photo credit: David Molloy Photography

LA eyeing Wallaby talent for 2021 MLR season

The LA Giltinis are eyeing a number of Australian players to bolster their squad for their inaugural Major League Rugby campaign in 2021. Having already secured Darren Coleman and Stephen Hoiles as coaches, Georgina Robinson of the Sydney Morning Herald reports that Wallaby caps Tom Robertson, Joe Powell, and Jack Maddocks are among those being courted by the expansion side.

Robertson, 25, is a prop with 24 caps and has played for the Waratahs since 2016. Powell is a year older with 4 test caps having started at the Brumbies in 2015. Maddocks is just 23 and has 7 caps. He has been used as an outside back in his three seasons with the Rebels and one with the Waratahs, but has the ability to play anywhere in the backs.

Also on the radar are a pair of Rebels veterans. Flanker Angus Cottrell, 30, has captained the Super Rugby side and was called up to the Australia training squad in 2018. Bill Meakes is a hard-running center who at 29 also has English Premiership experience with Gloucester. Though uncapped at test level he played for the Wallabies against the Barbarians in 2018 and has previously appeared in the World Sevens Series and World Rugby u20 Championship.

None of the above have signed contracts as of yet and could still opt to stay in Super Rugby, but the competition’s immediate future is uncertain. There is also growing frustration among Australian players about the direction of their national union. Wallabies lock Izack Rodda is one of three who recently left the Reds while fellow internationals Luke Jones, Matt Philip, and Kurtley Beale are headed for France.

Should any decide to chance their arm in MLR, it could be that their stay is temporary but the Giltinis look set to be a competitive outfit from the start. At least four players from the Colorado Raptors have joined LA with prop Blake Rogers the first to be made public.

The team has yet to confirm any of their roster ahead of next weekend’s inaugural Collegiate Draft. LA are currently slated to make the 14th and 22nd selections after trading their 2nd overall pick to NOLA in a deal that also brought the Giltinis an extra foreign player slot.

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