This page summarises the 2026 Major League Rugby Season, the 9th 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 2026 Playoff Games once the matchups are known. This page will also summarise the All-MLR teams of 2026, and the recipients of the League’s End of Season Awards, once they are announced.

The 2026 MLR season followed another dramatic offseason full of rumours and fan speculation, some of which turned out to be correct. Just over a month after the 2025 Championship on 30th July, 2025 the San Diego Legion and Rugby FC LA announced a merger to form the California Legion, who would play their inaugural season in 2026 and split their home games between venues in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County. This announcement came on the same day that the NOLA Gold held a Players’ Meeting, informing them that the team would not compete in the 2026 season. Later that day, the NOLA Gold posted a short statement on their website of their intention not to compete in 2026.

As if things couldn’t get worse for Major League Rugby, on 6th August 2025 news broke that Miami Sharks players had been told that the team would also not compete in the 2026 season. This was confirmed by a statement from the team two weeks later on 20th August, leaving the door open for a return in some capacity in the future. NARDB understands that the Sharks initially asked the MLR board to return in 2027, but this request was denied. There was no dispersal draft held for Sharks or NOLA Gold players, with all employees immediately becoming free agents.

After a few weeks of relative calm, fans began to thing that the bad news was over. The 2025 Collegiate Draft came and went, garnishing well deserved praise for excellent live coverage of the first round, although the following 2 rounds were not broadcast anywhere, even on MLR’s own platform, The Rugby Network. A few weeks after the draft on 11th September 2025 the Houston SaberCats announced, almost completely out of the blue, that they too would not compete in the 2026 MLR season. The SaberCats were the reigning Western Conference Champions, a league founding member, and the only team in MLR to own their own venue. No reason for the withdrawal was provided.

These dramatic shifts in MLR left only 7 teams competing in 2026, with 4 teams in the Eastern and only 3 in the Western Conference, none of which are in Texas for the first time in MLR history. This is somewhat embarassing for MLR, who have their headquarters in the Lone Star State, in Dallas. It remains to be seen if MLR will continue with a conference structure.

Regular Season

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall Standings

Standings will be updated on a weekly basis following each round. Points are awarded based on the following:
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

With the League shrinking once again to 10 teams from the 11 in 2025, the season structure is currently unknown. Once more information is available, it will be added here.

Championship Series

As above, with a 10-team season in 2026 that includes only 4 teams in the Western Conference, the Championship Series format for the 2026 MLR season is currently unknown. Once this is made public, it will be added here.

2026 All-MLR Teams

The below table lists the All-MLR Teams for the 2026 campaign. An All-MLR selection represents excellence in a position, and is the equivalent of the Teams of the Season.

Number	All-MLR First XV	All-MLR Second XV	Honorable Mention XV
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

2026 Player Leaderboards & Accolades

Scoring Leaderboards – Top Points Scorers & Top Try Scorers

Pos.	Player	Team	Points	Separator	Pos.	Player	Team	Tries
1					1
2					2
3					3
4					4
5					5
6					6
7					7
8					8
9					9
10					10

Other Leaderboards – Tackles Made & Meters Gained

Pos.	Player	Team	Points	Separator	Pos.	Player	Team	Tries
1					1
2					2
3					3
4					4
5					5
6					6
7					7
8					8
9					9
10					10

End of Season Awards

Award	Recipient	Team
MLR Player of the Year
MLR Forward of the Year
MLR Back of the Year
MLR Rookie of the Year
MLR Coach of the Year
S. Marcus Calloway Award
Top Points Scorer
Top Try Scorer
Top Tackler
Top Meter Eater