John Powers Re-Signed for 2025

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Dec 11, 2024 - 4:00pm

Old Glory has announced the re-signing of center John Powers. The 27-year-old New York native started playing rugby from a young age in the Philippines, eventually playing for Xavier High School, where he helped win a state championship. He then played for Iona College, where he was named vice captain and played alongside fellow OGDC teammate Connor Buckley. He also played for Rugby New York's U23 Academy team, where he was also made captain.

His professional career started after getting picked in the 2020 collegiate draft by Utah, where he played just 6 minutes in a single match before returning to New York. In 2022 he played a total of 31 minutes across 5 matches, and in 2023 he played a total of 84 minutes in for matches before he was waylaid by injury.

After the fall of the New York team, he was picked up by OGDC along with several of his teammates. Despite having played exclusively at wing and fullback at his previous teams, the Old Glory coaches shifted him to outside center. They were clearly satisfied with the move, as he played in 15 matches, 9 of them starts, for a total of 741 minutes.

Whether he plays such a large role in 2025 is an open question, though. While he was a safe option to put on the field, he lacked the flair and work rate of the other centers, Tomasso Boni and Willie Talataina. Futhermore, with the veteran Welshman Steff Hughes joining the team and the possibility that former Maori All Black Jason Emery could play at center, there will be a lot more experienced competition in the centers next season. Old Glory also picked up Sebastian Scheffermann in the draft, who is expected to play center.