New Zealand back row Sam Tuifua played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented the Dallas Jackals (2024) and the Houston SaberCats (2025).

Tuitua has played professional rugby since the age of 20, representing the Counties Manukau in NZ’s National Provincial Championship (NPC) between 2022-2023.

On 19^th January 2024, the Dallas Jackals announced the signing of then-22yo Sam Tuifua for their 2024 MLR season, where he scored 6 tries in 10 games (all starts) and set a new Dallas Jackals single-season record with 957m gained with ball in hand. The Jackals qualified for the MLR playoffs in 2024 and stunned the Houston SaberCats (the best team in the regular season) in the Conference Semifinals before falling to the Seattle Seawolves in the final minutes of the Western Conference Final, a game in which Tuifua was set to start but was injured in warm up.

For his excellent performance in 2024, Tuifua was named as the Dallas Jackals Player of the Year and was selected as part of the All-MLR Second XV. Following the Dallas Jackals’ withdrawal from MLR in September 2024, Tuifua declared for the dispersal draft and was selected 8th by the Houston SaberCats. The ‘Cats then confirmed this on November 11th, 2024 when they announced the signing of Sam Tuifua for the 2025 MLR season.

In his 2nd season in MLR, Tuifua scored 3 tries and started 10 of his career high 11 appearances for the Houston SaberCats in the regular season. He gained over 500m in possession and was in the Top 10 league wide for most of the first half of the season. He earned four Team of the Week selections as a key part of the SaberCats side that finished 2nd in the Western Conference. On June 13th 2025, before Houston’s playoff campaign began, French Pro D2 side Stade Montois announced the signing of Sam Tuifua through 2027, ruling him out of a return to MLR in 2026.

Achievements

• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 10
• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 7
• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 4
• MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 2
• 2024 All-MLR Second XV
• 2024 Dallas Jackals Player of the Year
• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 17
• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 9
• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 5