20s for the 2023 World Rugby Trophy. Fortune signed with the newly established Anthem RC for the 2024 MLR season, where he earned his pro debut and 7 appearances for the MLR, USA Rugby and World Rugby partnership (all starts), scoring 1 try and completing 54 tackles while running for over 200m gained.
Anthem RC confirmed the return of Dylan Fortune for a second season in Charlotte when they revealed their full 2025 roster on January 21st, 2025.
New Zealand back rower Albert O’Shannessey played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented Anthem Rugby Carolina for his entire MLR career.
A Christchurch native, O’Shannessey has rugby in his blood as his maternal grandfather Kevin Meates represented the All Blacks in the early 1950s. He began playing rugby at the age of 5 and played for the First XV while at Christ’s College as well as the Canterbury U18s & Canterbury Māori U21s. While at Christ’s College, O’Shannessey enjoyed a successful rowing career. He was in the top 8 for four years and is a New Zealand National Medalist in the Maadi Cup, in the U17 Eight, the U18 Quad Skulls and the Prestigious Maadi Cup U18 Eight. O’Shannessey moved to the US in 2018 to attend Central Washington University for his undergraduate degree, continuing to study at CWU for his Master’s degree, with which he graduated in 2023. That same year he played with, and captained, the Canyons at the Collegiate Rugby Shield, the precursor to the MLR Rising Collegiate Draft Combine.
After declaring for the 2023 MLR Collegiate Draft, O’Shannessey was selected in the 2nd round, 21st Overall by the Rugby New York Ironworkers. When the Ironworkers withdrew from the 2024 season and Anthem RC came into the league, he was snapped up by the MLR, World Rugby, and USA Rugby partnership team. In his debut MLR season, O’Shannessey scored 2 tries in 12 games (all starts) and completed just shy of 150 tackles.
O’Shannessey became US-eligible in the fall of 2024 and MLR confirmed that he would count as a domestic player for 2025. He has expressed an interest in following the path to representing the Eagles. On January 21st, 2025, Anthem RC revealed the team’s full 2025 roster which included Albert O’Shannessey, who returned for a 2nd season with the Rising Stars, starting 6 of his 10 appearances and recording just shy of 100 tackles, for a career total of 240 tackles in 22 career MLR games (18 starts).
