2025 MLR Collegiate Draft

The 2025 Major League Rugby Collegiate Draft will be the 6th draft in MLR history. Details on the format and structure of the 2025 Draft will be added here as and when the information becomes available.

As with previous drafts, the draft order will be determined by the reverse finishing order during the 2025 season, including placements earned during the 2025 Championship Series. In situations where teams are eliminated at the same stage of the Championship Series, the lower ranked team during the regular season will pick before the higher ranked. For the 2025 draft, college athletes from sports other than rugby were eligible for the MLR Draft. This is the first time that crossover athletes have been eligible to be drafted into Major League Rugby.

The 2025 MLR Collegiate Draft was held on August 21st, 2025 following the conclusion of the playing season in late June. The below table highlights the current draft picks that each MLR team has for the 2025 Draft:

Current Draft Pick Landscape – 2025 MLR Collegiate Draft

Team1st Rd2nd Rd3rd Rd
Anthem RC–
California Legion
Chicago Hounds
Houston SaberCats–
New England Free JacksNOLA rugby
Old Glory DCOld Glory DCOld Glory DCOld Glory DC
Seattle Seawolves
Utah Warriors
Each row in this table represents the draft picks that each team has for the 2025 draft, and which team they acquired the pick from (if necessary). For example, the Free Jacks currently hold 5 draft picks in 2025, their own for each round 1-3, as well as Anthem’s pick in the 2nd Round and NOLA Gold’s in the 3rd Round. Houston, on the other hand, only have 2 picks after trading one to RFCLA.

The California Legion retained the drafting spots of Rugby FC LA. They also retain Houston’s 1st Rd Pick which RFCLA had traded for, giving the Legion 4 picks in the 2025 Draft.

As with every previous MLR Collegiate Draft to date, teams are free to trade draft picks like other trade assets, and any traded picks have been specified in the ‘Notes’ column. The below table will show the complete 2025 MLR Collegiate Draft Class, including their draft number, name, position, and school:

Complete 2025 MLR Collegiate Draft

RdOverall Pick #TeamPlayer NamePositionCollegeNotes
11Will ShermanLockUCLA
12Campbell RobbHookerCentral Washington UniversityAcquired from SDL
13Tiai VavaoFlankerCentral Washington University
14Old Glory DCConnor DevosPropLindenwood University
15Oscar TreacyWingCentral Washington University
16Elias GarzaPropLife University
17Jacob InceCenterUniversity of Guelph
18Iremia IremiaFlankerUC – BerkeleyAcquired from HOU
19Adam ChadwickHookerLife University
210Tevita MapaFlankerLife UniversityAcquired from ARC
211Charles WalshPropUC – Berkeley
212Old Glory DCJamie PhillipsHookerDartmouth College
213Joshua CoxFullbackUCLA
214Bastian BrunelloFullbackMount St. Mary’s University
215Filimone ManuFullbackAmerican International College
216King Matu JrFlankerSt. Mary’s College
217Leon BestPropLife University
318Chad TinneyPropLindenwood University
319Jack WorobelLockUniversity of VermontAcquired from NOLA
320Keelin CoyleFlyhalfUniversity of South Florida
321Old Glory DCMerlin McCloudFlankerUniversity of Victoria
322Grant MeadowsFlankerBrock University
323Lachlan McDonaldFullbackWalsh University
324Jacob HallScrumhalfUniversity of Arizona
325Ian RoudybushFlankerPenn State
326Remy ThomsonScrumhalfWalsh University

The below tables show how many picks each MLR team had during the 2025 draft, and which Colleges had the most draftees selected:

Number of Draft Picks Per Team & Number of Successful Draftees by School

TeamDraft Picks
5
4
3
3
Old Glory DC3
3
3
2
As of 20-Aug-25
CollegeLogoNo. Of Draftees
Life University4
Central Washington University3
Lindenwood University2
UC – Berkeley2
UCLA2
Walsh University2
American International College1
Brock University1
Dartmouth College1
Mount St. Mary’s University1
Penn State1
University of Guelph1
St. Mary’s College1
University of Arizona1
University of South Florida1
University of Vermont1
University of Victoria1
Despite Central Washington haing 3 picks in the top 5, Life University pipped
them with 4 draftees in 2025, the most of any school. Perennial
heavyweights Lindenwood are T-3rd with two.