Ryan Burroughs (born August 26, 1991) is an American professional

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

player who has played primarily

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

he has represented the United States National Rugby League team in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, as well as the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9's. He last played rugby league for Barrow Raiders. He left the club to sign for rugby union's

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 ...

side Old Glory DC. Primarily playing on the , he can also play as or . Burroughs is a

United States national rugby league team The United States national rugby league team represents the United States in international rugby league football competitions. The team is managed by the USA Rugby League (USARL). The United States competed with little success in some interna ...

representative.

Early life

Burroughs played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

as 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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

and wide receiver for Liberty High School in northern Virginia. After serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, he briefly played

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 ...

for a local club in Virginia, before joining the

Northern Virginia Eagles The Northern Virginia Eagles are a rugby league team based in Manassas, Virginia, U.S. The club currently plays in the USA Rugby League (USARL). From 2007 to 2011 they were known as the Fairfax Eagles and were based in nearby Fairfax, Virginia. ...

of the

USA Rugby League The USA Rugby League (USARL) is the official governing body for rugby league, a code of rugby football, in the United States. The organization also runs the national amateur competition for club teams in the US. The league consists of six te ...

in 2015.

Senior career

Burroughs scored five tries during his rugby league debut match against the

Bucks County Sharks The Bucks County Sharks were a rugby league football team based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The team currently plays in the USA Rugby League. Originally known as the New Jersey Sharks, the team was founded in 1997 and joined the now-defunct ...

. He finished the season with 33 tries from 10 games, and was selected to represent the United States in their two-match

Colonial Cup Colonial Cup may refer to: * Colonial Cup (ice hockey), the trophy for the post-season champion of the International Hockey League. * Colonial Cup (rugby league), an international rugby league football challenge match played between the United Stat ...

series against

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 ...

later in the year, scoring one try in the first match, and two tries in the second. In December 2015, Burroughs played in both of the US' 2017 World Cup qualifying matches against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

and Canada, scoring a try against Canada. Burroughs moved to Australia to play for the

Wentworthville Magpies The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as ''Wenty'', are a rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in various Sydney district competitions a ...

in 2016. Initially playing in the Sydney Shield, Burroughs was promoted to the Magpies' Ron Massey Cup team during the season. In October 2016, Burroughs signed with the newly established

Toronto Wolfpack The Toronto Wolfpack are a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario, who compete in the North American Rugby League. The club originally competed in the British rugby league system but withdrew in the Super League XXV, ...

for their inaugural season in 2017. He made his debut for the Wolfpack in their

2017 Challenge Cup The 2017 Challenge Cup, (also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th staging of the Challenge Cup the main rugby league knockout tournament for teams in the Super League, the British National Leagues and a numb ...

match against Siddal, scoring the club's first ever competitive try. In March 2018, Burroughs was sent on loan, along with Wolfpack teammate Quinn Ngawati, to League 1 side

London Skolars The London Skolars are a professional rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1. They also run ...

for the remainder of the 2018 season. Later that year, Burroughs moved to the

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club. For the 1995–96 and 1996 seasons the club was known as Barrow Braves, becoming the Bar ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

DC Cavalry

In April 2021 the professional twelve team North American Rugby League (NARL) was launched, with Burroughs being announced as Founder/Owner of Eastern Conference team the D.C. Cavalry (based in Washington, D.C.). On 20 Sep 2021 it was reported that Ryan had coached DC Cavalry in the inaugural

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true worl ...

fixture versus

References

External links

Toronto Wolfpack profileRLWC profileWashington D.C. Cavalry Rugby League Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burroughs, Ryan 1991 births Living people American rugby league players Barrow Raiders players London Skolars players Northern Virginia Eagles players Old Glory DC players People from Manassas, Virginia Rugby league fullbacks Toronto Wolfpack players United States Army soldiers United States national rugby league team players Washington DC Cavalry coaches Wentworthville Magpies players