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The San Diego Legion have announced the addition of four US Eagles to their roster for the 2018 Major League Rugby season. Brett Thompson, Nate Augspurger, Cam Dolan, and Tony Purpura were officially unveiled on Friday. Also confirmed were Dylan Audsley, Mike Te’o, Ryan Matyas, and Ben Cima, though all four had already been revealed as Legion players through social media or USA Rugby releases.
Thompson returns to the XV-a-side game having been part of the Eagles Sevens program since the 2015 World Cup. The 27-year-old winger won the most recent of his six test caps during that tournament. He joined the Eagles Sevens for the 2015-16 HSBC Sevens Series but was ruled out of Olympic contention by an untimely knee injury suffered in training.
Lively New York native Augspurger, who turns 28 on Wednesday, made his test debut against Italy in June of 2016 and captained the Eagles to the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship title. He was part of the November tour to Europe though he saw his starting role given to Glendale Raptors halfback Shaun Davies. Augspurger has also started on the wing in four of his 14 test caps but it’s at scrumhalf where he will play for San Diego.
Dolan, also 27, has won 30 caps since his first against Fiji in June 2013. Tall and athletic, his versatility has seen him play both lock and blindside flanker for the Eagles but it’s at No 8 where he is most comfortable. He was part of the 2015 World Cup squad and appeared in all four matches as a replacement. Originally from Florida, Dolan has most recently been playing alongside Augspurger at Old Blue New York after spending four seasons abroad as a professional with the Northampton Saints and Cardiff Blues.
At 31 years old Purpura is the senior of the quartet and the first front row player to be confirmed by the franchise. Most often seen at loosehead prop, he earned a recall to the Eagles in January 2017 after a six-year hiatus from international rugby. His debut came against Russia in Jun 2010 with the most recent of his eight caps coming against Canada during the Americas 1 World Cup Qualifying series in San Diego. Purpura was a long-time member of Boston RFC before making the jump to Old Blue last year.
