AUSTIN – Former California rugby captain Sam Golla was the No. 1 overall selection at the 2022 Major League Rugby Collegiate Draft. Fellow former Bears Seth Purdey and Jack Manzo were drafted as picks No. 4 and No. 19 overall, respectively.

The third Major League Rugby Collegiate Draft took place on Wednesday with the selections by the thirteen teams of MLR announced to the public on Thursday. There were three rounds of selections, with the order of picks determined by the inverse order of standings from the 2022 MLR season.

Golla, who graduated last spring, was taken first overall by the Dallas Jackals. Golla was a standout student-athlete during his five years as a Golden Bear - he was a powerful forward on the pitch and a high-character leader off of it.  

In his time at Cal, Golla was a consistent feature of the lineup beginning in his early years. Golla was most recently named to the 2022 All-American First Team. He was also a top-four finalist for the 2022 Rudy Scholz Award, which is awarded to the nation's top men's collegiate rugby player each year.

Purdey was next to hear his name called, with Rugby ATL selecting him as the fourth pick of the first round. Rugby ATL made a trade with the Utah Warriors to get the fourth pick of the draft and secure Purdey.

Purdey played mainly in the centers during his collegiate career with the Bears. He played in eleven matches this past season, including in both the quarterfinal and semifinal matches of the National Collegiate Championships.

Manzo was the third and final Bear selected. He was drafted by Old Glory D.C. in the second round as the 19th pick. Manzo will prospectively join former Golden Bear Jack Iscaro ('19) on the team.

Golden Bear hooker Manzo was a powerhouse for the Cal front row. He is a two-time All-American First Team member, taking the No. 2 slot in both 2022 and 2019. More recently, Manzo captained the USA U23 side on its international tour this summer. He made eleven starts this past XVs season and contributed seven tries, including two in the National Collegiate Championship quarterfinals match versus Central Washington.

"A big congratulations to Sam, Seth and Jack," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "They were our only players to register for the MLR draft so we're glad it worked out for them. So many of our graduates accepted career dream jobs, but these boys wanted to give MLR a go, and we are hopeful the experience will be good. These are not only three good rugby players, they are fine young men in which we are proud."

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