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New York have made their first player announcements of the off-season with confirmation that Andy Ellis, Dylan Fawsitt, and Nate Brakeley have re-signed for the 2022 Major League Rugby season. The trio acted as the senior player leadership group in 2021 with Fawsitt club captain.
Ellis enjoyed his first season of MLR after arriving from Japan. The former All Blacks scrumhalf looked in vintage form at the age of 37, playing 14 of the team’s 17 teams and scoring 5 tries. This coming season will be his 18th year as a professional player, having debuted for Canterbury in 2005.
This will be Fawsitt’s fifth MLR campaign and fourth with New York having played for the Glendale Raptors on loan in 2018. The 31-year-old Irish hooker played 16 games this past season and scored a team-high 9 tries. Fawsitt also continued his international career with the USA, winning 5 caps to bring his total to 20 since qualifying on residency in 2018.
Brakeley started 15 games for the club in 2021, his third season in MLR. Two appearances came on the blindside flank with the rest at lock. The 32-year-old played all seven tests for the Eagles this past year with five of them starts alongside clubmate Nick Civetta.
Also of note is that the ‘United’ name has been abandoned for the new season, with social media platforms and releases all referring to the team simply as ‘Rugby New York’. It remains to be seen if a new nickname or logo will be produced. The supporters club are known as the ‘Rooster Boosters’, a reference to the now-former RUNY acronym.
