Gannon Moore
South Dakota Native Gannon Moore played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2020. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.
Moore played primarily football through high school, and started playing rugby at age 15, playing with Sioux Falls. He attended University at Southwest Minnesota State again playing football, attending a regional NFL combine in Chicago almost earning a contract with the Houston Texans. In 2014 Moore moved to Kansas City and played with the Blues, helping the team to a 3rd place finish at the USA Rugby Club 7s that year.
In 2016, Moore represented the Denver Stampede in the short-lived PRO Rugby competition, the spiritual predecessor of MLR. He also travelled to New Zealand to play in the Mitre 10 Cup (now the NPC) with North Harbour. He represented the USA Selects in the 2018 APC, before earning his full international debut for the Eagles in that year’s November tests against the Maori All Blacks, Samoa, and Romania. His most recent international cap came against Canada in July 2019.
Moore signed with the Utah Warriors for the 2019 MLR season, and represented them for 2 seasons until the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2020 season to only 5 rounds. He earned 15 MLR caps in total (14 starts) and scored 5 tries, all of which were in 2019. In 2020, he was 4th league-wide for metes gained at the point the season was cancelled.
achievements
- 4th League-wide in Meters Gained: 2020 (406)
Franco van den Berg
South African prop Franco van den Berg played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2024. He represented the Utah Warriors (2019-2024) and Rugby FC LA (2025).
Prior to MLR, van den Berg was a member of the Blue Bulls system in South Africa, playing with the U19 & U21 sides, and played with the Springboks at the 2016 World Rugby Under-20s Championship and played with the U20s again in 2017. Van den Berg’s initial move stateside was announced by the Utah Warriors in January 2019, ahead of that year’s MLR season. He appeared in all 16 games of the Warriors’ 2019 Campaign, starting 15 times and scoring 2 tries in an impressive debut season in North America, and was a regular in the Utah lineup during his time there, earning 66 caps (49 starts) through the 2023 season, his 6th in Major League Rugby. He has earned a total of 6 Team of the Week selections across his career.
On 21st November 2023, the Utah Warriors announced the return of Franco van den Berg for the 2024 MLR season where he added 5 starts in 11 appearances for the Warriors, passing 1,500 career meters, and 400 tackles completed during a tough season for Utah. Early in the off-season, the Utah Warriors announced the departure of 17 players from the team, including Franco van den Berg. However on March 14th, 2025, van den Berg appeared in the matchday 23 for Rugby FC LA’s Round 4 clash with the Seattle Seawolves. Although his signing was not announced, van den Berg represented RFCLA for the 2025 season.
Achievements:
- MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 3
- MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 5
- MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 2
- MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Round 11
- MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Round 6
- MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Round 2
Tim O’Malley
New Zealand Fly-half Tim O’Malley played in Major League Rugby during the 2019 season, representing the Utah Warriors.
O’Malley started all 16 games of the Warriors’ 2019 season, scoring a club-record 134pts during the season and he remained the Utah Warriors’ all-time leading points scorer until he was surpassed by Joel Hodgson in 2024.