Rugby United New York have signed former Ireland u20 forward Evan Mintern for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. Two weeks shy of his 24th birthday, the 6’4″ (1.93m) second or back row arrives from All-Ireland League first division side Cork Constitution.
Mintern represented Ireland at the 2016 World Rugby u20 Championship, and subsequently represented Munster ‘A’ for two seasons in the British & Irish Cup. Most recently he won an AIL Division 1A title with Cork where he has been playing at No8, where he is likely to line up for New York as a direct replacement for departed Ross Deacon.
The Irish contingent at RUNY continues to grow with Mintern joining fellow Cork arrival Jason Higgins to the Big Apple. Second row Cormac Daly recently lined up opposite Mintern while playing for Clontarf in AIL regular season play. Daly signed for RUNY in November.
Also confirmed by New York for 2020 are three returning players. Loosehead prop Brian McKellar and winger Erik Tack were part of the extended training squad in 2019 but did not see any regular season action. Midfielder Jake Feury was named in one match day squad after joining late in the season. All three are 25 years old.