At the end of April, Empire native Angus MacLellan of the professional rugby team, Utah Warriors, became the third player to reach 100 major league rugby appearances.
The 2011 Traverse City St. Francis graduate started playing rugby during his junior year as a gladiator.
“I played a couple of times during my junior year, and then I played a lot more during my senior year, and I really fell in love with it,” MacLellan said. “It’s a fun game where you’re not wearing tons of pads. You get to do a bit of everything. It’s not so specialized ... you play attack, you play defense, you carry the ball, you tackle, you do it all. You don’t just do one or two things.”
MacLellan, 32, went to Glen Lake before playing hockey, football, and baseball at Traverse City St. Francis.
Davenport University offered him a scholarship to play rugby. A year after playing for Davenport, MacLellan was selected to Team USA Rugby (U20), which he admits not even knowing they had a Team USA at the time.
“It was all kind of opening my eyes as I went and definitely got me hooked, especially coming from Empire and Maple City,” he said.
MacLellan and teammate Matt Jensen also achieved “100 caps” or 100 games, which is historical, especially in the young Major Rugby League and Utah Warriors team that started in 2018.
He is one of only three players left on the team when it was created.
“(Playing rugby) is not something that I probably would have thought I was doing. I play rugby for fun. Some of these guys make a career of it, and they’re young and single, and they are starting in life with a professional league to pursue,” he said. “I never considered rugby a professional sport in America because they didn’t have that when I was in college. I always planned on playing for fun and kept doing it long enough that the professional stuff came around. I got to work full-time still and play professional rugby.”
MacLellan is most proud of balancing raising a young family, working in project management, and playing professional rugby.
“Mostly grateful that my family’s still supportive and understanding,” he said.
The Utah Warriors are currently in second place in the West Conference. They aim to maintain their position and capture first place before the playoffs.
Utah Warrior CEO Kimball Kjar described the 32-year-old tighthead prop as the definition of their “Utah Built” motto. On the historic night for MacLellan, the Warrors came back down 31-12 at halftime for a rally 41-31 win.
The 32-year-old did not miss a game across the first five years of MLR’s existence and was the first player to reach 50 appearances in the league three years ago. He is the first US-born player to achieve this feat in Major League Rugby.
“When this league first started it mostly felt like American club rugby and there’s professional rugby all over the world and we were just kind of really just club rugby here,” he said. “More and more over the next couple of years, the level of play got so much better bringing in players from overseas bringing in more competitive players raising the game. You start finding out about some of my friends overseas in rugby countries where they’ve got their own professional rugby, are watching some of our games too, and that’s pretty cool to see that the American league is actually getting some viewership.”
MacLellan knows it’s all about the journey, reflecting on the past 100 games.
According to Major League Rugby, that desire to work and provide for his young family almost led to MacLellan to initially opt out of signing his first MLR contract nearly a decade ago.
MacLellan has played 4,838 minutes, 58 starts, 3 tries, 545 tackles, and 1,566 meters gained for the grinder.
He is the first Centurion Warrior.
“I think everyone should give rugby a try. The best part is that you can play well into adulthood ... Football takes a lot more organization and money. In the offseason, I just go play rugby at the park with friends to stay in shape, and there’s no limit on men’s club teams. If you’re healthy and good to play, they’re very accepting. They’re a great way to make friends, especially when moving to new cities. I’ve never had to find a friend in my whole life. The travel is pretty fun too. I recommend that anyone play rugby, even if they don’t think they know how to do it. Go out and play touch rugby at the park; it’s non-contact; just get some running in. You’ll find out you get hooked on it pretty quick,” MacLellan said.
