Tupou Afungia

Last updated

Tupou Afungia
Full nameTupou Ma'afu-Afungia
Born (1999-09-12) 12 September 1999 (age 26)
Tonga
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight105 kg (231 lb; 16 st 7 lb)
School Westlake Boys High School
Rugby union career
Position Flanker
Current team Moana Pasifika
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2023–2024 San Diego Legion 24 (27)
2025 New Orleans Gold 11 (0)
2026– Moana Pasifika
Correct as of 9 November 2025
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2019 Tonga U20
2024– Tonga 9 (5)
Correct as of 9 November 2025

Tupou Afungia (born 12 September 1999) is a Tongan rugby union player, who plays for Moana Pasifika. His preferred position is flanker. [1]

Contents

Early career

Afungia is from Tonga and represented their national side at both under-16 and under-20 level. [2] He moved to New Zealand for schooling and attended Westlake Boys High School where he played rugby. [3] Following schooling he moved to the Hawke's Bay region to become part of their academy, [4] while also playing club rugby for the Māori Agricultural College Old Boys. [5]

Professional career

Afungia signed his first professional contract for the San Diego Legion, signing for the 2023 Major League Rugby season. [6] He re-signed for the 2024 season making 24 appearances in total for the side. [7] Ahead of the 2025 Major League Rugby season, he transferred to New Orleans Gold where he was re-united with former coach Danny Lee. [8] He signed for Moana Pasifika ahead of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season. [9]

Afungia made his international debut for Tonga in the 2024 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup debuting against Samoa. [10]

References

  1. ↑ "Tupou Afungia". Ultimate Rugby. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  2. ↑ "Tonga blitz Hong Kong in Brazil". Americas Rugby News. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "North Harbour 1st XV report - 20 May 2017". North Harbour Rugby. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "Hawke's Bat beat Wellington in academy clash". Club Rugby. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "Hawke's Bay club rugby squads for 2020: Who are the ones to watch?". NZ Herald. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "San Diego signs Tongan flanker Tupou Afungia". Americas Rugby News. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "San Diego come from behind to claim Cali Cup". Americas Rugby News. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "'We Are Here To Win The Competition' – Lee Ahead Of Maiden Season With The Nola Gold". Major League Rugby. 8 February 2025. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Moana Pasifika name squad for 2026". Moana Pasifika (Press release). 6 November 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "MLR trio in Tonga squad for November tests". Americas Rugby News. 26 October 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2025.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.