Tiai Vavao did not want anything to be about him the night of the 2025 Major League Rugby College Draft.
With his family gathered for his sister’s wedding, the flanker did not want to take the spotlight away from the festivities. So, his girlfriend organized a watch party for the whole family.
Surrounded by his most extended family, Vavao saw his name picked out of the hat third overall, immediately after his Central Washington University teammate Campbell Robb, by his hometown team, the Seattle Seawolves.
“It was a big surprise, honestly,” he told MLR. “But it was good. I was just grateful more than anything else. Grateful and blessed are the two words that I go to.
“My grandpa’s (reaction) was very funny. He didn’t even know what was going on, he’s straight from Samoa, so he speaks no lick of English and was asking what this all was.
“I explained, and once it happened, he was a bit emotional. He’s my guy too. It was good to see him react that way.”
Growing up, Vavao was obsessed with football and WWE. His father had grown up playing rugby in Samoa. Rugby was on the television at all hours of the day, but it was not until high school that the 23-year-old first started to play the sport.
Quickly, he found himself in the USA Rugby age-grade set-up and, after an Under-18s tour to Canada, was contacted by ex-CWU head coach Todd Thornley about furthering his rugby career while picking up a degree in his home state.
In the years that followed, Vavao continued to impress. He represented the USA’s Falcons side, the U20, and the U23s this summer.
“I would say it is night and day,” “Funnily enough, Todd watched one of my high school games, and it was kind of a slap in the face, telling me what I needed to work on and telling me what I needed to work on.
“There is a big difference in terms of who I am as a person, being able to take on constructive criticism better.
“Just as a rugby player in general, I had a lot of things that I needed to fix in terms of work rate, basic skill set, and then there was the change from center to back-row.”
Throughout his youth, along with his freshman, sophomore and junior years, Vavao played in the backline until an exodus of back-row forwards meant there was a dearth of talent in the position.
After a conversation with his head coach, the 23-year-old took the leap and moved into the pack.
“My size wasn’t too far off in terms of transitioning,” Vavao said. “If I was a bit shorter and lighter, I think I may have been pretty skeptical about it.
“I fell in love with it. I love it a lot. There’s no drop-off/ I still feel like it’s the same. If anything, I get more ball-in-hand.
“I enjoy the set-piece, that’s one thing I’m starting to fall in love with, with a little bit more. With lineouts I was a bit new to the moves. I enjoyed lineouts a lot in sevens, and I think of it like rebounding in basketball or catching in football.
“I take a lot of pride in being versatile. I don’t want to just be a passenger. I want to do my job and help the team.”
There is a special element to Vavao’s move to Seattle. Because it really is not a move at all. In many ways it is more of the same.
The back-row has spent his entire life in Washington. It is the state that nurtured him and the place that taught him the lessons to be a professional rugby player.
Just the notion of running out at Starfire for the first time in 2026 is enough to raise goosebumps. And you can be certain that Vavao’s parents, six siblings and extended family will be in the stands watching whenever he does make his professional debut.
“I wanted Seattle more than anything,” Vavao said. “It is good to stay home. People always say ‘go explore and don’t be afraid of change’, but the whole thing is that my setup is at home. My whole family is here. I can say that I have been home my entire career.”
