{"id":399002,"date":"2026-01-08T04:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T04:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/399002\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T04:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T04:40:08","slug":"10-usa-eagles-headline-anthem-rcs-new-look-roster-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/399002\/","title":{"rendered":"10 USA Eagles headline Anthem RC\u2019s new-look roster for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anthem Rugby Carolina<\/a> have confirmed their full roster for the 2026 Major League Rugby<\/a> season, with former first-overall draft pick Conner Mooneyham<\/a> and another nine capped USA<\/a> Eagles headlining the squad.<\/p>\n

Former New Zealand<\/a> U20s back Jordan Trainor<\/a> was the latest signing unveiled by Anthem RC. The additions of backrower Marques Fuala\u2019au and scrum-half Zion Going<\/a> to the franchise\u2019s roster has also been confirmed since Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

Anthem were founded about two years ago and continues to search for its first victory. With 10 USA internationals bolstering the club\u2019s roster, \u00a0fans in Charlotte, North Carolina, will be feeling upbeat as MLR prepares to usher in its new era.<\/p>\n

Sam Golla, Makeen Alikhan<\/a>, Alex Maughan<\/a>, Payton Telea-Ilalio and Moni Tonga\u2019uiha are the five capped USA Eagles in the forwards. There are some electrifying backs with Test experience too, including Luke Carty<\/a> and Malacchi Esdale.<\/p>\n

Erich Storti, Tom Pittman<\/a> and Mooneyham are the other Eagles set to wear Anthem\u2019s colours in the 2026 season. Mooneyham was the first-ever number-one draft choice in MLR history, having been selected by the Dallas Jackals<\/a> after attending Life University.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kind of like an explosion, my phone should\u2019ve broken because of all the notifications that I got. It was unexpected for sure,\u201d Mooneyham told\u00a0RugbyPass in June 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they told me that I was going to be the number one pick, I didn\u2019t expect things to blow up as much as they did with rugby not being as popular as other sports in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely an exciting time for me and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mooneyham, who last played for the USA in a 36-17 win over Tonga<\/a> in November 2024, is one of 12 players returning to Anthem after last season. This is a largely new-look roster, with 20 fresh signings eager to make their mark.<\/p>\n

Will Sherman, Campbell Robb, Johan Momsen<\/a>, Seth Smith<\/a>, Oliver Kane<\/a>, Ramiro Gurovich<\/a>, James Scott<\/a>, Alessandro Heaney<\/a>, Baden Godfrey and Fuala\u2019au are the new forwards. Alex Hernandez, Elias Garza and Alejandro Martinez Tapia<\/a> are the returning forwards without USA caps.<\/p>\n

Junior Gafa, EJ Freeman, Ishma-eel Safodien and Karl Keane<\/a> are the returning backline players. Jullian Roberts, Will Leonard, Jeron Pantor<\/a>, Going and Trainor round out the 2026 roster as signings who have already generated plenty of interest on socials.<\/p>\n

Trainor is one of the more significant pick-ups for the Charlotte-based side, with the outside back bringing Super Rugby and New Zealand NPC experience to the franchise. The New Zealander has spent time with Auckland<\/a> and, more recently, Northland.<\/p>\n

Anthem will be Trainor\u2019s fourth MLR franchise in as many seasons, having enjoyed stints with LA Giltinis, NOLA Gold<\/a> and the Utah Warriors. Trainor started at fullback in all 16 appearances for Utah last season, scoring a double in the Conference Semi-final win over Seattle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthem Rugby Carolina have confirmed their full roster for the 2026 Major League Rugby season, with former first-overall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-399002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}