Arrows Announce Signings of Canadian Scrum-Halves Di Nardo & McRorie

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO, ON – The Toronto Arrows are pleased to announce the signings of Canadian scrum-halves Riley Di Nardo and Gordon McRorie.

Di Nardo, 26, returns to his hometown club after making 13 appearances for the Arrows throughout the 2019 and 2020 Major League Rugby seasons. An original Arrow with the designation of Arrow #22, Di Nardo notably featured in the club’s inaugural MLR match against NOLA Gold on January 26, 2019, and would go on to help guide the Arrows to a post-season berth in the team’s first year in the league.

The Toronto native featured internationally for the Canada Maple Leafs Sevens national development program between 2015 and 2017, and is a graduate of the Ontario Blues senior men’s provincial program. Di Nardo is an alumnus of both the Guelph Gryphons and Queen’s Gaels post-secondary programs, and played his grassroots rugby with the Toronto Scottish and Toronto Saracens.

McRorie, 33, joins the Arrows from Italian club AS Milano, where the Canadian held a player-coach role for the previous two seasons.

Since making his test debut in 2014, the Canadian international accrued 45 test caps with 283 points scored for his adopted nation. He was a member of Canada’s 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup teams, and captained the national side throughout the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship.

McRorie is a graduate of the Prairie Wolf Pack senior men’s provincial program, and played his grassroots rugby with the Calgary Hornets.

With four senior team scrum-halves currently listed on the Arrows’ injured reserve and unavailable for selection this coming weekend – Andrew Ferguson is out for the season (hamstring), Ross Braude and Cole Brown are both week-to-week (lower-body injuries), and the full extent of Chris Bell’s lower-body injury sustained last week is still being evaluated – the experienced Canadian halfbacks stand to slot into the lineup immediately, and will likely make their season debuts this weekend.

“I have never seen a team lose all its players in a single position like we have this year, but from adversity comes opportunity,” said Mark Winokur, Toronto Arrows Chief Operating Officer and General Manager. “Both Gord and Riley are quality players and quality people, and both were more than happy to step in and help out in a tough situation, as we have faced a fair few this season. We are excited to have them in the room and on the team, and we’re confident they’ll be able to step in and make an impact right away.”

The Arrows (4-4; 20 points) enter Week 10 of the season with a home clash against Old Glory (0-8; 3 points) on Saturday, April 9. The Eastern Conference meeting will be played at York Lions Stadium, and will kick off at 12 p.m. ET.

Tickets are available for purchase via AXS, the official ticketing partner of the Toronto Arrows, on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. Single game tickets start as low as $15 and are available for all home games in 2022.

About Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club:

Established in 2018, the Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club is Canada’s first and only professional rugby union team.

Competing in Major League Rugby, the team is equipped to compete against top-tier North American professional club teams, providing emerging Canadian talent with enhanced and more frequent opportunities to hone their skills at an elite level.

For more information, visit https://torontoarrows.com/

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For more information, please contact:

Brock Smith
Communications Manager
Toronto Arrows
[email protected]