Anthem Rugby Carolina announced yesterday that they have acquired 2024 Major League Rugby Rookie of the Year Junior Gafa from the New England Free Jacks on a permanent basis, having spent his rookie season in Anthem Country on loan.
The New England Free Jacks receive quite a haul in exchange for Gafa, who they drafted in the 2nd Round (23rd Overall) of the 2023 MLR Collegiate Draft. They receive Anthem‘s 2nd Rd Draft pick in 2025, taking their number of picks for next year’s draft to 5 already, as well as 2025 Salary Cap Considerations ($ amount unknown) and an International Player Slot for the 2026 season (yes, 2026!).
We’ve already seen that Anthem RC is not shy about trading away International Player Slots, having already fired 4 2025 slots into the sun. This is no surprise from a team who’s mission statement is to develop the next generation of US Men’s Eagles, but I did raise my eyebrows when I saw they were already jettisoning Intl. Slots for the season AFTER next. ARC clearly see the value in keeping Junior Gafa, which is no surprise after the rookie scored 4 tries in 13 games (all starts) in 2024, completing over 125 tackles and finishing 10th league-wide in Meters Gained, earning him Rookie of the Year honors, as we was also named to the MLR Honorable Mention XV. If Anthem wanted to keep Gafa that badly, it wouldn’t surprise me if Scott Lawrence already has his eye on the Brown University alum.
As for the Free Jacks, while some fans who noticed Gafa tearing it up with Anthem might be disappointed that he won’t be appearing in a Free Jacks jersey in 2025, he would’ve had a tough fight for consistent game time with the likes of Canadian international Ben LeSage, Namibian international Le Roux Malan, and 2024 MLR Player of the Year Wayne van der Bank already competing for those two centre spots. It shouldn’t be a huge loss for the reigning champs, and I wonder if Free Jacks GM Tom Kindley was secretly smiling to himself as he saw Gafa‘s value skyrocket, it’s a tidy bit of business from New England!