A few years ago, Tonga Kofe was a walk-on. A former football player working construction, he joined a clinic that Utah’s professional rugby team, the Utah Warriors, held to find local talent. They saw his potential. After two standout years at the Warriors, he started playing for the USA Eagles, America’s national team.
127.7 million people watched the Super Bowl this year, but compare that to the World Rugby Cup final, held every four years. In 2023, 800 million people tuned in to watch South Africa defeat New Zealand by a single point in a packed stadium in Paris. Rugby is a global giant compared to the lightweight runner-up of football. So why isn’t it more popular in America?
One place where it is: Utah. Rugby is huge in the Pacific Island nations, and Utah’s large population of Pacific Islanders has made the sport a thriving alternative to football. With the Pacific Nations Cup set to be played at America First Field on September 21st, top-level international rugby once again returns to the Beehive State.
Tonga is moving on from the Warriors to play for the top-rated Leicester Tigers in England this season, but he has something to say about the state of American rugby and its future in Utah.
Q: How did you end up playing rugby in Utah?
I played football in Portland, OR, but I moved to Utah to work in construction. Then I decided to play rugby. I did the Warriors Crossroads Cup, a competition they do to find local talent. I was blessed enough to be one of those guys they picked up from the side of the road, and joined them for the 2024 campaign.
Q: Why is rugby uniquely popular here?
Utah fans, they’re real supportive of their local teams. They love the Jazz, they love their new hockey team. They find out that they have a professional rugby team… Utah people will always try something new. When they come to a game, they love it. They love the physicality of it. They love football–they love BYU, they love the University of Utah, so I don’t get why they wouldn’t love rugby, and they do.
With the Polynesian community, I feel like they are all looking for an outlet, so they join their local club to let off some steam, let off some stress. Then when they see someone they know on the warriors, they are able to come out for a game and celebrate with them as well. Whenever Samoa or Tonga come here, the stands should be filled with Polynesians.
Q: You played football. Why should someone play or watch rugby instead?
Rugby because players don’t just have to do one job or one position. In football, the coach tells you, you do this and don’t think about anything else. In rugby, after you make a tackle, you have to get up and you might have to make another tackle. You have to be aware of where the ball is. You can take an interception, or someone might take an interception and you have to get back on offence and get ready to attack. It’s very interesting, it’s never boring, you don’t have to stop every couple of plays. If you like the flow of soccer and the physicality of football, it’s the sport for you to watch.
Q: There’s a lot of concern about the injuries with American football, especially with kids. Do you think rugby is a safer sport than football?
For sure. Rugby’s a safer sport because… I mean football has started to do it, but they teach you how to tackle better. What side your head should be on, how to tackle with form. Football triggers something in your mind that, just because you have a helmet and pads, you just go out there and throw your body out there, with no thought about how you end up or how the other guy ends up. Psychologically, that’s where they are at with football players, but in rugby, there’s technique to it. They actually teach you how to tackle, they teach you how to land. As the ball carrier, they teach you how to fall on the ground and turn, so you’re not just throwing your body out there.
Q: What’s going to get rugby to take off in the US?
It’s just going to have to be advertising. Some people still don’t know that there’s major rugby in the US. Every time we go through the airport, a lot of people are asking which team we are. We have to sit there and explain to them who we are and what it is. They know what rugby is, but they don’t know that there’s a professional team in America.
Q: The Warriors went to the final this year and are one of the best teams in professional rugby. Why are they so good?
What set us apart from other years was the leadership on the team. You had guys come in with a lot of experience, our captain Gavin Thornbury, him coming in, taking the reins and leading us in the right direction. Then you have guys like Liam Coltman, former All Black, coming in as hooker, and Aki Seiuli, from Samoa, coming in as the loosehead, with their experience, we dominated in scrums through the season. Having guys like that on the team, being able to lead with the experience they have, being able to trust what they said and being able to believe it. When they tell us they can go out there and win, us 15 on the field believe that.
Q: You’re off to play in England next season. Are you going to miss playing in Utah?
I love Warriors home games because we’re able to fill out the stands. It’s loud, supportive, the crowd gives you a burst of energy. You don’t really feel that game-day atmosphere in other places.
That’s why I love playing in Utah.
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