Austin Gilgronis added Payton Telea-Ilalio for the remainder of the 2022 Major League Rugby season. The 22-year-old prop is 5’11and 250 lbs.
Payton grew up in Hunters Point, California, and attended Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco. He played youth rugby for San Francisco Golden Gate.
He attended Saint Mary’s College of California from 2016 through his graduation in 2020. The team won the 2017 D1A National Championship, and he played for the USA Collegiate All-Americans against Canada in 2019. He also won the 2019-2020 Rudy Scholz Award as the best collegiate rugby player in the U.S.
Payton also was named to the USA Islanders 2020 squad and played for Life West in the USA Rugby Club Sevens Nationals in 2021.
Payton also earned a Master’s Degree from St Mary’s, then played at Trinity College in Dublin and for the Austin Blacks.
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