LA Giltinis signed D’montae Noble for the 2022 Major League Rugby season. The 24-year-old wing (25 in May) is 5’8″ and 190 lbs.
D’Montae joined Old Glory DC for the 2021 season after the team traded for him with Rugby United New York, who selected him in the MLR collegiate rugby draft. He was an impact player scoring 5 tries, playing 543 minutes in 13 matches, 6 as a starter.
His performance earned him an invitation to the USA Sevens High-Performance Camp ahead of the 2021 Dubai Sevens. He also played in the inaugural professional rugby sevens league in the United States, Premier Rugby Sevens, for the Loggerheads.
Dmontae has played scrumhalf, fullback, and center when he played rugby at Kutztown University.
He was born in Arlington, Virginia, and moved with his family to Dallas, Texas, before returning to Virginia when he was 8 years old. He then began playing football and rugby, the latter with the Warrenton
Wolfpack, until his Senior year in high school. He then played with West End Rugby Club.
Dmontae attended George Mason High School in Falls Church, Virginia where he played football, basketball, and ran track. After graduation in 2016, he enrolled at Kutztown University and played rugby for four years. He recently graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice in December.
While at Kutztown, the team was consistently a top 10 D1A team in XVs and one of the top programs in the nation in sevens. Team highlights included playing in the Collegiate Rugby Championship, winning the D1A 2019 Rugby East, and the Las Vegas 7s in 2020, which qualified them for the 2020 USA Rugby National Sevens Tournament, which was subsequently not held due to COVID-19. He also represented the United States in the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
Individual awards included being named Ramblin Jesters April 2017 Player of the Month, 2019 MVP Kutztown Back, and 2020 FloRugby All D1A Second Team.
Dmontae looks forward to joining Rugby United New York and to playing professional rugby.
LA Giltinis Comments
Noble, 24, will arrive at the Championship-winning club with a full season of Major League Rugby behind him for Old Glory DC.
The 5’ 8” (1.73m), 189-pound (86kg) finisher already has his first try at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum under his belt after a strong kick chase for Old Glory turned into an opportunist 50m try against the Giltinis in May.
“Just the flair to the Giltinis is something I’m super excited to be a part of,” Noble said. “The way they play is free rugby but to make every possession count.
“You see the chemistry on the field but the way their players interacted with each other after the game was also really obvious to me after I played against them.”
The Virginia-born Noble played on the wing for Old Glory but most of his rugby at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania was at fullback. He earned Collegiate All-American Sevens honours beside Giltinis scrumhalf Cristian Rodriguez in 2019 and has played with the USA Falcons Sevens development team.
Noble’s footwork, good hands, leg drive, and awareness in defence are strong assets.
“That first season as a winger for Old Glory taught me a lot about the responsibilities of a new position, how to deal with different situations and how it was OK to leave my spot to get active,”
“I’m really looking forward to the coaching to develop my game in Los Angeles.”
Giltinis head coach Stephen Hoiles believes Noble will add to the team’s attacking potency.
“D’Montae has a lot of talent. He’s really good in contact and can make things happen in a limited space. We’re looking forward to working on his game,” Hoiles said.
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