The LA Giltinis signed Angus Cottrell for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 31-year-old back-row is 6’3″ and 240 lbs.
Angus was born in Brisbane, Australia, and comes from a rugby family. His grandfather Nev has 14 caps for the Wallabies and captained the team twice against the British and Irish Lions in 1950. His father Nev Cottrell Jr., played representative rugby for Queensland in the late 1970s.
Angus attended Brisbane Boys’ College from 2000-2007 and has furthered his education through Deakin University from 2017-2020, earning a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor’s Degree in Property and Real Estate.
His senior rugby career began from 2008- 2011 with the West Brisbane Bulldogs, who played in the National Rugby League. This gained him visibility and led to him being signed to play Super Rugby with Western Force from 2012-2017, making 57 appearances and scoring 5 tries. He also played with the Perth Spirit during 2015-2016.
Angus continued to play Super Rugby between 2018-2020 with the Melbourne Rebels and he served as the team’s captain. In 2018-2019, He also played with Melbourn Rising in the National Rugby Championship.
Angus was called into the Wallabies 2018 Rugby Championship as injury cover but did not debut for the team against South Arica or Argentina.
In 2019, Angus played for the Barbarians Fall Tour with matches scheduled against Brazil, Fiji, and Wales.
LA Giltinis Comments
The LA Giltinis are delighted to have recruited the experience and hard-edged forward power of Australian backrower Angus Cottrell.
Today’s announcement is a coup because wooing a seasoned forward with 90 games of Super Rugby behind him guarantees steel and standards in his new forward pack.
Cottrell, 31, will arrive in Major League Rugby at his new Los Angeles-based team eager to experience life at a club outside Australia for the first time.
The 239lb (108kg), 6’3” (1.91m) flanker weighed up France, Japan and the United Kingdom for this career move but considered LA the most appealing with his recent bride Dayna.
“I’ve given all I can to Australian rugby for nine seasons and I’ve been thinking this last year or two of experiencing a different culture through rugby,” Cottrell said.
“I was very quick to jump at the Giltinis when the option appeared because LA is a great place to live and an amazing international city.
“Being pioneers of the LA Giltinis is going to be pretty special but I’m also going to a brand new team capable of winning trophies.”
Cottrell has rich rugby genes. His father Nev Jnr played for Queensland in the 1970s and his grandfather Nev captained the Wallabies in 1950.
Cottrell was in the 2018 Wallabies training squad and when a Test chance potentially beckoned he was cruelly cut down by a knee ligament injury.
Cottrell played at both the Western Force (2012-17) and Melbourne Rebels (2018-20) in their formative years as Super Rugby clubs so he knows what it takes to put a new club on the map.
“You want to try to create a history for the club and team dynamics to build on,” Cottrell said.
“The biggest thing is how quickly we can come together and you have a headstart with an experienced head coach (Darren Coleman) and his staff.
“I think the Giltinis are building an amazing roster of experience and youth from the USA, Canada and overseas.
“The fans make a team special and we want to do all we can for them to enjoy good rugby and get out into the community to teach the game as well.”
Cottrell is a forceful tackler, go-forward runner and plays hard on the ball so the Giltinis will be getting the right sort of authority to play in the pack beside internationals Dave Dennis (Australia) and Adam Ashe (Scotland).
“The quality of the team environment that Angus helps create shows his character,” Giltinis assistant coach Stephen Hoiles said.
“He’s got toughness, high workrate and excellent defence but also attacking traits to his game.
“I think you’ll see some more of his link play come through in MLR. He’s a very good signing for the Giltinis.”
