MLR Draft Recap: Arrows Select Canadian Trio

The Toronto Arrows used their picks at the 2022 Major League Rugby Collegiate Draft to bolster their bank of young Canadian talent, calling the names of two Ontarians and one British Columbian at the selection event.

Picking at number 5, 31, and 32, the Arrows selected University of British Columbia flanker Owain Ruttan, University of Victoria fly-half / fullback Gabe Casey and University of Victoria prop Denver Fatt.

Ruttan, 24, arrives at the Arrows after six years as a core player within the perennially-successful University of British Columbia men’s rugby program.

The six-foot-three, 230-pound flanker has earned his fair share of hardware with this Thunderbird teammates over the past year, notably captaining his UBC side to championships at both the 2021 Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship and the 2021-2022 British Columbia Men’s Premier League competition.

The Academic All-Canadian represented Canada at the 2018 World Rugby Under-20 Trophy, and is also a graduate of the Ontario Blues junior men’s provincial program.

Ruttan stands to become the third player out of UBC to play for the Arrows in MLR, joining fellow Thunderbirds alumni Ben LeSage and Tyler Rowland.

Casey, 23, lands at the Arrows after four successful years with the University of Victoria men’s rugby program.

The six-foot-three, 205-pound back was a member of the Vikes side that won the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship title in 2019, and was a silver and bronze winner in the 2021 and 2018 editions of the tournament, respectively.

Casey featured for Canada at two World Rugby Under-20 Trophy tournaments, first as an under-ager in 2018, and again in 2019. More recently, the versatile back was a member of the Canada West Selects side that won the inaugural Coast to Coast Cup in Halifax earlier this year.

The second of back-to-back picks out of the University of Victoria, Fatt, 21, also comes to the Arrows after four strong years of development with the Vikes’ men’s rugby program.

Like his teammate Casey, the six-foot-three, 270-pound prop was a member of the Vikes side that took home Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship gold in 2019, and earned silver and bronze at the 2021 and 2018 tournaments, respectively.

The native of Delta, B.C. has also featured regularly for the Vikes in the British Columbia Men’s Premier League and the Coastal Cup, amassing over 40 starts over his tenure with the program.