NOLA Gold Rugby Club signed Jonathan Poole for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. The 27-year-old wing/fullback is 5’11” and 185 lbs.
Jonathan is a New Orleans native and attended Jesuit High School of New Orleans where he graduated in 2010. He was a multi-sport athlete playing baseball, football, and track.
He attended Louisiana State University from 2010-2015 where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology with a pre-med concentration. He helped LSU get to the Collegiate Triathalon Nationals in 2012 and in 2013. His senior year, he played rugby for 4 games in Fall 2014.
Jonathan then went to Life University in 2015 and is expected to earn his Doctorate of Chiropractic Degree in December 2019. He played rugby with Life since Spring 2016 when he joined the team as a walk-on.
He helped the team win the USA Rugby DII National Championship in 2017, scoring a hat-trick in the final against the St. Louis Bombers and also scoring two tries in the semifinal over the previously undefeated Detroit Tradesmen.
In 2018 he missed the season after shoulder surgery and in 2019 came back and helped the team win the D1 National Championship.
Currently, he is playing for Life Men in the American Rugby Premiership. Life has a 4-2 record and concludes their ARP season against 404 Rugby ATL on November 9. The team has 22 points in the standings and will top the final standings as 404 Rugby ATL is ineligible to win this year. The team will then face the Midwest Champions on November 23 in the Elite Cup competition.
Rugby Sevens
Jonathan has also played rugby sevens. He played with Atlanta Old White in the USA Club 7s Nationals in 2016 and with Optimus Rugby 7s in 2017 at Club 7s Nationals, the first year of the club’s existence.
In 2017, he also played at the Rugbytown 7s for Negro y Azul, finishing in 6th place in the 20 team competition. His try-scoring ability was evident with his 5 tries.
NOLA Gold Comments
Ryan Fitzgerald, General Manager indicated that “It’s good to get JP (Jonathan) back in New Orleans and competing with Gold.
JP is a coachable and driven young player. I am impressed by how fast he has picked up on the game after not having played rugby until he started at LIFE University.
Taking the new step at MLR Level will be a great opportunity for him and we are eager to see him get after it.”
👑 #GoldReign
DJCoil Rugby Comments
Thanks, Jonathan for your co-operation with this article. Without your help, the article would have been a brief one. Enjoy playing professional rugby in 2020 and hopefully for many years to come!
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