Old Glory DC signed Darby Koi Koi Nelligan for the 2023 Major League Rugby season after trading for his signing rights with San Diego Legion in exchange for Old Glory’s first round pick in the 2023 Collegiate Draft. The 23-year-old hooker/back row is 5’11” and 220 lbs.
Koi Koi is from Bethesda, Maryland. He attended Severn School where he was the team captain in football, lacrosse, and swimming. He was two-time All-Conference in swimming, and All-Conference in football, as well as the team MVP in both football and swimming. He also was involved in the multicultural alliance and achieved academic honors.
He went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and began playing rugby his freshman year. By his senior year, he advanced to the first team and helped them win a D1A National Championship and the Rugby East Conference. He was named MVP in both the National Semi-finals and the Final. He also established a new record for Army West Point Rugby with 16 tries in the season. He was named to the Rugby East Second Team, and to the USA U23s. In 2022 he played with the USA Falcons on a tour to Uruguay to play Brazil A and Chile A.
The US Army permitted him to play professional rugby, delaying his five-year military service commitment.
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