Canadian-eligible players in Major League Rugby 2022

Three weeks of the 2022 Major League Rugby season are now in the books and rosters are beginning to stabilise. Canadian-eligible feature on all 13 rosters this year. Below we will take a look at Canada’s MLR player pool as it stands in detail. Note that DTH van der Merwe is included despite retiring from international duty following the 2019 World Cup.

There are currently 66 Canadian-eligible players attached to MLR teams. This has the potential to yield a record number of players making match day appearances in the competition, and additional players could yet be added as the season progresses. The 2021 season saw 60 making at least one match day appearance, the highest figure of the four seasons to date.

MLR 2018: 10
MLR 2019: 52 (35 Arrows, 17 other)
MLR 2020: 41 (24 Arrows, 17 other)
MLR 2021: 60 (30 Arrows, 30 other)

The introduction of the Toronto Arrows in the 2019 season provided the most significant boost to Canadian-eligible players in MLR, though those associated with USA-based teams have also increased steadily. It should be noted that many more would have appeared in 2020 had the season not been restricted to only 5 weeks due to the pandemic.

Of the 66 players currently attached to MLR sides, 18 are either completely new to the competition or had no match day appearances prior to the 2022 campaign. 34 are attached to the Arrows, with 32 on US-based teams. 13 players who appeared on match day rosters in 2021 are not currently attached to MLR clubs, while Kainoa Lloyd returns to the competition after a two-year hiatus. Jeff Hassler was not included in the list of departures as he made no appearances last season.

In terms of international recognition, 40 of the 66 players have been capped at senior test level. Three of the uncapped players have represented Canada ‘A’ with another eight having suited up for Canada u20. Les Leulua’iali’i-Makin and Jack Reeves have played for Australia and England, respectively, at u20 level.

 

 CANADIAN-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS BY CLUB

*no MLR appearances prior to 2022

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE

LA GILTINIS (6): Djustice Sears-Duru (LH), Lindsey Stevens (HO), *Les Leulua’iali’i-Makin (TH), Corey Thomas (LO/N8), Ben LeSage (CE), DTH van der Merwe (WI)

SAN DIEGO LEGION (5): Pat Lynott (LH), Michael Smith (FL), Jason Higgins (SH), Josh Thiel (CE), Kainoa Lloyd (WI)

DALLAS JACKALS (3): Liam Murray (LH), *Dewald Kotze (HO), Moe Abdelmonem (FL)

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES (3): Nakai Penny (FL), Travis Larsen (FL/N8), *Reid Watkins (SH)

AUSTIN GILGRONIS (1): Cole Davis (WI)

HOUSTON SABERCATS (1): Robbie Povey (FH/FB)

UTAH WARRIORS (1): *Emerson Prior (LH)

 

EASTERN CONFERENCE

TORONTO ARROWS (34): Rob Brouwer (LH), Cole Keith (LH), *Sam Mace (HO), Jack McRogers (HO), Andrew Quattrin (HO), Marc-Antoine Ouellet (TH), Tyler Rowland (TH), *Bryce Worden (TH), Paul Ciulini (LO), Mike Sheppard (LO), *Hank Stevenson (LO), Adrian Wadden (LO), Kyle Baillie (LO/FL), Mason Flesch (FL), Ollie Nott (FL), *James O’Neill (FL), Lucas Rumball (FL), Marcello Wainwright (FL), Siaki Vikilani (N8), *Taitusi Vikilani (N8), *Chris Bell (SH), Ross Braude (SH), *Cole Brown (SH), Andrew Ferguson (SH), Will Kelly (FH), Guiseppe du Toit (CE), Spencer Jones (CE), Mitch Richardson (CE), Kobe Faust (CE/WI), *Brandan Ferguson (WI), Johnny Sheridan (WI), *Brock Webster (WI/FB), *Conor McCann (FB), *Mitch Voralek (FB)

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS (4): *Foster DeWitt (LH/HO), Josh Larsen (LO), Reegan O’Gorman (LO), *Jack Reeves (CE)

OLD GLORY DC (3): Jake Ilnicki (TH), Luke Campbell (FL/N8), Doug Fraser (CE/WI)

RUGBY ATL (2): Conor Keys (LO), Matt Heaton (FL)

RUGBY NEW YORK (2): Quinn Ngawati (CE/WI), *Andrew Coe (WI/FB)

NOLA GOLD (1): Eric Howard (HO)

 

MLR 2021 PLAYERS NOT RETURNING (13): Alexandre Janlin (LH), Chris Atkinson (TH), Nik Hildebrand (TH), Lucas Albornoz (LO), Kolby Francis (LO/N8), Fraser Hurst (SH), George Barton (CE), Ciaran Hearn (CE), Lockie Kratz (CE), Nick Taylor (CE/FB), Karsten Leitner (WI), Alex Russell (WI), Patrick Parfrey (FB)

Notes: Alexandre Janlin returned to Auch in France; Kolby Francis, Fraser Hurst, and Patrick Parfrey are pursuing careers outside professional rugby; Ciaran Hearn retired from professional rugby; Lockie Kratz and Alex Russell have joined the Canada Sevens squad; George Barton was due to join Rugby ATL but his status is currently unclear; Nick Taylor has recently appeared with Austin’s academy side; Chris Atkinson, Nik Hildebrand, and Lucas Albornoz are unsigned.

 

 CANADIAN-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS BY POSITION

NAME

POS

HGT

WGT

DOB

CAPS

CLUB

#1 LOOSEHEAD PROP

Brouwer, Rob	LH	1.91 6-3	116 255	Dec 10 1982	11	Toronto Arrows
Keith, Cole	LH/TH	1.83 6-0	110 240	May 7 1997	24	Toronto Arrows
Lynott, Pat	LH	1.78 5-10	114 250	Aug 19 1993	–	San Diego Legion
Murray, Liam	LH	1.86 6-1	114 250	Oct 17 1997	1	Dallas Jackals
Prior, Emerson	LH	1.89 6-2	116 255	Jun 4 1998	–	Utah Warriors
Sears-Duru, Djustice	LH	1.85 6-1	118 260	May 24 1994	60	LA Giltinis

#2 HOOKER

DeWitt, Foster	HO/LH	1.86 6-1	107 235	May 25 1996	1	New England Free Jacks
Howard, Eric	HO	1.75 5-9	105 230	Sep 5 1993	33	NOLA Gold
Kotze, Dewald	HO	1.83 6-0	108 240	Jun 14 1997	–	Dallas Jackals
Mace, Sam	HO	1.80 5-11	104 230	Aug 9 1998	–	Toronto Arrows
McRogers, Jack	HO	1.80 5-11	105 230	Oct 15 1998	–	Toronto Arrows
Quattrin, Andrew	HO	1.83 6-0	112 245	Aug 29 1996	13	Toronto Arrows
Stevens, Lindsey	HO	1.79 5-10	98 215	Aug 27 1995	–	LA Giltinis

#3 TIGHTHEAD PROP

Ilnicki, Jake	TH	1.83 6-0	117 255	Feb 24 1992	42	Old Glory DC
Leulua’iali’i-Makin, Les	TH/LH	1.74 5-9	115 255	Jan 2 1992	–	LA Giltinis
Ouellet, Marc-Antoine	TH	1.92 6-4	123 270	Apr 10 1995	–	Toronto Arrows
Rowland, Tyler	TH	1.89 6-2	120 265	Oct 16 1999	6	Toronto Arrows
Worden, Bryce	TH/LH	1.90 6-3	118 260	Jul 18 1995	–	Toronto Arrows

#4/5 LOCK

Baillie, Kyle	LO/FL	1.95 6-5	112 245	Apr 7 1991	34	Toronto Arrows
Ciulini, Paul	LO	1.96 6-5	119 260	Oct 18 1995	8	Toronto Arrows
Keys, Conor	LO	1.98 6-6	120 265	Jul 29 1996	26	Rugby ATL
Larsen, Josh	LO	1.96 6-5	114 250	Apr 4 1994	18	New England Free Jacks
O’Gorman, Reegan	LO	1.98 6-6	118 260	May 7 1996	6	New England Free Jacks
Sheppard, Mike	LO	1.93 6-4	112 245	Dec 20 1988	11	Toronto Arrows
Stevenson, Hank	LO	1.96 6-5	113 250	Dec 4 1999	–	Toronto Arrows
Wadden, Adrian	LO	1.98 6-6	111 245	Oct 3 1996	–	Toronto Arrows

#6/7 FLANKER

Abdelmonem, Moe	FL	1.78 5-10	97 215	Aug 13 1992	–	Dallas Jackals
Flesch, Mason	FL	1.96 6-5	105 230	Nov 18 1999	2	Toronto Arrows
Heaton, Matt	FL	1.89 6-2	102 225	Feb 9 1993	31	Rugby ATL
Larsen, Travis	FL/N8	1.91 6-3	107 235	Jun 4 1991	–	Seattle Seawolves
Nott, Ollie	FL	1.89 6-2	102 225	May 26 1995	2	Toronto Arrows
O’Neill, James	FL	1.82 6-0	103 225	Jan 22 1998	–	Toronto Arrows
Penny, Nakai	FL	1.90 6-3	100 220	Apr 4 1996	3	Seattle Seawolves
Rumball, Lucas	FL	1.89 6-2	105 230	Aug 2 1995	43	Toronto Arrows
Smith, Michael	FL	1.90 6-3	100 220	Mar 16 1998	5	San Diego Legion
Wainwright, Marcello	FL	1.81 5-11	102 225	Aug 2 1996	–	Toronto Arrows

#8 EIGHTMAN

Campbell, Luke	N8/FL	1.90 6-3	111 245	Feb 10 1992	13	Old Glory DC
Thomas, Corey	N8/LO	1.93 6-4	115 255	Sep 21 1994	7	LA Giltinis
Vikilani, Siaki	N8	1.91 6-3	123 270	Aug 7 2000	7	Toronto Arrows
Vikilani, Taitusi	N8	1.88 6-2	113 250	Jan 21 1997	–	Toronto Arrows

#9 SCRUMHALF

Bell, Chris	SH	1.74 5-9	78 170	Sep 22 1997	–	Toronto Arrows
Braude, Ross	SH	1.68 5-6	84 185	Jan 18 2000	8	Toronto Arrows
Brown, Cole	SH	1.80 5-11	86 190	Feb 11 2000	–	Toronto Arrows
Ferguson, Andrew	SH	1.77 5-10	87 190	May 1 1992	10	Toronto Arrows
Higgins, Jason	SH	1.85 6-1	89 195	Mar 28 1995	5	San Diego Legion
Watkins, Reid	SH	1.75 5-9	84 185	Jun 12 1994	–	Seattle Seawolves

#10 FLYHALF

Kelly, Will	FH	1.91 6-3	97 215	Aug 5 1997	1	Toronto Arrows
Povey, Robbie	FH/FB	1.81 5-11	88 195	Sep 21 1996	11	Houston SaberCats

#12/13 CENTER

du Toit, Guiseppe	CE	1.83 6-0	96 210	Jul 29 1995	14	Toronto Arrows
Faust, Kobe	CE/WI	1.85 6-1	99 220	May 1 2002	–	Toronto Arrows
Fraser, Doug	CE/WI	1.72 5-8	93 205	Aug 5 1992	4	Old Glory DC
Jones, Spencer	CE	1.85 6-1	98 215	Jul 17 1997	6	Toronto Arrows
LeSage, Ben	CE	1.84 6-0	98 215	Nov 24 1995	24	LA Giltinis
Ngawati, Quinn	CE	1.94 6-4	100 220	May 15 1999	4	Rugby New York
Reeves, Jack	CE	1.80 5-11	88 195	May 5 2000	–	New England Free Jacks
Richardson, Mitch	CE	1.88 6-2	93 205	Jun 9 1996	–	Toronto Arrows
Thiel, Josh	CE/FB	1.83 6-0	100 220	Jun 2 1997	1	San Diego Legion

#11/14 WING

Davis, Cole	WI	1.88 6-2	102 225	Jul 6 1997	7	Austin Gilgronis
Ferguson, Brandan	WI	1.85 6-1	93 205	Sep 30 1997	–	Toronto Arrows
Lloyd, Kainoa	WI	1.80 5-11	96 210	May 21 1994	19	San Diego Legion
Sheridan, Johnny	WI	1.80 5-11	90 200	Jan 16 1994	–	Toronto Arrows
van der Merwe, DTH	WI	1.85 6-1	98 215	Apr 28 1986	61	LA Giltinis
Webster, Brock	WI/FB	1.82 6-0	82 180	Aug 21 2000	5	Toronto Arrows

#15 FULLBACK

Coe, Andrew	FB	1.88 6-2	94 205	Apr 8 1996	14	Rugby New York
McCann, Conor	FB	1.86 6-1	93 205	Jul 2 1993	–	Toronto Arrows
Voralek, Mitch	FB	1.83 6-0	89 195	Feb 21 1997	–	Toronto Arrows