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Peni Tagive is among a host of new names settling in at preseason training with Austin Elite ahead of the 2019 Major League Rugby season. The former Baylor running back and rugby league standout joins the team after spending the club season with Old Blue in New York.
Tagive was named in the US Eagles training squad earlier this year after qualifying on residency and also spent time with the Eagles Sevens program in Chula Vista though he is yet to be capped in either. At 6’1″ (1.91m) and 225lbs (102kg) the 30-year-old casts an imposing figure on the wing.
A pair of tight forwards have arrived from South Africa. Second row Dylan Pieterse, 23, brings plenty of height at 6’7″ (2.00m) and Currie Cup experience with Eastern Province. The other is 22-year-old Tiaan Erasmus, a mobile hooker from the Free State development system.
Joining from the Clermont Auvergne academy program is Moroccan international Soheyl Jaoudat, 22, who is a comparatively slight figure but very quick in the outside backs. There will also be no shortage of pace on the flank when Dom Bailey takes the field. The 24-year-old was a Collegiate All-American Sevens select at Davenport and played for the Chicago Lions until last month.
Austin confirmed the signing of Sebastián Kalm from the NOLA Gold yesterday. Also headed to Texas are Canadian brothers Josh and Travis Larsen, Uruguayan imports Juan Echeverría, Andrés Vilaseca, and Rodrigo Silva, and coming from France are prop Simon Courcoul and midfielder Simon Bienvenu.
