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Vetekina Malafu and Michael Reid will play for Old Glory DC in the 2020 Major League Rugby season. Both appeared in all four spring exhibition fixtures for the expansion side, and both were previously on the books for Austin Elite. They make it four returning players officially re-signed following Josh Brown and Ryan Burroughs.
A native of Kihei, Hawai’i, Malafu became a Collegiate All-American at Kutztown after spending one year at Snow College on a football scholarship. The 25-year-old joined Austin ahead of the 2018 MLR season but did not make a regular season appearance. He re-surfaced with Old Glory in the spring, one of only five players to start every game. Malafu’s hard fend and low center of gravity led to two tries and several highlight-reel carries.
Reid has become well-traveled through his rugby career. Born in Durban, South Africa, he moved to Virginia as a youngster and spent time in New Zealand prior to representing the USA at the 2014 Junior World Championship. The 23-year-old scrumhalf played for the San Francisco Rush of PRO in 2016 and then signed for the Elite, though he missed out on most of the 2018 season with injury. He started Old Glory’s first ever match against Shannon and the win over the Ontario Blues in June.
