Toronto Arrows Announce Nine Additional Signings

23 October 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO, ON – The Toronto Arrows are pleased to announce a third group of significant signings ahead of the 2020 Major League Rugby season.

The following players have re-signed with the club:

Rob Brouwer
Hometown: Lindsay, Ont.
Position: Prop
Age: 36

Riley Di Nardo
Hometown: Toronto, Ont.
Position: Scrum-half
Age: 24

Patrick Lynott
Hometown: Chelsea, Que.
Position: Prop
Age: 24

Jamie Mackenzie
Hometown: Oakville, Ont.
Position: Scrum-half
Age: 30

Dan Moor
Hometown: Toronto, Ont.
Position: Wing
Age: 29

Mike Sheppard
Hometown: Brampton, Ont.
Position: Lock
Age: 30

John Sheridan
Hometown: Bolton, Ont.
Position: Wing
Age: 25

The following players have joined the club:

Ben LeSage
Hometown: Calgary, Alta.
Position: Centre
Age: 24

Tyler Rowland
Hometown: Toronto, Ont.
Position: Prop
Age: 20

“We are really excited to have signed not only many of our core players from last year, but also some great new Canadian talent,” said Arrows Vice President and General Manager Mark Winokur. “This underscores our commitment to homegrown players, and with the mix of off-shore players coming into the squad, we feel this gives us what all teams want – the best chance to win games in a tough league.”

The club’s seven returnees combined for 82 appearances in Toronto’s inaugural MLR season, helping to guide the club to a semi-final appearance with an 11-5-0 record. All seven returning players are Canadian.

Rob Brouwer

• Named to 2019 All-MLR 1st XV Team
• Made 16 appearances (1,031 minutes)
• Completed 154 tackles
• Completed a team-high 19 dominant tackles
• Earned a 93.3% tackle completion rate
• Scored two tries
• Earned 11 international caps for Canada

Riley Di Nardo

• Made 10 appearances (143 minutes)
• Completed 12 kicks (308 kicking metres)
• Completed 23 tackles
• Earned a 88.5% tackle completion rate

Patrick Lynott

• Made 10 appearances (182 minutes)
• Completed 26 tackles
• Earned a 78.8% tackle completion rate

Jamie Mackenzie

• Made eight appearances (336 minutes)
• Completed 24 kicks (531 kicking metres)
• Completed 39 tackles
• Earned a 90.7% tackle completion rate
• Earned 20 international caps for Canada

Dan Moor

• Named to 2019 All-MLR 2nd XV Team
• Made 17 appearances (1,269 minutes)
• Completed 126 tackles
• Earned a 84% tackle completion rate
• Ran for a team-high 1,092 metres carried
• Completed a team-high 10 offloads
• Scored a team-high seven tries
• Earned 14 international caps for Canada

Mike Sheppard

• Named to 2019 All-MLR 1st XV Team
• Made 15 appearances (1,140 minutes)
• Completed a team-high 203 tackles
• Completed 17 dominant tackles
• Earned a 86% tackle completion rate
• Ran for 789 metres carried
• Scored five tries
• Earned 10 international caps for Canada

John Sheridan

• Made six appearances (250 minutes)
• Completed 15 tackles
• Ran for 142 metres carried
• Scored two tries

LeSage joins the Arrows from the Calgary Canucks. The 24-year-old has earned 15 caps (14 starts) with the Canadian national team since making his international debut in November 2016 against Romania, and was member of Canada’s 2019 Rugby World Cup squad. The graduate of Canada’s U20 program also recently completed his engineering degree in mechatronics.

Rowland comes to the Arrows via the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the Toronto Nomads. The 20-year-old tighthead prop has been a core member of Canada’s age-grade sides over the past three years; he’s featured for Canada’s U20 side at the World Rugby U20 Trophy the past two summers, and served as captain for the national U18 side in 2017.

Toronto has now signed 30 players ahead of the club’s sophomore Major League Rugby campaign.

2020 season tickets are now on sale.

The club will be making additional signing announcements in the coming weeks as season preparations continue to build.

About Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club:

The Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club is Canada’s first professional rugby union team.

Competing in Major League Rugby, the team is equipped to compete against top-tier North American 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] 

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Header Photo: Jeff Chan