TORONTO — Rugby is a family affair for Ueta Tufuga with his three brothers also playing. And at six foot and 235 pounds, the Australian-born New Zealander is the baby of the family.
"I'm actually the youngest. It does make me the smallest but it also makes me the fastest" he said with a laugh. "I'll take that."
The sport has taken Tufuga, whose first name is pronounced Wet-ah, to North America where the hard-running centre has found a home with the Toronto Arrows.
"I love it here," said Tufuga, who came to Canada with his girlfriend Eunice. "The only thing I'm not loving is the weather. I can't wait for it to warm up a bit. It's a bit different from back home but I think it's starting to get better now."
"It's the first time seeing (snow) coming here," added Tufuga, who makes him home in Palmerston North on New Zealand's North Island. "And we kind of enjoyed it at first. And then when you have to drive, it's the worst."
Tufuga, 24, has had no problem negotiating Major League Rugby so far.
"I wake up every day wanting to go to remaining and just loving what I'm doing at the moment," he said.
Toronto (2-2-0) plays at the New England Free Jacks (3-1-0) on Saturday as the Arrows continue their extended road trip to start the season. Six of their first seven games are away with a Feb. 11 contest staged in Langford, B.C.
After New England, Toronto will play at the Utah Warriors and Rugby New York before returning home to host Rugby ATL on April 2 at York Lions Stadium.
Arrows fly half Sam Malcolm, another Kiwi, knew Tufuga and passed his name on to general manager Mark Winokur.
Having traded Canadian international centre Ben LeSage to the defending champion Los Angeles Giltinis in November, the Arrows were happy to find a replacement. Tufuga arrived in late December.
Born in Australia to parents of Samoan descent, Tufuga moved to New Zealand when he was seven.
Tufuga played club rugby for a time alongside brothers Sam, Max and Kirk with Wairarapa Bush in the New Zealand Heartland Championship, which is the tier below the National Provincial Championship. Their father Faleono also played for the team back in the day.
Sam and Max, both props, currently play in Portugal and New Zealand, respectively. Kirk, the oldest of the brothers who plays No. 8, is with a team in Spain. The four brothers also have a sister.
Ueta represented Samoa at the under-20 level in 2017 but missed out on the World Rugby Under-20 Championship after injuring his ankle two days before the opening game in Georgia. The next year he was invited to an All Blacks’ U-20 training camp.
In 2020, he was part of the training group for the Southland Stags NPC team in 2020. He previously played for Massey University in Palmerston North.
The chance to see North America was a big attraction of playing in MLR.
"I never thought I'd be in the places that I have been. I get to say now I've been there. .. A few times I have to pinch myself. You see a couple of these places in movies that you watch and you go 'What am I doing here?' It's just awesome."
Victoria was a particular favourite.
"It definitely had a New Zealand feel to it … It was really beautiful there. New Orleans was good as well."
And while Tufuga is a long way from home, he sees similarities between Canada and New Zealand despite the difference in weather.
"The people here are real nice and real welcoming. It's sort of the same in New Zealand as well," he said. "I find a lot of people here are real kind, especially the boys on the team."
He and his girlfriend share an apartment with Arrows prop Lolani Faleiva, a fellow Kiwi. And two more teammates from New Zealand — prop Isaac Salmon and winger/centre Dennon Robinson-Bartlett — live in the same building.
As for North American rugby, Tufuga says the standard is high with former international stars like New Zealand's Ma'a Nonu and England's Chris Robshaw, both with the San Diego Legion, adding to the star quality.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2022
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
