Austin Herd Rugby signed Maikeli Mudu Naromaitoga for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. The 28-year-old lock/back row is 6’5″ and 300 lbs.
Maikeli began the 2019 MLR season with the Utah Warriors. He played 60 minutes in 3 matches and scored 1 try. He carried 15 times for 82 meters, had 2 tackle breaks, 3 offloads, and made 5 tackles. He then was loaned to Austin Herd for the remainder of the season. For the Herd, he played 51 minutes in 3 matches, had 8 carries for 38 meters, and made 10 tackles.
Since the end of the MLR season, he has played with the Grand Prairie Mavericks, a Red River Division III Club. He also played for Atlantis Rugby 7s and helped them win the Championship at the Freetail 7s in December.
Maikeli is from Suva, Fiji and has an extensive rugby resume. He was a member of the 2010 and 2011 IRB Junior World Championship team that played in Argentina and in Italy, respectively. he also played representative rugby with the Nadi Rugby Union Under-20s those years.
In 2012 he played with the Fiji Warriors in the Pacific Rugby Cup in New Zealand and in Australia. He also played with Sunnybank Rugby Club in Australia, with Honda Rugby Club in Nagoya, Japan, and with the Nadi Rugby Union Representative team that year.
From 2013 through 2018 he played with the Jacks of Fiji Nadi Rugby Union Provincial team and in 2015 with Mid-Canterbury Rugby in New Zealand.
In October 2018 Maikeli moved to the U.S. and played with the Dallas Harlequins and played for the Utah Warriors and the Austin Herd in 2019. He is no longer on loan to Austin Herd and will play with the team in 2020. #jointheherd
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