Toronto Arrows Adds John Moonlight

The Toronto Arrows added former Canada Sevens captain John Moonlight for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. The 31-year-old flanker is 6’2″ and 223 pounds.

John is from Pickering, Ontario and is a firefighter in the town. He played hockey, football, volleyball and rugby as a youth, the latter starting at age 9.

He attended Wilfrid Laurier University beginning in 2005 and graduated with a BA in 2014. He also attended the University of Victoria.

John played club rugby with the Ajax Wanderers and James Bay Athletic Association.

Canada National Team

John played both rugby 15s and 7s for Canada. He played for the Under-18s and then made his 15s debut for the Senior National Team in the 2009 Churchill Cup against Georgia and played the last of his 23 matches on October 6, 2015, against Romania at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

He is an even more extensive history of playing on the Canada Sevens team where he appeared in 65 HSBC World Sevens Series tournaments. He played in 318 matches and was the 14th all-time points scorer with 580 points. He made his sevens debut in 2009 at the Hong Kong Sevens and ended his international sevens career at Hong Kong in 2018.

John was the captain of the Canada National Sevens team for several years. He was selected as Canada Player of the Year in both 2012 and in 2013 and made the Dream Team in 2014.

He also played in two Commonwealth Games and two Pan-American Games, winning the gold medal in the latter in both 2011 and in 2015.

Professional & World Rugby

After retiring from international rugby earlier in 2018 to become a firefighter in Pickering, Ontario, John returns to rugby with the Toronto Arrows for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. His leadership will be invaluable both on and off the field.

John has also represented World Rugby on their Athletic Commission in 2015-2016 and also on the Player Association Athletic Panel.