All Black legend Ma’a Nonu made his return to Major League Rugby last night in San Diego’s 31-29 win over Utah in the first round of the 2022 season.
39 year old Nonu made his return to MLR this season after being recalled by Toulon as a ‘medical joker’ as they are known as in the Top 14, the prior season.
Nonu was brought in off the bench after 60 minutes with San Diego leading 17-8 and looked to close out the final quarter. However, spectators and viewers were treated with another 5 tries e as the Utah Warriors came back into the game.
Superstar Nonu initially signed with the San Diego Legion ahead of their shortened 2020 season. The league was forced to cancel the remainder of the season after only five rounds of fixtures due to Covid-19. Nonu was a breakout star for San Diego having scored 3 tries in four appearances for the franchise during the 2020 season. Nonu was regarded as one of the biggest names in the league at the time, and as one of the biggest signings for the 2020 season alongside the arrival of Mathieu Basteraud with Rugby New York (then known as Rugby United New York).
The New Zealand centre gained 103 caps for the All Blacks scoring 155 points. Nonu and San Diego will look to improve on last season’s 9th place finish in the league overall, and make the playoffs this time round.
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