The Seattle Seawolves re-signed George Barton for his third season with the team. The 22-year-old center is 6’1″ and 240 lbs.
George was a versatile player with exceptional speed, which is combined with his physical style of play, helped the Seawolves win back-to-back Major League Rugby championships.
George made 16 appearances in 2019 playing 684 minutes and scored one try. He carried 61 times for 579 meters that led to 4 line breaks, 9 tackle breaks, and 4 offloads. He also made 109 tackles as a member of our Seawall.
Barton is from Duncan, British Columbia, graduated from Shawnigan Lake School in 2015. He played rugby for his high school team and also for Cowichan Rugby Club, where both his father Bruce and his older brother played. Both were capped for Canada.
After graduation, he spent two years playing in France with ASM Clermont-Ferrand Rugby Club’s Academy side. This helped his development and he played with Canada’s 2016 and 2017 U20 team, captaining the 2017 team in the U20 World Rugby Trophy competition in Uruguay.
Matt Beukeboom, who was both his U20 teammate and former teammate at Shawnigan Lake said that “George is an unstoppable force. He’s built like a front-row, but he has the speed of a back. He’s a great leader and a lot of the guys look up to him.”
Barton was selected to represent Canada in the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship and he debuted against Chile at Lanford, British Columbia on Feb. 11 scoring his first international try. He then earned his second cap the following week against the United State in Vancouver on Feb. 18, also scoring a try.
He is particularly proud of captaining the Canada Under-20s and for representing Canada in two tests against Chile and the U.S., scoring two tries.
Following the Seawolves capturing the inaugural Major League Rugby Championship in 2018, Barton has spent time with carpentry and with the hospitality industry. The rugby season also is a grueling one and time needed to be spent in recovery and then preparing for the upcoming 2019 MLR season.
The Major League Rugby season has expanded to 16 matches in 2019. That will mean that playing time will need to be distributed more. Expect Barton to have increased playing time and for him to shine as a player.
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