Glendale Raptors confirm 25 for Major League Rugby

The Glendale Raptors on Monday released a list of 25 players signed up for the 2018 Major League Rugby season. With few exceptions the roster is built around the existing group of players that have been playing for the Raptors and subsequently under the Merlins banner in recent months. Glendale re-branded their amateur arm last year to reserve exclusive use of the Raptors name for the professional side that will take part in the inaugural MLR competition.

Nine capped Eagles are included in the squad including five who have been named in the USA squad for the upcoming Americas Rugby Championship. Ben Landry, John Quill, Shaun Davies, Will Magie, and Bryce Campbell are all names familiar to American rugby fans. Other fully capped players include World Cup hooker Zach Fenoglio, New Zealand-born flanker Peter Dahl, and midfielders Ata Malifa and Chad London.

USA Select XV reps Casey Rock, Maximo de Achaval, and recent addition Kelepi Fifita are named. Nick Kwasniewski and Dustin Croy are previous Junior All-American selections and Seth Halliman has represented the Eagles Sevens side. Other notables include Australian prop Luke White, promising loose forward Brian Wanless, and hard-running winger John Ryberg.

There are two newcomers to the squad. 19-year-old scrumhalf Jake Christmann joins after spending a season with Fylde in England. The other addition is outside back Harley Davidson, a 1st team All-American Sevens player with the Life Running Eagles.

Notably absent is Eagles dual-international Will Holder, whose US Army commitments appear to have ruled him out of contention. USA Select XV scrumhalf Nick Boyer has joined the Eagles Sevens program. More signings are due to be announced in the coming weeks.

A preseason match against the New Orleans Gold is set to take place at Infinity Park on March 10. The regular season kicks off on April 21 against Austin Elite, also at Infinity Park.

FORWARDS
Kelepi Fifita, Nick Kwasniewski, Blake Rogers, Luke White, James Del Bozque, Zach Fenoglio, Ben Landry, Casey Rock, Connor Cook, Peter Dahl, John Quill, Devin Vaughter, Brian Wanless

BACKS
Jake Christmann, Shaun Davies, Will Magie, Afa Malifa, Bryce Campbell, Kyle Hitt, Chad London, Dustin Croy, Harley Davidson, John Ryberg, Seth Halliman, Maximo de Achaval

A detailed roster list can be seen here.