USA-capped Luke Carty, Irish Sevens ‘original’ Harry McNulty, his brother Sean McNulty and Sean O’Brien are all on the club’s books.

Carty, O’Brien and Sean McNulty all came off the bench for their team’s MLR Shield win in their club’s inaugural season in the league.

The LA Giltini’s cruised to a 31-17 victory against Rugby ATL at the LA Memorial Coliseum on Sunday night.

Former Connacht academy out-half Luke Carty has two caps for the United States national side after moving to LA, qualifying for the side through his grandmother.

The 23-year-old made his debut for the US against England and then started against his native Ireland last month, having only moved to the States earlier this year.

Sean O’Brien joined LA from the Leinster academy on a short-term contract in June and is a native of the US.

He played for the Ireland U20s last year and made his debut for the Leinster senior team earlier this year before moving stateside for more game-time.

Hooker Sean McNulty is a former Leinster academy player who played for Ireland up to the U20 level.

The 26-year-old is also US-qualified having spent much of his youth living in the States and first moved back over from Ireland to join the New England Free Jacks in 2019 before shifting to the Giltinis ahead of this season.

Older brother Harry was the only player out of the four not in the matchday 23 after he returned to America from the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Former Enniscorthy player Ross Deacon and former Leinster back Mark O’Keeffe were among the 23-man squad of the runners-up.

Deacon scored a late try to provide a consolation for the Atlanta side who were second-best on the day.

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Carty will earn his second cap for the USA Eagles when he starts against Andy Farrell’s Ireland side in front of 6,000 fans at the Aviva Stadium. You can visit lots of sites to get great offers. 

The 23-year-old’s immediate family, who he has not seen since January, will be in attendance for the match.

“Obviously, it’s a bit of a strange one but I’m trying to treat it as any other game,” Carty said.

The fly-half made his debut for the national side last weekend against England in a 43-29 loss.

The Athlone native scored nine points to open his account with the United States.

Carty was happy with how his debut went after helping his side to put a high amount of points past Eddie Jones’ England.

“[My debut] was pretty cool. I was pretty nervous beforehand. Obviously, it was a big game – playing England at Twickenham, but it was really enjoyable.”

He noted that the USA camp has made him feel welcome in the setup.

The opportunity to play for America was an idea that helped entice the Westmeath man to ‘the land of opportunity.’

The thought of playing at a Rugby World Cup was also an attractive pull factor for the former Buccaneers Player of the Year.

He exclaimed that “it would be pretty cool to do that” and spoke of his pride seeing his older brother, Ireland international Jack Carty accomplish one of his lifelong dreams.

He brought the lessons that the likes of Colm ‘Cullie’ Tucker, Mossy Lawlor and Eric Elwood taught him at the Connacht Academy to the West Coast of the USA at the start of 2021.

The Connacht academy prospect joined Darren Coleman’s LA Giltinis, after almost joining Coleman’s former side Gordon, a Sydney-based Australian side.

Major League Rugby has surpassed Carty’s expectations and he is enjoying his rugby across the Atlantic Ocean.

“I’ve actually been surprised by the level of it…every team has got better as the year went on.”

He is also enjoying each and every minute of sunshine by the beach in Los Angeles, something Ireland cannot grant the fly-half on a consistent basis – a welcome culture shock.

Carty trains alongside Australian rugby legends Adam-Ashley Cooper and Matt Giteau in LA and has learnt a lot from them in the several months he has been with the club.

“It’s been great to pick their brains and learn from them and get to play alongside them.”

Irish brothers Harry and Sean McNulty are also on the books of the MLR side, with the former heading to the Olympics as part of the Ireland Sevens side.

The fly-half said the team watched the Ireland Sevens qualify from San Diego and that he is very happy for his teammate to be going to the Olympics after being an ‘original’ of the IRFU Sevens programme.

The support the Giltinis players have received while in club colours has also impressed Carty.

The games are pretty loud and [the fans] are pretty passionate about it.”

However, he has not forgotten Ireland.

The US star still keeps an eye on the Gaelic scores and noted his disappointment after Roscommon’s season-ending defeat to Galway in the Connacht Senior Football Championship.

His roommate in the US Camp, Aran Islands native Paul Mullen, likes to remind him of it.

He also hopes to see an old teammate get out on the pitch for his first Irish cap on Saturday night.

“Paul Boyle, it’s good to see him playing well…hope he gets to play on Saturday.”

However, Carty’s eyes are placed firmly on what’s ahead and more than 6,000 pairs of eyes will be placed firmly on him.

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The Austin Gilgronis centre is one of 18 MLR players in the USA’s matchday 23 for the match against Ireland.

Irish-born US internationals Luke Carty and Paul Mullen are also among the 18 in the squad that plays in the MLR.

Campbell believes that the league is integral to the national team and will continue to be for the future.

“Just the fact that all team is playing week in week out and that the competition is getting better and better – not even every season, but each week,” said Campbell.

Campbell stated that it is a huge positive to have a domestic competition to build international-level players in.

He believes that the American players in the MLR can build a strong bond, even if they are not on the same team and that helps the squad when they all come together to put on the USA jersey.

“I think with a lot of us playing MLR, we have felt each other’s tendencies a bit.”

The US have added new players to their camp since their last time together in Japan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

However, the core of the current squad includes several players who went to Japan and this also helps the team’s chemistry, according to the captain.

Campbell clarified that most of the players in the squad have played with each other at one point or another, so that makes it easier.

Players like Christian Dyer, who came into the squad after missing out on a spot on the US Sevens Olympic Squad, have fit in very well, according to Campbell.

“I’m just really happy with the way the team has come together.”

Ireland’s game against the USA kicks off on Saturday at 7:15 pm.

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The former Connacht ‘A’ star will earn his second cap for the United States after making his debut against England last weekend.

Aran Islands native Paul Mullen will also start in an Eagles side that will make four changes ahead of their clash against Andy Farrell’s men.

Joe Taufete’e comes in at hooker, in between David Ainu’u and Mullen who are at prop.

Gregory Peterson who plies his trade for English side Newcastle Falcons will pair up with Nick Civetta at lock forward.

Hanco Germishuys starts at blindside flanker after starting on the bench last weekend and will be in a back row with Riekert Hattingh and Cam Dolan.

Ruben de Haas will begin the game at scrum-half with Luke Carty beside him at fly-half.

Captain Bryce Campbell will play alongside the twice-capped Calvin Whiting at centre.

Christian Dyer comes into the side after his debut try against England and will form the USA back three with Mika Kruse and the incoming Mike Te’o.

Marcel Brache is out due to a failed head injury assessment.

The uncapped Andrew Guerra joins Psalm Wooching, Nate Brakeley and others on the bench.

To see the Irish squad, click here.

USA Side v Ireland

Backs

15. Mike Te’o (Utah Warriors) 29 caps

14. Christian Dyer (USA Sevens) 1 cap

13. Calvin Whiting (Utah Warriors) 2 caps

12. Bryce Campbell (Austin Gilgronis) 33 caps C

11. Mika Kruse (Utah Warriors) 1 cap

10. Luke Carty (LA Giltinis) 1 cap

9. Ruben de Haas (Austin Gilgronis) 18 caps

Forwards

1. David Ainu’u (Toulouse) 10 caps
2. Joe Taufete’e (Lyon) 28 caps
3. Paul Mullen (Utah Warriors) 19 caps
4. Gregory Peterson (Newcastle Falcons) 31 caps
5. Nick Civetta (Rugby United New York) 27 caps
6. Hanco Germishuys (Rugby United New York) 22 caps
7. Riekert Hattingh (Seattle Seawolves) 1 cap
8. Cam Dolan (NOLA Gold) 52 caps

Replacements

16. Kapeli Pifeleti (Saracens) 3 caps

17. Matt Harmon (NOLA Gold) 1 cap

18. Dino Waldren (NOLA Gold) 20 caps

19. Nate Brakeley (Rugby United New York) 24 caps

20. Psalm Wooching (San Diego Legion) 5 caps

21. Andrew Guerra (NOLA Gold) uncapped

22. Michael Baska (Utah Warriors) 1 cap

23. Will Magie (Austin Gilgronis) 26 caps

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Andy joins Stephen and Westy for a good old chat, about early days working with Eddie Jones, to being a head coach in Japan, going to the Olympics, and finally getting to Connacht. They also chatted about this season for Connacht and get his views on what has been an up and down year.

Luke Carty on his move to join the LA Giltinis

Luke Carty joined the lads to chat about his upcoming move to Los Angeles to play for the MLR’s newest team, the Giltinis. They also chatted about his time with Connacht and what he expects from his new life in Venice Beach.

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