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The NOLA Gold have extended the contracts of flanker John Sullivan and winger Tim Maupin for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. For both players in will be a third season with the club, and it brings the number of re-signings to 18 for the Gold since the close of the 2019 campaign that saw them narrowly miss out on a playoff spot.
Sullivan has been one of NOLA’s most reliable players in his two seasons with the side. Despite being primarily a loose forward, he filled in at lock for much of 2018 after injuries decimated the squad. In 2019 he was more often used as a second half replacement, though almost exclusively at his preferred flanker position. The 26-year-old has been experimenting in a new spot during the off-season, playing loosehead prop for the USA South Panthers in their match against the Cayman Islands in August.
Injuries have disrupted both campaigns for Maupin. He missed half of the inaugural season and four games this past year but has started every match for the Gold when fit. Now 30, Maupin has nine Eagles caps and was included in the World Cup long-list named earlier this year. He is most at home on the wing but has also been used effectively as an outside center for NOLA.
