Nate Brakeley (born August 31, 1989) is an American

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player who plays

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

and

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

for

Rugby New York Rugby New York, formerly known as Rugby United New York and now officially nicknamed the Ironworkers, are a professional rugby union team based in New York City that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR). The team played an exhibition season in ...

(Ironworkers) of

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Of ...

(MLR) and for the United States men's national team. Brakeley also plays for the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Travers ...

Early life

After graduating from St. John's Preparatory School, where he was a member of the school's rugby team, Brakeley attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

. While there, Brakeley was a member of the

Dartmouth Rugby The Dartmouth Rugby Football Club (or Dartmouth Rugby) is the men's college rugby team of Dartmouth College. The student-run club was founded in 1951, and competes in the Ivy Rugby Conference against its traditional Ivy League rivals. Current he ...

team that won

Collegiate Rugby Championship The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010–2017, on ESPN News an ...

s in 2011 and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Brakeley also attended

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where he earned an

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

energy technology Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...

. While at Cambridge, Brakeley played for the Cambridge University rugby team and participated in the 2012

Varsity Match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

—a 26–19 defeat to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. After returning to the United States, Brakeley played for Cambridge's touring team for one match against the Men's Collegiate All-Americans.

Club career

Brakeley joined Rugby United New York (RUNY) for their inaugural season as an associate member of

in 2018. Brakeley started at lock in each of RUNY's three exhibitions against the Ontario Arrows and Boston Mystics in March 2018.

International career

USA Selects

In September 2018, it was announced that Brakeley had been selected for the USA Selects roster for the 2018 Americas Pacific Challenge.

USA Eagles

Brakeley made his debut with the USA Eagles on February 13, 2016, starting at flanker in the Eagles' 30–22 victory over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

in the

2016 Americas Rugby Championship The 2016 Americas Rugby Championship was the first series of the Americas Rugby Championship (sometimes informally called the "Americas Six Nations", a reference to Europe's Six Nations Championship), a new annual western hemisphere rugby union c ...

. Brakeley scored his first try for the Eagles in the Eagles' 52–16 victory over Canada on July 1, 2017, in a qualification match for the 2019 World Cup.

References

1989 births Living people American rugby union players United States international rugby union players Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby New York players {{US-rugbyunion-bio-stub