San Diego Legion & Brett Thompson

The San Diego Legion have added Eagles Sevens and 15s player Brett Thompson for the 2018 Major League Rugby season. He is from Tempe, Arizona, 27 years old, 6’4″, and 225 pounds.

Thompson was exposed to rugby at an early age and began playing when he was 12. His father Salty is the USA Boys High School All-Americans Coach, and also coached Tempe RFC, as well as at Arizona State. Brett spent a number of years playing with Tempe RFC.

Tompson attended Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona, where he played football as a defensive end. After graduating in 2009, he then went to the University of Arizona and played defensive end on the football team for two years before switching to rugby full-time. He helped the rugby team advance to the Collegiate Rugby Championship finals in 2012 and was named to the All-Tournament team in 2013.

USA Rugby National Team

Thompson was selected to represent the United States for the IRB Junior World Trophy in Kenya in 2009.

Thompson has been a part of the United States Senior National Team Player Pool since 2012. First, he was a member of the Eagles Sevens team in 2012 and has been capped 19 times, most recently during the Canada Sevens in Vancouver March 10-11, 2018. He completed residency programs in Chula Vista and was part of the team that won the Olympic Qualifier in North Carolina, as well as on the Olympic Training Squad.

Thompson has also been capped 6 times for the Eagles 15s team and was selected in 2018 for the Eagles overall squad for the Americas Rugby Championship. He debuted for the Eagles against Canada at Sacramento on June 21, 2014, and his last test was against South Africa in London on October 7, 2015, at the Rugby World Cup.

Professional Rugby

Thompson was signed in July 2014 to play with Edinburgh Rugby Club in PRO 12 Rugby. He also played in the European Union Challenge Cup. Thompson’s time with the club was derailed when he was injured during an Eagles test match against the New Zealand All-Blacks on November 1, 2014, in Chicago. He then rehabilitated under the team but left the team in March 2015.

With the inception of Major League Rugby in 2018, Thompson has another opportunity to play professionally, this time with the San Diego Legion.