Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala Pulelua Fesola'i (4 September 1969 – 24 February 2022), sometimes known as Inga Tuigamala, was a professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer. Born in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, he represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

in rugby union, winning 19 caps, and later Samoa in both rugby league (two caps) and rugby union (23 caps). He played in one rugby league and two rugby union World Cups. Tuigamala began his career in rugby union, and played provincially for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. He changed

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

codes from

, and became an integral part of the successful

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

team of the 1990. He later returned to union winning championships with London Wasps and

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

. A

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, he was known as a powerful runner, much larger than most wings in rugby union.

Early life

Born in

Faleasiu Faleasi'u is one of the largest village settlements on the island of Upolu in Samoa. It is located on the northwestern coast of the island and has a population of 4177. Faleasi'u is part of A'ana Alofi 1 Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District' ...

, Samoa, Tuigamala and his family moved to New Zealand when he was 4 years old. He grew up in southern Glendene in West Auckland, New Zealand.

Playing career

Rugby union

He played in New Zealand for Ponsonby and

. He represented New Zealand (the All Blacks) in rugby union as a winger from 1989, playing his first test match against the US in 1991. At the time, Tuigamala was the first person born in Samoa to play for the All Blacks. He won 19 caps, including playing at the 1991 World Cup. Nicknamed Inga the Winger, he converted to rugby league, signing with English club Wigan in 1993. His biography ''Inga the Winger'' by Bob Howitt was also published in 1993.

Rugby league

In rugby league, Tuigamala markedly improved his fitness and played as a centre in a very strong and successful Wigan team, winning several trophies over four seasons. Tuigamala played from the interchange bench in Wigan's

1994 World Club Challenge The 1994 MMI World Club Challenge was a replay of the 1992 World Club Challenge, with 1993–94 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan facing the 1993 NSWRL season premiers, the Brisbane Broncos, this time in Australia. Wigan were cle ...

victory over Australian premiers, the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

, in Brisbane. He also played international rugby league for

, including at the 1995 World Cup. At the end of 1996's

Super League I The year 1996's Stones Bitter Super League I was the official name for the 102nd season of top-level rugby league football, and the first year of Europe's new championship: Super League. It is also the first season of rugby league to be played ...

, Tuigamala was named at centre in the

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists an ...

Return to rugby union

When rugby union became openly professional in 1995, Tuigamala was one of a number of former rugby union players who returned from rugby league. He played for London Wasps, winning the English Premiership, and later joined

in a world record £1m deal. He scored a hat-trick on his third appearance for Newcastle against Moseley at Kingston Park and was an important part of the 1998 Championship-winning side, making 16 appearances that season. He then delayed an arm operation to put in a Man of the Match performance in the 2001 Cup Final. Upon signing for the Falcons, teammate

Doddie Weir George Wilson "Doddie" Weir (4 July 1970 – 26 November 2022) was a Scottish rugby union player who played as a lock. He made 61 international appearances for the Scotland national team and represented the British & Irish Lions. With the ...

called Tuigamala "simply the best rugby player in the world". He made his début for

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

in 1996 against Ireland, going on to play 23 test matches, scoring 3 tries. He was an important part of the Samoa squad at the 1999 World Cup. He was known for his Christian faith, and in particular for the influence he had on Jason Robinson, a teammate at Wigan. Tuigamala shared his Christian faith, though it wasn't until some time later that Robinson became a Christian.

Post-playing

Following the end of his rugby career, he acted as advisor for his cousin

David Tua Faumuina To'aletai Mafaufau David Tua (born 21 November 1972), best known as David Tua, is a Samoan-New Zealand former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. A highly ranked heavyweight contender for most of his career, Tua was kno ...

, a professional heavyweight boxer, and ran a funeral director company, "Tuigamala and Sons of Glendene" for which the most notable client to date was the late King of Tonga,

Taufa'ahau Tupou IV George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan equivalent of ''George'', after King George III of the ...

. In the

2008 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2008 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Of ...

, Tuigamala was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have re ...

, for services to rugby and the community. In October 2009, he travelled to Samoa with David Tua to see how they could assist in the aftermath of the Samoa tsunami. On 22 May 2014, he promoted a boxing event at the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. The event was broadcast by New Zealand's Sky TV on pay-per-view. In the event, he and his two sons all fought, with all three winning their respective bouts. Tuigamala died on 24 February 2022, at the age of 52. At the time of his death, he had

high blood pressure Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

. He completed season two of ''Match Fit'' to regain match fitness after suffering from sleep apnoea and was a type II diabetic, which was reversed by late 2021, and in the second season in 2021/22, he revealed he started adopting a plant-based diet, and had a very healthy blood cholesterol levels. Despite that, he also suffered from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intens ...

. By the end on NZ's second COVID-19 lockdown, both he and Brad Mika's knees have recovered enough to bike.

References

External links

* *
Va'aiga Tuigamala Wigan Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''.
Wasps profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuigamala, Va'aiga 1969 births 2022 deaths Dual-code rugby internationals Expatriate rugby league players in England Expatriate rugby union players in England Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Newcastle Falcons players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand Christians People from A'ana Rugby union centres Samoa international rugby union players Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan emigrants to New Zealand Samoan expatriate rugby league players Samoan expatriate rugby union players Samoan expatriate sportspeople in England Samoan rugby league players Samoan rugby union players Wigan Warriors players Wasps RFC players