MLR Notes – Hilterbrand and Hilsenbeck arrive, Golla re-signs

The New England Free Jacks have added experience to their front row with the signing of former Eagles hooker James Hilterbrand for the remainder of the 2023 Major League Rugby campaign. It’s an injury dispensation signing to cover for Andrew Quattrin, though the Canadian international is not expected to miss more than a couple weeks of action with groin strain.

It’s the second time Hilterbrand has been a late-season addition in MLR, having played three games for the San Diego Legion last year. He won 20 caps for the USA between 2016 and 2019, and will celebrate his 34th birthday in just a few days. Hilterbrand’s arrival likely means that Kianu Kereru-Symes will switch his focus to loosehead prop for the time being.

Utah have reached into the USA Hawks roster to snap up a front rower of their own. Theirs is of the prop variety, and a big one at that. Stephan Bernal-Wendt was a collegiate football player for the University of Hawai’i. The 24-year-old from Honolulu played rugby in high school and returned to the pitch with the Hawks for their games played in Charlotte.

Standing 6’1″ (1.85m), Bernal-Wendt tipped the scales at a whopping 325lbs (148kg) during his senior campaign with the Rainbow Warriors in 2021. He follows the earlier signing of hooker Sam Faoagali from the Hawks, the new development side created in partnership between MLR and USA Rugby.

With both Kurt Coleman and Duncan van Schalkwyk dealing with injuries this season, ATL have signed Christopher Hilsenbeck to shore up their flyhalf stocks. The 31-year-old represented Germany in 22 tests between 2012 and 2019, notably playing against Canada in 2018, but is US-born and now Eagles-eligible using the Union Transfer regulation. Hilsenbeck has been a regular starter in the French Pro D2 for the past decade with Colomiers, Vannes, and most recently Carcassonne and has scored over a thousand points as a front line goal kicker.

While that is certainly good news for ATL fans and potentially Eagles coach Scott Lawrence, there was reason for serious concern from Friday night’s game against the Arrows. Co-captain and star lock Johan Momsen appeared to injure his forearm late in the first half and though he stuck it out to halftime, he did not return after the break. ATL have second row cover in Jordan Brown and Nahuel Milán, but will not want to lose one of the league’s best forwards in the thick of a playoff race.

The Seawolves are smarting after the loss of captain Riekert Hattingh for several weeks and will be anxiously awaiting news on a pair of forwards who came off injured against Houston. Tighthead prop Sam Matenga was replaced before halftime by Mason Pedersen, and Samu Manoa looked to be favoring his upper leg after scoring a try 10 minutes into the second half. There is no update yet on whether either will miss out on this weekend’s game against Chicago or beyond.

NOLA continue to feel the wrath of the rugby gods after losing both Eric Howard and Harley Wheeler before kickoff against San Diego. First choice scrumhalf Luke Campbell was then forced off early in the second half with what appeared to be an HIA. The Gold had to call in hooker Cam Falcon and flanker Giovanni Lapp to fill out their roster for the game. Lapp hadn’t made an MLR appearance in two years, and Falcon’s last game was during the 2020 season.

The first re-signing ahead of the 2024 season has come from Dallas. Appropriately it’s Sam Golla who has re-upped for another year. The first overall selection in the 2023 Collegiate Draft has impressed mightily in recent weeks and is a shoe-in for MLR’s Rookie of the Year award. A former USA u20 select, the 24-year-old could add Eagles honors to his resume in the near future after being included in the extended player pool for the August test series.