NEWS

TOBY FRICKER TALKS ANTHEM, THE FUTURE AND REFINDING FORM

Written by Joe Harvey

Anthem RC came closest to a first Major League Rugby victory in Week 5 against the Houston SaberCats.

Leading their Western Conference in the final three minutes of the contest, a late Davy Coetzer penalty dashed Anthem’s hopes of registering their first-ever win, and they instead lost the game 46-45.

Now, ahead of Week 17, the North Carolinians will travel to Texas to finish up the 2025 season and have one final shot at victory before the offseason.
Toby Fricker had arrived in Charlotte just five days before Anthem’s close encounter with the SaberCats.

Sent to the second-year team on loan from back-to-back champions, the New England Free Jacks, the London-born USA Men’s Eagles wing watched that game from the sideline before making his debut a week later against the Seattle Seawolves.

Since then, the versatile back has embraced every minute on the field with a team that prioritizes the development of domestic players.

“The purpose of Anthem is a lot bigger,” Fricker said. “As a club, we know that its purpose is to build, grow, and create players that inspire future American players and grow the sport.

“This year, we put out a full-American roster, we have the lowest amount of foreign players on the team, and that is the big picture and the focus.

“We are gutted with not getting a win yet, but the big picture is about growing the game of rugby in a country where there is so much opportunity to grow the sport.

“I think for rugby on the world scale, not just for America, it is great to have it growing here.”

When Fricker arrived at Anthem, he found out that he was one of the oldest players on the team.

Jake Turnbull and Alex Maughan are the only two players older than the wing who have relished the opportunity of seeing domestic players take their first steps into professional rugby and play alongside a number of his international teammates.

In a short space of time he has seen No. 1 overall draft pick from 2024, Erich Storti, and 2024 Rookie of the Year, Junior Gafa, star in the league, while the likes of Makeen Alikhan and EJ Freeman have established themselves as potential stars of the future.

“I don’t want to sound like a broken record,” Fricker said, “it is bigger than this season.

“We represent American rugby, and if we get a win this weekend, it is one more one more opportunity to go out there and get a first win for this club.

“I don’t think any team wants to play us. No one wants to be the first team to lose to Anthem, and you often get the versions of a lot of sides.

“We’re not putting loads of pressure on the game. It’s not about that. It’s about putting out another good performance, sticking to what we’ve spoken about, executing our game plan as best we can, and putting everything out there so we can represent Anthem Rugby and US rugby.”

Arriving in MLR was much more to Fricker than pursuing international honors.
Over the course of three years, the 29-year-old missed a year on the field as a torn pectoral muscle, plantar plate surgery, and a syndesmosis injury kept him in a constant cycle of surgery and recovery.

After missing the entirety of the 2023/34 United Rugby Championship, Fricker decided to start anew in North America to regain some confidence back on the field.

When given the opportunity on the field, he undoubtedly had the quality to succeed, having previously registered 12 tries in 32 appearances for Bristol Bears during his first spell with the club.

USA-qualified thanks to his Louisiana-born mother, he signed with the New England Free Jacks, where he played six matches and scored one try on the way to lifting the Shield in the 2024 Championship Final.

“I loved my time with the Free Jacks,” Fricker said. “I was very grateful for the opportunity.

“They were bringing me in quite late into the season. I think after every 80 minutes I was just relieved to make it through a game.

“I wasn’t even too focused on performances, just that my body was intact. For me, it was about getting match fitness and staying fit.

“What better a club to have given me the opportunity than the Free Jacks and getting to win the MLR Championship at the end of it was another class experience.”

When the 2024 season concluded, Fricker was drafted into Scott Lawrence’s USA Men’s Eagles squad.

Making his debut in the Pacific Nations Cup against Fiji at full-back and started again a week later as the side finished fourth overall in the tournament.
Spending part of the offseason with his former club, Bristol Bears, where he scored two tries in four appearances, before returning to North America and his loan to Anthem.

After Week 17 is over, Fricker’s attention will turn back to Test rugby.
Test matches against Belgium, Spain, and England are coming in July, before a Pacific Nations Cup campaign that could qualify the team for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

“Opportunities have arisen from those things,” Fricker said. “Those injuries and the pathway that has presented itself to me has allowed me to play for the Eagles in some amazing games and meet some amazing people.

“Especially with what we have coming up. We’ve got three Tests in July, one of them being against England in DC, which will be an amazing experience, and then we go into World Cup qualification.

“You’ve always got to stay positive. I know that rugby is not a career forever and it has allowed me to live in different places and play with lots of amazing people.

“It’s an exciting time to be playing rugby in America. I feel very fortunate.”
But before international rugby comes to the forefront, there is only one thing on Fricker’s mind ahead of Sunday afternoon.

“One more game, one more opportunity to go and get that dub.”