The Dallas Jackals signed Matthew Gordon for the remainder of the 2023 Major League Rugby season. The 26-year-old lock/back row is 6’4″ and 240 lbs.
Matt joined the Jackals ahead of the team’s match against the Houston SaberCats and started at lock. He was Old Glory DC’s 23rd pick in the 2020 Major League Rugby Collegiate Draft, and played 91 minutes in two matches, starting one, for the team in 2021-2022.
Matt is from Aberdeen, Scotland, and attended Lathallan during high school. There he played rugby, cricket, and field hockey. He attended Robert Gordon University from 2014-2018, earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting and Finance with first-class honors. Matt then enrolled in the University of Mary Washington in 2017 and is projected to graduate in 2021 with a degree in Economics with a business minor.
Matt excelled as a participant in the Glasgow Warriors’ age-grade programs, playing for the U16s and 18s, as well as being selected for the U17s. He could not play for the latter due to injury.
In 2018, he was named the D1AA Defensive Player of the Year, led Mary Washington to the National Championship over Dartmouth, and was a first-team Collegiate All-American. In 2019 he represented the US All-American Program, starting at #4 against Canada Universities XV in the USA’s 23-22 win.
Matthew’s highlight tape was an eye-opener for many teams and Goff Rugby Report/DJCoil Rugby had him projected as high as the 2nd pick. The draft series tried to identify the most talented collegians, along with individual team needs, however, most teams elected not to invest in the cost of visas or potentially waste a draft pick after the difficulty in obtaining visas for many players. The fact that Matt was known to the team and that he was a USA Collegiate All-American, influenced that team to start his visa process early
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