NEWS

2024 Major League Rugby Rookie of the Year

Written by Joe Harvey

For his dominant debut Major League Rugby season, Junior Gafa has been awarded Rookie of the Year.

Picked 23rd overall in the 2023 MLR Collegiate Draft by the New England Free Jacks, the 23-year-old spent the season with Anthem RC on loan as the team played their inaugural year in the league.

Starting 13 matches as Anthem finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, Gafa was a leading light for the year one team, which finished the regular season with a 0-16 record.

Gafa’s outings earned him three First XV of the Week nods as the former Ivy League football prospect from Brown University participated in his first professional rugby season.

At the end of the regular season, the center gained 1,062 meters, beat 37 defenders, and scored four tries for Alama Ieremia’s team.

The beneficiary of his team’s hell-for-leather attitude and expansive attacking rugby was enough to help the rookie get the most out of himself.
It is hard to imagine that two years ago, Gafa was turning out on the football field for the Brown Bears as a linebacker and making 34 tackles in seven matches.

Born in Samoa before moving to California, the back won a National Championship with the Back Bay Sharks Rugby Club before being named being added to the wider training squad for the Youth Olympics Rugby Sevens before representing the USA U20s.

Marrying his time in college playing football and rugby, he would win the 2022 National Collegiate Rugby Championships before representing the New England Independents Reds in the NCR All-Stars National Championships.

His performances and natural aptitude for rugby quickly made the youngster a sought-after prospect in the Draft.

Ultimately drafted by New England in the second round, the 23-year-old will have benefitted hugely from time spent with Anthem.

While results did not always go the North Carolinians’ way, the team played enthralling rugby and participated in several close contests.

When 2025 rolls around, Anthem will be without Gafa.
Instead, he will be gearing up to claim a place in the Free Jacks starting XV and a three-peat in Massachusetts.