Tonga

Gordon hooker Mahe Vailanu will follow Head Coach Darren Coleman from Sydney to the LA Giltinis. The 23-year-old was recently awarded the prestigious Ken Catchpole Medal as the Shute Shield’s Player of the Year following the club’s victorious 2020 season.     Vailanu was born and raised in Tonga but …

The Rugby Championship is the name used for the Southern Hemisphere’s annual Tier 1 tournament. It is neither a regional nor a continental competition. Instead, it is the four RWC Semi Finalists outside of the UK and France. They happen to all be from south of the equator. South Africa’s …

Kurt Morath has re-signed with the Austin Gilgronis for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. Tonga’s all-time leading scorer with 340 points in 38 tests, the New Zealand-born flyhalf gives the AG’s two sets of international halfbacks along with Will Magie and scrumhalves Pele Cowley and Marcelo Torrealba. Morath arrived …

Houston have signed center Moa Maliepo, prop Nikoloz Khatiashvili, and second row Apisai Tauyavuca for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. SaberCats flyhalf Sam Windsor confirmed the news on the latest edition of the MLR Kickoff Podcast. All three arrive from European professional clubs. Maliepo arrives from Romania, most recently …

The New England Free Jacks have signed Tongan international Jack Ram for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. A member of the Ikali Tahi team at Rugby World Cup 2015, the 33-year-old loose forward arrives from Coventry having spent most of the past four years playing in England. Born in …

Rugby ATL prop Duane Aholelei has signed a two-year extension with the club that runs through the 2023 Major League Rugby season. The Tonga ‘A’ representative follows fellow front rowers Chance Wenglewski and Neethling Gericke who have also added time to their deals in the off-season. Aholelei, 31, started three …

World Rugby has confirmed the qualification  model for Rugby World Cup 2023. The France-hosted tournament will be a 20-team competition, operating on the same model as that of Japan 2019. As was the case in RWC 2019, RWC 2023 has eight qualifying slots. The eight successful teams will join the …

Canada’s first ever RWC match was against Tonga. It was a day three match of RWC 1987 and it took place at McLean Park in Napier. The North Americans put on a memorable performance as they were comprehensive winners in the historic encounter. Prior to RWC 1987 there had been …

International competition is healthy within the Americas. The Americas Rugby Championship and Americas Rugby Challenge have enhanced test rugby within the region. The upcoming introduction of promotion and relegation will only advance rugby in the region further. A vital part of the international calendar are the incoming and outgoing tours, …

Call it surprising or ridiculous or something in between, but Argentina vs Tonga had never taken place prior to RWC 2015. Their historic first ever test match was a pool match in Leicester, UK. It was a must-win fixture due to Los Pumas having had fallen to New Zealand and …