📰 HEADLINES

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY

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Miami Sharks: Miami Sharks Complete Huge Signing of Manuel Ardao from Uruguay (Americas Rugby News)

• Takeaway: The Miami Sharks signed Manuel Ardao, the 24-year-old Peñarol captain who is expected to be named to Uruguay's 33-man RWC roster today.

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‍MEN'S EAGLES SEVENS

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Olympics Bound: USA Men's Sevens Secure Qualification for Paris 2024 Olympics (USA Rugby)

• Takeaway: USA Men's Sevens beat Canada 24-14 in the RAN Sevens final to qualify for the Olympics in Paris next summer. 

• Join Us: USA Women's Sevens already qualified for the Paris Olympics by virtue of their top four finish on the 2023 HSBC Sevens Series.

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MEN'S EAGLES

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Summer Tour Finale: Men's Eagles Edged by Georgia in Summer Series Finale  (USA Rugby)

• Takeaway: The USA Men's Eagles missed some scoring opportunities, but hung around with the World Cup-bound Lelos, losing 22-7 in the finale of the Summer Tour.

• Next Up: Stade Toulousain, Salt Lake City, September 17.

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WEEKEND RESULTS

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales 16 - 52 South Africa 🇿🇦

‍📰 Match Recap (Sky Sports)

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🇮🇪 Ireland 29 - 10 England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

📰 Match Recap (BBC Sport)

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‍🇮🇹 Italy 57 - 7 Romania 🇷🇴

📰 Match Recap (AP News)

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‍🇫🇷 France 34 - 17 Fiji 🇫🇯

📰 Match Recap (RugbyPass)

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🇺🇾 Uruguay 33 - 13 Argentina XV 🇦🇷

📰 Match Recap (Americas Rugby News)

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WPL

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Week 10 Scores:

• TC Amazons 18 - 62 Life West
• New York 19 - 17 Beantown
• Chicago NS 0 - 69 CO Grey Wolves

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📋 MLR DRAFT GRADES 📋

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EASTERN CONFERENCE‍

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‍Miami Sharks

• Grade: A
• Best Pick: Ricky Rose
• Quick Take: Impressive haul for the first-time drafters, and a lot for Miami to build around ahead of their inaugural MLR season.

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NOLA Gold

• Grade: A
• Best Pick: Gabe Mahu'inga
• Quick Take: BYU lock Gabe Mahu'inga rounded out an excellent draft from GM Ryan Fitzgerald.

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New England Free Jacks

• Grade: A-
• Best Pick: Junior Gafa
• Quick Take: While Gafa is Paul Lasike-esque, USA Rugby 7s international Will Chevalier is an intriguing pick. Also, of course, the Free Jacks selected another Canadian in center Gabe Casey.

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New York Ironworkers

• Grade: B+
• Best Pick: Nick Lapponese
• Quick Take: Nabbed a gem in their own backyard, but New York will have to wait until 2025 for flanker Albert O'Shannessey to count as a domestic player.

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Toronto Arrows

• Grade: B
• Best Pick: Monty Weatherall
• Quick Take: Toronto went for depth after some savvy trades with Rugby ATL to pickup some big-time playmakers.  

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Atlanta now LA (presumably moving West)

• Grade: B
• Best Pick: Jackson Zabierek
• Quick Take: Hooker/No.8 Jackson Zabierek also played sevens in college and runs as giddy as a bull on a crowded Pamplona street.  

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Old Glory DC

• Grade: N/A
• Best Pick(s): N/A

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‍WESTERN CONFERENCE‍

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‍San Diego Legion

• Grade: A-
• Best Pick: James Rivers
• Quick Take: Lock James Rivers has another year to go before gaining domestic status, while wing/center Tyren Al-Jiboori is fun with ball in hands.

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Houston SaberCats

• Grade: A-
• Best Pick: Max Schumacher
• Quick Take: Would love to see Houston try to develop Max as a flyhalf in MLR.

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Chicago Hounds  

• Grade: A-
• Best Pick: Juan Pen
• Quick Take: Chicago brought in a big body for the front row with Juan Pen, but Noah Brown is fascinating, though he may need to choose 7s or 15s.

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Utah Warriors

• Grade: B+
• Best Pick: Isaia Kruse
• Quick Take: Utah traded out of the first round but still had a solid haul.

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Dallas Jackals

• Grade: B+
• Best Picks: Marques Fuala'au
• Quick Take: Dallas lost a few pieces in the expansion draft and with players moving on, so this draft helped stock up a bit.

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Seattle Seawolves

• Grade: B
• Best Pick: Scott Bowers
• Quick Take: Seattle selected a local-ish guy - only a 2 1/2 hour drive north of Seattle - in hooker Bowers.