This page summarises the 2024 Major League Rugby Season, the 7th season in MLR history. Here you can view the regular season standings for each conference, as well as the Championship Series structure and results, including links to all 2024 Playoff Games. This page also summarises the All-MLR teams of 2024, and the recipients of the League’s End of Season Awards.
The 2023/24 MLR offseason was possibly the most turbulent of the league’s short history. Mid-way through the 2023 season, MLR announced that the league would be expanding to Miami for the 2024 season and beyond through the Miami Sharks, with the Argentinian owners focusing on the South American community in Miami, and finding USA-eligible South Americans as the backbone of their team. This was the smoothest ‘big move’ of the offseason.
Shortly after the end of the 2023 season on August 2nd 2023, the League and Rugby ATL announced that the team had changed ownership and would be relocating. Two weeks later on August 17th, the new location of the franchise was announced as Los Angeles. After the controversial rebrand of ATL for 2023, many ATL fans were understandably furious about this. The new Los Angeles franchise was announced as Rugby FC LA on December 21st, 2023.
Between Rugby ATL‘s relocation being announced and the brand being revealed, MLR would lose two well established teams for the 2024 season. Both the Toronto Arrows (who had lost their Talismanic owner Bill Webb to cancer in August) and Rugby New York Ironworkers announced that they would not be competing in the 2024 season within a week of each other, both citing financial difficulties. In one week, MLR had lost it’s entire 2019 expansion and shrank to 11 teams. The league was also forced to delay the schedule announcement in order to adjust for this.
The schedule was eventually released, but would have to be recalled and adjusted as a partnership between MLR, USA Rugby, and World Rugby would come together to form Anthem Rugby Carolina on 19th January 2024 (6 weeks before the start of the season!), a developmental side based in Charlotte, NC focused on developing the next generation of USA Eagles ahead of their home World Cup in 2031. Anthem RC were cobbled together from primarily USA-Eligible fringe players from other MLR teams and a handful of international players in a short amount of time and weren’t really given any chance of success but despite this, put together respectable performances.
Despite the tumultuous offseason, MLR would remain a 12-team league, divided into 2 conferences of 6 teams each. The Chicago Hounds moved from the West to the East, along with the reigning champion NE Free Jacks, Old Glory DC, Anthem RC, Miami Sharks, and NOLA Gold, and the West contained the Dallas Jackals, Houston SaberCats, Rugby FC LA, San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves, and Utah Warriors.
Regular Season
Eastern Conference
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | PF | PA | +/- | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 463 | 344 | +119 | 8 | 3 | 55 |
| 2 |  | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 410 | 349 | +61 | 8 | 2 | 50 |
| 3 |  | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 454 | 387 | +67 | 7 | 4 | 45 |
| 4 |  | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 394 | 416 | -22 | 6 | 4 | 42 |
| 5 |  | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 335 | 389 | -54 | 4 | 4 | 32 |
| 6 |  | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 323 | 676 | -353 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
Western Conference
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | PF | PA | +/- | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 478 | 347 | +131 | 11 | 0 | 67 |
| 2 |  | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 498 | 373 | +125 | 9 | 4 | 57 |
| 3 |  | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 421 | 374 | +47 | 7 | 4 | 55 |
| 4 |  | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 482 | 450 | +32 | 10 | 9 | 43 |
| 5 |  | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 424 | 471 | -47 | 7 | 8 | 35 |
| 6 |  | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 367 | 473 | -106 | 8 | 2 | 32 |
PF = Points For
PA = Points Against
+/- = Points Difference
Points
4 points for winning a match
2 points for drawing a match
0 points for losing a match
1 losing bonus point for losing by 7 points or fewer
1 try bonus point for scoring 4 tries or more
The 2024 Regular Season saw 3 teams competing in their inaugural seasons. The Miami Sharks and Anthem RC in the Eastern Conference, and Rugby FC LA in the West. RFCLA is the relocated Rugby ATL franchise, but for the purposes of this site and due to the large turnover of staff and players, they are treated as a separate franchise. None of these three new teams would qualify for the post season, but had admirable seasons nonetheless. The Miami Sharks finished with a 6-10 record and grabbed a shock victory over the reigning champion Free Jacks, RFCLA finished with a 5-10-1 record that saw then draw with the Chicago Hounds and run the San Diego Legion very close, before removing their head coach Steve Brett just 2 days after the end of their season, and the hastily cobbled together Anthem RC side were in every game despite their 0-16 record. This is the 3rd 0-16 season in MLR history following Austin in 2019 & Dallas in 2022, but their 7pts is the best among those seasons.
The Houston SaberCats topped the entire league with a 14-2 record and 67pts (actually lower than either Conference champion from 2023) , and were only prevented from tying the San Diego Legion‘s 15-1 record from 2023 by the Legion themselves in the penultimate week of competition. The ‘Cats will faced their Texas neighbors, the Dallas Jackals in Dallas’ first ever MLR playoff game. The Jackals almost had the better of the SaberCats in the final week of the regular season if not for a very late Davy Coetzer penalty. MLR’s most historic rivalry will get another installment as the Seattle Seawolves host the San Diego Legion in the Western Conference Semi Final, with both teams finishing on 11-5 records.
In the East, the reigning Champion Free Jacks secured the top seed despite a late push from the NOLA Gold, and faced off against #4 seed Old Glory DC in another chapter of a growing rivalry between the two Northeastern teams. With 42pts, the Flags are the playoff team with the lowest points total. The Gold secure home field advantage as they finally make the playoffs for the first time, and host the Chicago Hounds who are also enjoying their first Playoff appearance.
The Utah Warriors, unlucky to miss out on the playoffs a year ago, struggled in 2024. They regularly fell behind early and had to dig themselves out of holes playing from behind. They had some standout players such as the likes of Michael Manson, Dylan Nel, and Frank Lochore, but their 5-11 record kept them on the outside looking in for another year.
Championship Series
The 2024 Championship Series saw a new playoff format introduced, expanding the post-season from 5 games to 7, with the top FOUR teams of each conference of Six qualifying, the Eliminator Round becoming a true Conference Semi-Final, and the bye for the #1 seed removed. The Top seed in each conference will face the #4 seed, and #2 & #3 seeds will face off. The winners will advance the Conference Finals and play each other for a place in the Championship final, were the winners of each conference will duel for a chance to lift the 2024 MLR Shield. Please see below for a list of Championship Series games from 2024:
- Eastern Conference SF 1: New England Free Jacks v Old Glory DC
- Eastern Conference SF 2: NOLA Gold v Chicago Hounds
- Western Conference SF 1: Houston SaberCats v Dallas Jackals
- Western Conference SF 2: Seattle Seawolves v San Diego Legion
- Eastern Conference Final: New England Free Jacks v Chicago Hounds
- Western Conference Final: Seattle Seawolves v Dallas Jackals
- 2024 MLR Championship Final: Seattle Seawolves v New England Free Jacks
The 2024 Championship Series opened with the Top of the East and reigning Champions the New England Free Jacks facing Old Glory DC in a growing rivalry between the two sides. The Flags looked like they would be taking a healthy lead into the sheds at HT, but a 17pt swing in the final minutes of the first half gave the Free Jacks a lead that they never relinquished. A 30-21 HT score finished as 33-29 after a low scoring 2nd half, and the Free Jacks advanced to the ECF where they would face the Chicago Hounds, who knocked off the NOLA Gold by an impressive score of 21-45 on the road. Two yellow cards and a dagger of a try from Billy Meakes assisted by Adriaan Carelse blew out the score a bit, but the Hounds move to 1 for 1 in the post-season.
In the Western Conference, another chapter of the Texas rivalry was written as the Houston SaberCats, the top team in MLR during the regular season, hosted the Dallas Jackals at SaberCats Stadium. The ‘Cats seemingly had all the pressure on them and despite some excellent tries from the likes of Seimou Smith & Louritz van der Schyff, the Dallas Jackals were content on being patient and capitalising on Houston mistakes, with 2 of their 5 tries coming directly from errors. The Jackals, winless 2 seasons ago, pull off a shock 22-34 road victory for their first ever win over Houston, and advance to the WCF where they will face the Seattle Seawolves, who put in a solid defensive effort over their arch-rivals the San Diego Legion, with the score of 30-28 not telling the whole story, as the Legion scored twice in the last 4 minutes, but never looked particularly threatening in attack. The Legion will not enjoy playing in a Home Final at Snapdragon Stadium.
The conference finals saw the Free Jacks emerge victorious over a stubborn Chicago Hounds side by a score of 23-17. The Hounds can be proud of their first MLR playoff run, while the Free Jacks secured a place in the Championship game for the 2nd year running and a chance to go back-to-back. In the Western Conference, the Seattle Seawolves scraped past the resilient Dallas Jackals (who overcame almost 10 minutes of playing with 13 men) by a score of 28-25 thanks to a late Ryan Rees score to advance to their fourth Championship game, and a chance to both lift their 3rd Shield, and prevent the Free Jacks from joining them in the back-to-back brigade!
The 2024 Championship game was the first time in MLR history that two Championship-winning sides had fought for the shield in the final, and a crowd of 12,085 gathered at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego to witness it, setting a new MLR single-game attendance record. The coverage got off to a rocky start with a 15 minute delay due to the prior programming overrunning, and the game was characterised by huge defensive stands and ill-discipline, as both sides scored a single try each, both coming in the first half and New England’s coming in the first 10 minutes of the game through an acrobatic finish from Le Roux Malan, his first MLR try since his game-winner in the 2023 Final. Through the first 50 minutes, New England looked like the only side threatening to score, but into the last half hour the Seawolves found their groove and dominated possession despite a yellow card to Pite Lopeti (which was defended well) and a debacle with the Seawolves substitutions by the sideline officials forced them to finish the game with 14 players. The Free Jacks defence was impenetrable though and Seattle could not crack it. The scoring came down to a battle of the kickers, with Mack Mason kicking 6pts compared to Jayson Potroz‘s 15pts, all from penalties. The final score of 11-20 to New England resulted in the Free Jacks joining Seattle as Back-To-Back MLR Champions, and draws to a close the 2024 MLR season, in many ways the biggest season of Major League Rugby to date.
All-MLR Teams
2024 Player Leaderboards & Accolades
Scoring Leaderboards – Top Points Scorers & Try Scorers
| Pos. | Player | Team | Points | Separator | Pos. | Player | Team | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jayson Potroz | | 181 | 1 | Dylan Fawsitt | | 14 | |
| 2 | Mack Mason | | 172 | – | Michael Manson | | 14 | |
| 3 | Jason Robertson | | 138 | 3 | Taniela Filimone | | 11 | |
| 4 | Joel Hodgson | | 111 | – | Dewald Kotze | | 11 | |
| 5 | AJ Alatimu | | 85 | 5 | Semi Kunatani | | 10 | |
| 6 | Lincoln McClutchie | | 81 | – | Reece MacDonald | | 10 | |
| 7 | Martin Elias | | 79 | – | Jade Stighling | | 10 | |
| 8 | Adriaan Carelse | | 77 | – | Wayne van der Bank | | 10 | |
| – | Davy Coetzer | | 77 | 9 | Nate Augspurger | | 8 | |
| 10 | Santiago Videla | | 74 | – | Julián Domínguez | | 8 |
Seattle’s Joe Taufete’e, New England’s Andrew Quattrin, and Houston’s Andre Warner all also scored 8 tries in 2024 and are tied for 9th in MLR. As these tables are sorted in alphabetical order by surname, Taufete’e, Quattrin, and Warner sit just off this table.
Other Leaderboards – Tackling & Meters Gained
| Pos. | Player | Team | Tackles | Separator | Pos. | Player | Team | Meters Gained |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cory Daniel | | 276 | 1 | Reece MacDonald | | 1,535m | |
| 2 | Frank Lochore | | 221 | 2 | Divan Rossouw | | 1,492m | |
| 3 | Maclean Jones | | 199 | 3 | Michael Manson | | 1,491m | |
| 4 | Huw Taylor | | 192 | 4 | Wayne van der Bank | | 1,333m | |
| 5 | Rob Harley | | 189 | 5 | Te Rangatira Waitokia | | 1,246m | |
| 6 | Wayne van der Bank | | 187 | 6 | Semi Kunatani | | 1,126m | |
| 7 | Lautaro Bavaro | | 183 | 7 | Jade Stighling | | 1,085m | |
| 8 | Jason Damm | | 172 | 8 | Billy Meakes | | 1.084m | |
| – | Ronan Murphy | | 172 | 9 | Taniela Filimone | | 1,071m | |
| 10 | Ben Strang | | 170 | 10 | Junior Gafa | | 1,062m |
End of Season Awards
| Award | Recipient | Team |
|---|---|---|
| MLR Player of the Year | Wayne van der Bank | |
| MLR Forward of the Year | Jerónimo Gómez Vara | |
| MLR Back of the Year | Reece MacDonald | |
| MLR Rookie of the Year | Junior Gafa | |
| MLR Coach of the Year | Scott Mathie | |
| S. Marcus Calloway Award | Ben LeSage | |
| Top Points Scorer | Jayson Potroz – 181pts | |
| Top Try Scorer | Dylan Fawsitt / Michael Manson – 14 | |
| Top Tackler | Cory Daniel – 276 | |
| Top Meter Eater | Reece MacDonald -1,535m | |