It was good to see everyone come and mesh together and find that mojo we had in order to put the team together.”“Each game, we took it as an improvement, a stepping stone to what our potential could be,” Kuhl added. We came out and knew it would be a physical game but overall I thought we played really well over the season… The success of Old Glory was more than just two wins.

There are improvements you can make everywhere, but from the feedback from the fans both in social media and face to face, it was really nice to have people come up to you with their three kids and say it was you know the best sporting event they’d been to in the DC area. The organization is led by former USA Eagles' Paul Sheehy and Chris Dunlavey. Playing in front of all those people, it was incredible to see, [especially] after the losses and wins with everyone slapping hands and being so cheery and loving it. Old Glory DC’s inaugural exhibition season was a resounding success, as the team ended its trials on a two-game winning streak while attracting over 9,000 fans …

It’s really kind of frightening to think of all of the things we had to do.”“The name ‘Old Glory’ only came together in December of last year.


Fullback Nick Kuhl was one for four on conversions and added a penalty.“We were building on the improvement we’ve seen and we put it all together [versus the South],” Douglas said. With the addition of the players, coaches, and staff for the curtain raisers and VIPs invited to the events, the total attendance for the exhibition was over 9,000.“DC has the best supporters hands down in Major League Rugby,” Josh Brown exclaimed. Everybody knew exactly what their job was and you knew what the jobs were of the people on the left and right…  It’s a higher level of accountability, players have clearly defined roles but you have to get your job done otherwise it’s going to be noticeable.”After the final game, the front office and coaching staff will now have the task of evaluating the existing roster and deciding on the next steps to building its 2020 MLR lineup. Old Glory DC is a professional rugby team based in the District of Columbia and officially joined Major League Rugby (MLR) in 2018. To see people show up after we lose to Scotland 70-7, it could be really easy for them to just say okay I went to the first two games, I spend my money, I contributed, I’m done now.
“Hopefully [in 2020], you’ll see a fairly classy outfit that is going to be conditioned with a number of top-class players from all over the world coming together to play in DC… We got Old Glory out to the rugby community of DC.

“We knew each other’s abilities and we were communicating a lot better on the field. The Mid-Atlantic rugby community watched as the squad matured before their eyes. Their instruction brought the group together and forged a team to be reckoned with.“Coach Douglas was phenomenal and is the best coach I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing under,” Brown said.

At the same time, he’s very approachable, full of knowledge, and we all learned a lot.”According to Brown, Douglas ran a system that “wasn’t more complicated as much as there was definitely a higher level of accountability. None of this could of happened without the expert coaching from Andrew Douglas and Toshi Palamo.

In January, we signed our first player. We will talk to all the players next week and a few will come in and be MLR players hopefully. “Old Glory is admittedly a work in progress, and Shannon, the Scotland U-20s, the USA Rugby South, and the Ontario Blues did us a huge favor by coming and competing against us.”In mid-May, just over five months after DC’s entry into MLR, Old Glory’s introduction to professional rugby came against Shannon RFC, from the area around Limerick, Ireland. All of the hard work and practice paid off as the offense scored four tries and the defense held the South to a single first half score. “That was definitely the coolest experience I’ve had in my athletic career as a whole. That’s where [the maturation] started and then it was a downhill sprint for the last two weeks… The Scotland game is where we saw our potential and saw the level play we’re capable of.”Old Glory got its first taste of victory on June 1 when it defeated the USA Rugby South Panthers, 28-7. 2021 Players and Coaches Players Thretton Palamo JAMASON FA’ANANA-SCHULTZ JACK ISCARO APISAI NAIKATINI DOUG FRASER To Be Revealed To Be … From where they started from to where they went, there is quite exciting progress there and that is the key to going forward. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Old Glory DC will enter league competition with Major League Rugby (MLR) in February of 2020. “He obviously has a lot of experience coaching at a very high level and he gave us a lot to prove. “Rugby is the greatest team sport that there is in the world. While most of the tickets were sold online prior to the tests, 407 people on average bought tickets at the gate. Old Glory did its best and had plenty of opportunities, however only Dante Lopresti was able to cross the try line in the first half.“In the second game against Scotland, even though the score looked the worst, was where we really clicked,” captain Josh Brown asserted. “I don’t know if the anticipation has built up a hunger but these fans are ridiculous. Free delivery in 3 to 5 days!