The Utah Warriors signed Jake Christmann for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. The 20-year-old scrumhalf is 6’2″ and 185 lbs.
Jake comes to the Warriors after playing for the Glendale Raptors in the 2018 MLR season and later in the Fall 2018 exhibition season.
Jake Christmann was born in Indianapolis, where he attended Bishop Charard High School. He began playing rugby in 2014 when he joined the Royal Irish Rugby and later helped them win the 2017 Boys High School National Championships.
Jake then played at Fylde in the U.K. “Ken Benson recommended Fylde to Jake on his arrival in Lancashire and he turned up at the Woodlands for pre-season in late summer. Jake joined in 1st/2nd team squad training and warmed to his task in adjusting to the standard of rugby at Fylde’s level – and to the particular characteristics of the weather on the Lancashire Coast. His most familiar position is at scrum-half and he is also a reliable goal kicker.”
Jake was understudy to US Eagles starter Shaun Davies at Glendale but acquitted himself well. He started four games and showed a long, accurate passing game. Christmann started for the Raptors while Davies was involved in international play with the Eagles. He did not play for the USA Junior All-American side that played against Canada in 2018, but remains eligible for the Under-20 side in 2019 and is likely to be considered favorite to fill the role played by Ruben de Haas this season.
Jake will need to wait to make his Warriors debut, as he recovers from surgery from a Fall injury that will cause him to miss the first few weeks of the 2019 campaign.
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