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The Toronto Arrows have locked in their first 12 players for the 2019 Major League Rugby season, just days after being officially confirmed as competition’s ninth franchise. Eight have played for the team in exhibition fixtures but there are four new names, including three who join from abroad.
Front rowers Rob Brouwer, Cole Keith, and Steve Ng are names familiar to Arrows fans. Loosehead prop Brouwer has been a staple with the side since day one while tighthead Keith and hooker Ng graduated from the Canada u20 program together in 2017, with Keith pushing on to senior honors and Ng knocking on the door having played for the Canada Selects against the Arrows in the spring.
Paul Ciulini as expected provides ballast to the second row with Peter Milazzo and Lucas Rumball the first official back row signings. Andrew Ferguson is currently recovering from bicep surgery but the scrumhalf is hoping to be fit in time for the start of the new season, while winger Kainoa Lloyd – along with Keith, Ciulini, and Rumball – is currently on tour with Canada for the World Cup Qualifying series in Marseille.
Also in France is a new name for the Arrows – Theo Sauder. A mercurial talent who has emerged from the UBC Thunderbirds program, the 22-year-old earned his first senior caps with Canada in June. He is an equally dangerous attacking option at flyhalf, wing, or fullback.
Signed up after impressing at the World Rugby Combine in Glendale is another creative talent in Uruguay’s Gastón Mieres. At 29 he boasts an impressive 62 caps worth of international experience with Los Teros including the 2015 World Cup. A wing or fullback, Mieres has previously played professionally for Coventry in England.
Adding to an impressive front row group is New Zealander Morgan Mitchell. At 25 years old he is only just reaching his prime and started eight games for the Southland Stags in the Mitre 10 Cup. A converted loose forward who earned New Zealand u17 honors, Mitchell is an impressive ball carrier and an inspiring figure – he is the only top level professional player in the world with a cochlear implant that has allowed him to overcome deafness.
A name identified previously as a potential target for Canada is Jack Evans. The fullback played for Wales up to u18 level and was part of the Gloucester Academy program before moving to Llandovery in the Welsh Premiership and most recently Cardiff RFC. Evans is immediately eligible for Canada having been born in Victoria, moving to the UK at a young age.
