NOLA Gold have signed flanker Giovanni Lapp for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 30-year-old has been with the team since the 2019 season but is yet to make his full professional debut.
A former offensive lineman for the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen, Lapp has slimmed down since his collegiate football days and is now a mobile 220lbs (101kg). Injury prevented him from taking the field in 2019. Lapp played against Rugby ATL in the 2020 preseason but he did not make a regular season appearance.
The Gold now have seven loose forwards signed up for the 2021 season. Already under contract are returnees Cam Dolan, Nikola Bursic, Malcolm May, and Moni Tonga’uiha. They are joined by collegiate draft pick Andrew Guerra and ex-San Diego flanker Devin Short.