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

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player. Born in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, he represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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 ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. He changed

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

codes from rugby union to rugby league, and became an integral part of the successful

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

team of the 1990s. He 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 both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

, he was known as a powerful runner, much larger than most rugby wingers of the time.

Early life

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

Glendene Glendene is a suburb of West Auckland, in New Zealand. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. Glendene is a mainly residential suburb with the north-eastern portion devoted to light industry. History Glendene is named a ...

in West Auckland, New Zealand. He was from Tongan and Samoan Descent.

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 United States 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. He was the first player to score a try worth 5 points on July 4, 1992, in a match against Australia. 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 victory over Australian premiers, the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

, 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 and ...

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 Rugby union positions#Locks, lock. He made 61 international appearances for the Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland natio ...

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

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabit ...

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 Mafaufau Tavita Lio Mafaufau Sanerivi Talimatasi (born 21 November 1972), 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 w ...

, 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, 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 ...

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

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

. By the end of New Zealand's second COVID-19 lockdown, both his and Brad Mika's knees had recovered enough to bike. He was then able to reverse his diabetes. However, he was forced to leave day 2 of the union vs.

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

multi-sport relay due to a family emergency. Tuigamala died on 24 February 2022, at the age of 52. At the time of his death, he had

high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, 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 itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

and had suffered a stroke in 2013. In 2025, Tuigamala was posthumously inducted into the

Pasifika Rugby Hall of Fame The Pasifika Rugby Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to rugby union players of Pasifika heritage who have shaped the sport of rugby. The hall was established in 2024, with the first inductions made at a gala dinner at Eden Park ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuigamala, Va'aiga 1969 births 2022 deaths 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players 20th-century Samoan sportsmen 21st-century Samoan sportsmen Dual-code rugby internationals Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Christians New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Newcastle Falcons players People educated at Kelston Boys' High School People from A'ana Rugby league players 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 in England Samoan expatriate rugby league players Samoan expatriate rugby union players in England Samoan rugby league players Samoan rugby union players Wasps RFC players Wigan Warriors players