The Toronto Arrows signed Aneriueta ‘Ueta’ Tufuga for the 2022 Major League Rugby season. The 23-year-old center (24 in February) is 6’0″ and 220 lbs.
Ueta grew up around Masterton, New Zealand, where he attended Rathkeale College. Masterton is the largest city in the Wairarapa region on the North Island. He developed as a rugby player with Massey University (Varsity), which he played with his three brothers in the Manawatu Rugby club circuit.
Photo: Shaun Eade / Fairfax NZ (Tufuga brothers Max, Sam, Ueta, and Kirk have been regulars on the Varsity side this year.)
He also was a member of the Manawatu Rugby Academy, spent time with the Hurricanes U18s development team in 2015, and was a hopeful for the All Blacks’ 2018 World Rugby Under-20 Championship team.
Ueta played for the Samoan U20s at the 2017 Oceania tournament against Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand, which was prior to the Junior World Cup, which he played with the Samoa U20s. He was also slated to play in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, until being injured two days before the team’s first match.
Ueta also played for the National Provincial Championship side Southland Stags’ wider training group in 2020 and has played with Wairarapa Bush in the New Zealand Heartland Championship.
