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The LA Giltinis will welcome a third player from Darren Coleman’s Shute Shield-winning Gordon side for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. Having already confirmed hooker Mahe Vailanu and scrumhalf Harrison Goddard, LA will bring in front rower Robbie Abel to help bolster the scrum.
At 28 years old Charlie is the middle of three Abel brothers who play professionally. Older brother Robbie Abel is a hooker and Māori international who plays for the Waratahs, while Jacob Abel is the youngest and a scrumhalf with the Western Force. All three appeared recently in the Super Rugby Australia competition, with Charlie earning a debut cap as a replacement for the Rebels.
Abel had a stint in France with CS Beaune in 2016, then returning to Australia to play for Manly Marlins and the NSW Country Eagles in the National Rugby Championship. He then switched to Gordon for the 2019 Shute Shield and the Sydney Rays in the NRC later that year.
Though capable of playing across the front row, Abel is most often seen at tighthead prop and he provides a second No3 option along with Ruan Smith for the Giltinis. Scrum coach Alex Corbisiero has been tasked with molding a third tighthead option from loosehead signings Blake Rogers and Mafi Seanoa.
