Toronto Arrows Player Profile: The All Blacks Tayler Adams

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Toronto Arrows Tayler Adams in the second half against Old Glory DC at Segra Field on April 3, 2021

Tayler Adams is an “All Black” scrum-half and fly-half for the Toronto Arrows. When looking at the offensive production, Adams is one of the best in MLR. He is among the league leaders in many categories in Major League Rugby for the Arrows this year.

Adams was born in Auckland, New Zealand and started playing the game in New Zealand. He would later start his senior career in Australia in 2015 before going to the Arrows organization in 2020.

The Player Profile of Toronto Arrows Player: Tayler Adams

The start of Tayler Adams club career

His club career began with Southland in 2012. As of February 8, 2019, he made 27 appearances and scored 18 points. Tayler Adams also played with the Southland Stags in 2012 at only 18 years old according to Logan Savory of stuff.co.nz.

Unfortunately, for Adams, his debut might be remembered for the wrong reasons. The Stags got destroyed 82-0 by the Canterbury Rugby Football Union. Adams would then start the remaining three games in the season for the Stags.

In 2015, he moved to Australia. He played for the Greater Sydney Rams and NSW (New South Wales) Country Eagles in the NRC, and in 2018 for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby. For Sydney, he made five appearances and had three points. He was much more successful with New South Wales, getting 83 points in 17 made appearances.

Tayler Adams with the Toronto Arrows

Adams’ first season with the Arrows was in the 2020 MLR season. It was a shortened season, but Adams provided lots of points with penalties and conversions converted. He also made two tries for the Arrows in the 18-28 win over Rugby ATL at Life University Stadium. These were the first two tries Adams scored in MLR.

Tayler Adams obviously impressed the Arrows’ management as he was re-signed for the 2021 MLR season. This is what Toronto’s General Manager Mark Winokur said about Adams according to the Canadian Press for CKPGToday.ca.

“Tayler really lit it up this past season and provided us with a different look at (No.) 10 that opened up our attack,” Arrow’s vice-president and GM Mark Winokur said in a statement.

This year though has been a magical year for Adams. He leads the Arrows in points, conversions, try assists, and penalty goals. In fact, he is second in all of MLR in conversions made and total points scored.

Furthermore, when he plays well, his team also does well. Adams played a major part in the Arrows’ wins against Rugby United New York and the Seattle Seawolves. He also played a big role in Joaquín Tuculet’s try in the 17-minute in a narrow loss against New York City last Saturday.

His ability to take advantage of New York City’s mistake and his tremendous run before giving the ball to Tuculet led to a fantastic try. It also shows how important Adams is to the Arrows organization.

Tayler Adams playing for the All Blacks

Adams played for the All Blacks in the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship. New Zealand won their group and advanced to the knockout stage. However, they ended up finishing fourth in the tournament after losing to England in the semi-finals and South Africa in the third-place game.

Adams’ best game in the tournament was a 59-6 win over Fiji. In that game, he converted on three of the five conversions he attempted. He also converted on the two penalty attempts for New Zealand in the big win over Fiji.

Tayler Adams with the Toronto Arrows Overview

This year is obviously a disappointment for the Toronto Arrows. They are out of the playoffs with only two games left in the 2021 MLR season. A lot of that might have to do with not being able to play in their home market.

Other Toronto sports teams with similar issues to the Arrows have underperformed or are currently underperforming this year. The Toronto Raptors failed to make the NBA playoffs for the first time in seven years.

This is while Toronto FC currently has the second-worst record in all of MLS. So there will not be criticism this year that Adams could not help the Arrows get to the MLR playoffs this year.

It is also important to note that he played a big role in the Arrows getting four wins and one loss on the road in the shortened 2020 MLR season. On June 6, 2021, he became just the second player in franchise history to score 100 points.

It is also important to note that in the 2021 MLR season, the Arrows are currently tied for fourth in points scored. Yes, this is a team stat, but Adams might be the Arrows’ best offensive player, who played a critical role in the Arrows achieving that stat.

The Arrows have two more games left this season. Both games will be played at Life University in Marietta, Georgia and will both be televised nationally in Canada on TSN.

The Arrows will play Old Glory DC on Sunday, June. 4. They will then officially end their season against the New England Free Jacks on Sunday, July. 11. The games can also be watched on FS1 on July 4 and CBSSN on July 11.

 

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