Old Glory Adds Eagles Captain Ben Bonasso to 2026 Roster

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Oct 29, 2025 - 6:30pm

Old Glory has announced that Ben Bonasso will be joining the team in 2026. The 28-year-old played most recently for the Miami Sharks until they withdrew from MLR early this year.

Though born in Connecticut, he grew up in Argentina. His father was a rugby coach and introduced him to the sport at the age of 3, although he didn't begin playing until he was 10. He was a multi-sport athelete in school, competing in socer and track and field while he captained the rugby team.

He attracted the interest of respresentative teams early, playing for the the Buenos Aires provincial team before playing for the Argentina U19s in the South American Cup. A knee injury kept him out of the World U20s Championship. He was nearly capped by Argentina XV in 2019, but didn't see the field and therefore remained US eligibile.

Starting in 2017, he began playing for Club Newman in the URBA Top 14, the highest level of amateur rugby in Argentina. In 2021 he was signed by Rugby United New York, playing three seasons there. He was an instant success, playing in 33 matches in his first two seasons for a total of 2,143 minutes played. Towards the end of his second season, he began captaining the side. His third season was cut short after 7 matches by a shoulder injury.

He was picked up by the Miami Sharks for their inaugural season in 2024. He was quickly back to form, playing in 29 matches across two seaons for the Sharks, starting all but one of them, for a total of 2,183 minutes played.

He has also seen success with the Eagles, debuting in the fall of 2021. Since then, he has earned 12 test caps and is frequently named as a captain when he's on the field. He has scored three tries on the international stage.

For Old Glory, Bonasso comes in as an obvious replacement for the exiting Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz in many respects. He clearly is of a comparable level in terms of play of the field, but he also brings the sort of leadership qualities that will be missed when Fa'anana-Schultz leaves. There are likely to be a lot of new faces this season, so strong leaders in the playing squad will be essential.

It will be interesting to see how Bonasso is used on the field. At 6'4", he is a tall man and capable of playing across the back row. We may see him as the blindside flanker to provide hard hitting like we saw from Fa'anana-Schultz, but he was used by Miami as an openside flanker and has been used by the Eagles as an eightman with some frequency. He has even covered at lock on occasion. Depending on who else is on the squad, he could fit into a number of different roles for OGDC.