Tevita Naqali Re-Signed for 2025

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Dec 5, 2024 - 2:30pm

Old Glory DC has announced the return of lock Tevita Naqali for a sixth year with the club. The 28-year-old Fijian joined the club in time for their MLR debut in 2020 and has been an integral part of the team ever since. He played every minute in the shortened 2020 season and hasn't played less than 750 minutes in any season since. He's racked up a total of 54 caps, all but 3 of them starts, for a total of over 3,600 minutes played.

Excitingly, starting in 2025 he will count as a domestic player in MLR. Current World Rugby regulations require that a player be registered exclusively with one union for five years in order to gain eligibility for that nation, a requirement that Naqali now meets. That will make his selection an easy one for the coaching staff as he won't require one of the limited foreign player slots.

As such, fans should expect to see his name very regularly in the lineup. While we don't know exactly who from the locks will be returning in 2025, it's likely we'll see him paired up most often with Rob Harley in the second row.