Conner Mooneyham: MLR’s Original Number One Pick on Loyalty, Family, and Why Anthem’s Time Has Come

The first name ever called in an MLR draft has survived franchise collapses, dispersal drafts, a two-year mission to Argentina, and a championship-winning try at Life University. At 29, the USA Eagles wing says the 2026 roster is the strongest he’s ever been part of.

Conner Mooneyham is a self-described loyal man. He supports the Las Vegas Raiders, a franchise that has tested that loyalty for the better part of his lifetime. So when he chose to join Anthem RC — a team built around long-term development rather than instant results — the symmetry was not lost on him.

“I’m a very loyal person when it comes to any sort of sporting team,” Mooneyham says, a grin forming as the comparison lands. “I’m a Raiders fan and they’ve sucked my whole life. So you understand.”

That stubborn devotion runs through everything the 29-year-old wing has done since his father Doug, a former San Diego State rugby player, dragged him onto a pitch in Northern California at eleven or twelve years old. Mooneyham played for Sierra Foothills Rugby Club in the Granite Bay area near Rocklin, and the early returns were bleak. They lost every single game for two years straight. He was the smallest kid on the field, getting thrown around at scrumhalf without much idea of what he was doing. But something about the brotherhood kept pulling him back.

When the family relocated to Texas, Mooneyham continued at Woodlands Rugby Club before being scouted to Life University in Marietta, Georgia — one of the most dominant collegiate rugby programs in the country. He helped the Running Eagles win the 2016 D1A National Championship as a sophomore, then made a decision that would have tested most sporting careers: he left for a two-year mission to Argentina with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Based primarily in Córdoba, Mooneyham didn’t touch a rugby ball for two years. The mission changed his worldview — he came home and couldn’t understand why his family had three cars — but it also gave him a ferocious appetite for the game. “I didn’t even make a read on defense,” he recalls of his first match back. “I just went a thousand miles an hour and hit the guy. Everybody was like, ‘What is up with this dude? There’s no way he was preaching down there. He’s just psycho.'”

He earned his way back into the starting lineup and helped lead an undefeated 2019 season, scoring the winning try against Cal Berkeley with less than five minutes remaining in the national championship final. Then, in June 2020, Major League Rugby held its inaugural collegiate draft — and Mooneyham became the first name ever called, selected number one overall by the Dallas Jackals.

A professional career forged in upheaval

What followed would have broken less resilient players. Drafted by Dallas, Mooneyham never played for them. Picked up by Austin in a dispersal draft, he thrived for two seasons before the Gilgronis folded. Selected by Rugby ATL in yet another dispersal, he was traded to Seattle before ever suiting up for Atlanta. At the Seawolves he finally found stability, making the playoffs in both seasons and coming off the bench in the 2024 MLR Final against New England.

Then, with a second child on the way and his wife Morgan’s family based in North Carolina, Mooneyham requested a trade to Anthem. “The stars kind of aligned,” he says. “Getting closer to family, friends joining the team, the USA Pathways connection. It all just made sense.”

That Pathways connection is central to Anthem’s identity. As the franchise born from the groundbreaking partnership between MLR, USA Rugby, and World Rugby, Anthem exists to develop American players and accelerate their progress toward the international stage. For Mooneyham — a seven-cap USA Eagle with World Cup ambitions — the alignment between club and country made Charlotte the obvious choice.

Building through adversity

Mooneyham’s first season at Anthem was the franchise’s second, and results on the field remained elusive. He is honest about what that felt like.

“It gets a little bit dark when you’re losing games back to back to back,” he says. “You can only say so much in the locker room.”

But the development metrics told a different story. Anthem led MLR with eighty-six percent of playing minutes going to U.S.-qualified players — more than any other team. Thirteen players made their MLR debuts in Anthem jerseys, also a league high. And six Anthem players earned USA Eagles summer squad selections, the most from any MLR club. The mission was delivering results, even when the scoreboard wasn’t.

What kept Mooneyham grounded through the difficult stretches was the family waiting at home. Two kids under two. “I’d come home from training and I had to get locked in and be daddy,” he says. “You don’t really have time to dwell on a whole lot.”

A transformed squad

The 2026 season represents something fundamentally different. Anthem has undergone the most transformative roster overhaul in MLR history — sixteen-plus new signings, ten capped USA Eagles, and experienced campaigners like James Scott, Johan Momsen, and Luke Carty joining a squad now coached from the outset by Agustín Cavalieri.

For Mooneyham, the new roster also means a reunion with several former Life University teammates — Jeron Panter, Seth Smith, and Julian Roberts among them. “I’ve been by myself in this league for years,” he says. “Having your boys around you again is like a nice breath of fresh air.”

He is also coming back from a torn labrum suffered midway through the 2025 season that required six anchors to repair. “I’ve got a little robo shoulder now,” he says. “But I feel 100% fit.” Fans should expect more ball-in-hand from him this season — a restructured attack under Brendan O’Meara will give the back three considerably more license to play what they see.

An Eagle with unfinished business

At the international level, Mooneyham’s seven USA Eagles caps represent the belated reward for years of near-misses. He was first scouted for the national squad in 2021 but was pulled from the travelling party after a concussion. His debut finally came in July 2024 against Scotland in a sold-out Washington, D.C. Since then he has scored a brace against Canada in the Pacific Nations Cup and been part of the historic win over Tonga in France — only the second time the USA had ever beaten the Ikale Tahi.

Playing for Anthem, with its direct connection to the USA Rugby high-performance pathway, gives Mooneyham the best possible platform to push for selection in the 2027 Rugby World Cup qualifying campaign and beyond to 2031, when the tournament comes to American soil.

What’s coming

When the conversation turns to Anthem’s first win, Mooneyham pauses. He hasn’t thought much about his own reaction. But he has thought about his head coach’s.

“I’m willing to bet Cuca (Coach Agustin Cavaleri) is going to cry out of joy,” he says. “And then we’ll probably all follow suit. Nobody wants to be the first one to lose to us — but it’s coming this year.”

As for what Charlotte fans can expect at American Legion Memorial Stadium, the pitch is characteristically direct. “Rugby is fast, aggressive. The dudes wear short shorts. And I’m all about fan engagement — if I’ve got time on the wing, I’ll give you a little look over, a little wave. I’m happy you’re there. I want you to keep coming out.”