Gannon Moore (born June 1, 1990) is an American

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays for the United States men's national team and the

Utah Warriors The Utah Warriors are an American professional rugby union team based in Herriman, Utah, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2010 as the Utah Warriors of the Rugby Super League and re-founded in 2017 by Rugby Ut ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). Moore has previously played for

North Harbour North Harbour or North Harbor may refer to: Canada * North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on St. Mary's Bay * North Harbour, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on Placentia Bay * North Harbour, ...

in the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mi ...

, the

Denver Stampede The Denver Stampede were an American rugby union team that played in the short lived PRO Rugby competition. The Stampede was one of the five teams that began play in PRO Rugby's 2016 inaugural season. The team played its home matches at the Univ ...

PRO Rugby The Professional Rugby Organization, known as PRO Rugby, was an American professional rugby union competition. PRO began play in April 2016 with five teams and ceased operations by January 2017. The competition was sanctioned by USA Rugby and b ...

, and the Kansas City Blues. While attending

Southwest Minnesota State University Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) is a public university in Marshall, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. The university has an enrollment of approximately 8,700 students and e ...

, Moore was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for four-years on the university football team.

Early life

Moore was born on June 1, 1990, in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

, the son of Doug Moore and Celeste Moore. Moore attended Lincoln High School, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and during that time, he first began playing rugby at the age of 15. Moore played rugby in high school with Rugby Nebraska's Siouxland United and was named to the Nebraska Selects team. Moore graduated from high school in 2009 and left Sioux Falls to attend Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU), where he

majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

exercise science Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

. During his four seasons with the SMSU Mustangs football team, he played in all 44 of the team's games, matched the school record for single-season rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s (13 in 2009), led the team in total rushing touchdowns (in 2009, 2011, and 2012), and led the team in total receptions (in 2012). Moore attended an NFL Regional Scouting Combine, but was not drafted and received no contract offers to play in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

Club rugby career

Kansas City Blues

In 2013, Moore began playing rugby with the Kansas City Blues, playing in both 7s and XVs.

Denver Stampede

In March 2016, it was announced that Moore had signed with the Denver Stampede of PRO Rugby, to play in that league's inaugural season. Moore made his debut with the Stampede on April 17, 2016, appearing as a substitute, in the Stampede's 16–13 victory over

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

North Harbour and Silverdale

Since PRO Rugby was folded after only one season in 2016, Gannon Moore has played rugby in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

with North Harbour and Silverdale RFC.

International rugby career

USA Eagles

Moore made his debut with the USA Eagles on November 3, 2018, starting at

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

in an un-capped match against the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing is ...

—a 59–22 defeat during the end of year tests. Moore earned his first cap for the Eagles on November 10, 2018, starting at

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

, in the Eagles' 30–29 victory over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Gannon 1990 births Living people American football running backs Players of American football from South Dakota American rugby union players United States international rugby union players Rugby union wings Rugby union centres Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs football players Utah Warriors players Sportspeople from Sioux Falls, South Dakota