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Major League Rugby’s newest team has begin to formally confirm their roster for their inaugural campaign. Two transactions have brought in Eagles prop Jake Turnbull and 1st-round draft pick James Rivers from Seattle and San Diego respectively.
Turnbull made his full international debut this past year after a strong campaign with the Seawolves. He had previously captained the Falcons during their two matches in Montevideo. The 30-year-old loosehead is a strong candidate to lead what is expected to be a young Anthem roster. Seattle have received salary cap considerations in return, and are already well covered at loosehead with newcomers Chance Wenglewski and Cameron Orr joining Dewald Donald as senior options.
Rivers, 23, is originally from England but represented Hong Kong at the World Rugby u20 Trophy in both 2018 and 2019. More recently the 6’6″ (1.98m) lock captained the Arizona Wildcats and is now on track to complete his five-year residency requirement to qualify for the USA in the fall of this year. The Legion have agreed a one-year loan deal for Rivers with Anthem, sending salary cap considerations to Carolina as well in exchange for an extra foreign player spot in 2024.
Winger Cael Hodgson has already been acquired by Anthem from NOLA Gold, while former Toulouse Academy lock or loose forward Braemar Murray is also expected to sign on. Free Jacks prop Ivan Pula, Chicago lock or loose forward Justice Nkombua, and American Raptors lock Lucas Gramlick are others set to join the Charlotte-based side.
Meanwhile MLR has confirmed that Anthem will also adopt the international player card system, and will be permitted to trade up to four slots to other teams. The league instituted a match day maximum of 12 imports last season, meaning no more than two additional slots can be acquired by any team. Similarly no more than two cards can be traded away by a single team.
