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Rugby ATL have confirmed three more players for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. As expected, loose forwards Ross Deacon and Jason Damm will play for the expansion franchise, with St. Bonaventure scrumhalf Eamonn Matthews also signing up. All three have represented the USA at u20 level.
Deacon is the most notable addition. The 26-year-old No8 was among the league’s most effective ball carriers from the back of the scrum last season, starting 12 matches for Rugby United New York. It’s the third MLR team for Deacon, having featured as a flanker for Austin Elite in 2018.
There was limited game time for Damm, 24, at the Glendale (now Colorado) Raptors in 2019. He played three matches with just one start. A blindside flanker or No8, Damm was a standout in college with the Clemson Tigers before making the jump to MLR.
This will be the first season of professional rugby for Matthews. He was one of 11 nominees for the Rudy Scholz award as the country’s best collegiate rugby player in 2019, with ATL winger Harley Wheeler another. Both Matthews and Wheeler are just 22 years old, Matthews being the youngest scrumhalf in MLR currently contracted for the 2020 season.
