Thretton Palamo (born September 22, 1988) is an American

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays

centre 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 eccentricity ...

for

Old Glory DC Old Glory DC RFC is a professional rugby union team that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR), founded in 2018. The organization is led by two local business leaders, former USA Eagles' Paul Sheehy and local club rugby player Chris Dunlavey. ...

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. Off ...

(MLR). When he appeared in the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, he became the youngest ever player to have played in the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

, a record that was surpassed in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

by Vasil Lobzhanidze of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Youth and early career

Palamo was born in

Woodland, California Woodland is a city in and the county seat of Yolo County, California, located approximately northwest of Sacramento, California, Sacramento, and is a part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population was 61,032 at the 2020 United States ...

. Palamo is a graduate of Davis Senior High School in

Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Da ...

. During his high school career he played both basketball, winning selection to the USA's U16 national team, and American football, leading his team in rushing yards and tackles during his senior year. He didn't officially start playing rugby until he was 16 when he joined the same club as his brothers, the San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club. Within six months of joining SFGG, Palamo was called to represent

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

at U19 level and also went on to play Sevens for Samoa, the country of his father's birth. However, as he approached 18 — the age deadline to commit to a specific national team — he decided to play for his own country of birth, the United States, saying this could create opportunities for other Samoan players.

University of Utah

With a recommendation from USA Rugby World Cup teammate and Utah's head rugby coach

Blake Burdette Blake Burdette (born January 19, 1980 in Minneapolis) is a rugby coach and former American rugby union hooker or prop. He was a member of the United States national rugby union team and made his international debut in 2006 against Uruguay. Burdet ...

, Palamo went to Utah and played rugby union and American football for the Utes. He spent his freshman year just playing rugby. In June 2010, he led the Scrummin' Utes to victory in the inaugural

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 ...

, scoring two tries in a 31–26 overtime win over the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. A desire to play American football and some help from Burdette, a former Utes tight end, saw Palamo join the Utes American football program in early 2011, taking part in spring scrimmages as a running back.

Club career

He played in France for

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

club

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

during the 2008-09 season and played alongside fellow Eagles international

Takudzwa Ngwenya Takudzwa Ngwenya (born 22 July 1985) is a former rugby union player who played on the wing for the United States national rugby union team and Biarritz Olympique in the Top 14. He made his mark in the 2007 Rugby World Cup with tries against Sout ...

. Despite signing a three-year contract with Biarritz, he returned to the United States at the end of his first season to continue his studies. Palamo returned to professional club rugby in 2014, signing a three-month trial contract with

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

for the 2014–15 season. Palamo made his professional rugby debut playing 55 minutes for Saracens in a win over Ospreys in LV= Cup. After making three appearances for Saracens, Palamo joined London Welsh on a year long loan for the 2015-16 RFU Championship season. However, on 31 December 2015, Palamo left London Welsh by early release to fully return to the United States Sevens set-up. On 27 June 2016 it was confirmed that Palamo would return to England to join

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

ahead of their return to the Premiership in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. In September 2017 he joined the

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

on a short-term loan to cover injuries. He was released by Bristol in April 2018. He joined

team

Houston Sabercats The Houston SaberCats are an American professional rugby union team based in Houston, Texas. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its fi ...

in 2019. In 2020, he signed with expansion team

. He was co-captain of the team in their first two professional seasons, alongside flanker

Mungo Mason Mungo Mason (born 4 October 1995) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker (back row) for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for the San Diego Legion in the MLR and Edinburgh in the Pro14. ...

. He re-signed with the team for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

International career

Palamo was called into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

squad to participate at the

. He played his only match of the tournament in the 15–64 loss to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 30 September 2007. The appearance was just eight days after his 19th birthday and made him the youngest player in Rugby World Cup history, lowering the record of

Federico Méndez Federico Mendez (2 August 1972, Mendoza Province, Mendoza), also known as Freddie Mendez is an Argentina, Argentine rugby union footballer. Méndez played professional rugby in South Africa, England and France. He also played for Mendoza Rugby Club ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, who was 19 years and 63 days when he appeared at the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

. As noted earlier, that record was surpassed in 2015 by Lobzhanidze, who played for Georgia against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

less than a month before his 19th birthday. Palamo made his only other full test appearance for the Eagles in a tour match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in Tokyo on 22 November 2008 before going on to captain the USA's Sevens team at the

2009 World Games The 2009 World Games () the eighth edition of the World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (under the name Chinese Taipei) from 16 July 2009 to 26 July 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested i ...

in Taiwan. Palamo returned to international rugby starting at inside centre for the US in their

2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, was the ninth edition of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup, the annual Tier 2 Rugby union tournament. Unlike previous competitions, the tournament was divided into two conferences of three teams each, with no interconfer ...

match 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 tot ...

Family

Palamo's father, Arona Palamo, played international rugby union at centre and flyhalf for

between 1979 and 1982 before moving to San Francisco to take up an academic scholarship at

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. Palamo has one younger sister and two older brothers, Toshi and Seta, who have both played Sevens for the United States. His father introduced him to rugby union and he was influenced to play the sport after watching his brothers play.

References

External links

Espn ProfileUSA Rugby profileUtah Rugby profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palamo, Thretton 1988 births Living people American rugby union players American people of Samoan descent Rugby union centres People from Woodland, California United States international rugby union players American expatriate rugby union players American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in France American expatriate sportspeople in France Davis Senior High School (California) alumni United States international rugby sevens players Dragons RFC players Old Glory DC players Houston SaberCats players Saracens F.C. players London Welsh RFC players Bristol Bears players