Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The Houston SaberCats have confirmed the signings of Canadian pair Liam Murray and Crosby Stewart for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. Both players arrive from the Pacific Pride, Rugby Canada’s centralized national development program. They follow Pride teammate Nik Hildebrand in making the move from Langford to Houston.
Murray originally hails from Langley and more recently played for James Bay before joining the Pride. The 23-year-old came to prominence as Canada’s starting loosehead prop at the 2017 World Rugby u20 Trophy, earning a call-up to the Canada ‘A’ side for the Americas Pacific Challenge later that year. He attended the 2018 World Rugby combine at Glendale with MLR scouts in attendance.
A member of the Indigenous community of Prince Rupert, Stewart graduated through BC’s age-grade program before making his senior Bears debut in 2016 as a winger. He has since switched to scrumhalf where he was a first choice player for the Pride this past season. Now 26 years old, Stewart is also an accomplished sevens player having represented Canada at the FISU tournament in 2019.
Both Murray and Stewart were named in Canada’s senior training squad for the High Performance Camp that begins on November 9. At Houston they will find not only Hildebrand but a fourth Canadian player, international flyhalf Robbie Povey, who was acquired from Utah earlier this year.
