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, most 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, Orange County, and Northern California. 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 of their intention not to compete in 2026. About a week later 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. Just as MLR fans began to think that the worse was behind them and the 7 remaining teams were locked in for 2026, NARDB learned that the Utah Warriors, who had been searching for new investment for a while, had been granted an extension to the Capital Call (the call the league has with each team to confirm funding for the following season). This extension expired in early November and NARDB understands that the Utah Warriors did not make this call. Rumours spread quickly on 4th November that Utah were the fifth team to merge or withdraw from Major league Rugby in a single off-season, and later that same day the team confirmed this. This left the Seattle Seawolves as MLR’s lone founding team in 2026.
With the dust seemingly settled on the worst offseason in Major League Rugby’s short history, attention once again turned towards the future, and rebuilding the League almost from it’s foundations. To their credit, the League seems to have recognized that this would require a fundamental change in how the League operates, and on 2nd December 2025, they announced that CEO Nic Benson was stepping down and moving to a senior advisor role as MLR introduced a new executive dual-leadership structure, with Alex Magleby and Graeme Bradbury stepping in as Co-Presidents of Strategy & Communications, and Operations & Competition respectively. Alex Magleby, a former USA Eagle and national team captain, had been touted as a League exec for a while, and one only needs to look at what he had created as Founder and former CEO of the New England Free Jacks to know that he was an excellent choice. Graeme Bradbury stepped into the role with heaps of experience as an executive, and was already familiar with the league and league operations having served as MLR’s COO prior to this promotion. Although there were some questions about Magleby’s existing role as Free Jacks Executive Chairman, these Co-President choices seem to have gone down generally well with fans.
These dramatic shifts in MLR left only 6 teams competing in 2026, the lowest number of teams in League history, with none in Texas for the first time. This is somewhat embarrassing for MLR, who have their headquarters in the Lone Star State, in Dallas. The League also announced that for the 2026 season, each team would only be permitted 7 international players per matchday 23 and that Canadian players (previously deemed domestic) would now count towards that international player limit. This dramatically reduced the number of Canadians in MLR from 47 last season, to just 10 in 2026. On December 2nd, Major League Rugby confirmed the structure for the 2026 season, which can be seen below.
Regular Season
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
On 2nd December, Major League Rugby announced the structure for the 2026 season. With the League contracting massively to 6 teams in 2026 from the 11 in 2025. the conference system, in place since 2020, has been scrapped in favour of this round robin model which makes far more sense in a 6-team league. The regular season will consist of 10 games with each team facing the other 5 teams both home and away, kicking off in April. This is far later than previous seasons (generally March/April) but again, with fewer games this season can still easily fit in before the July test window and weather in April will be better suited for rugby in cities such as Chicago and DC.
The 30 game, 11 round season kicked off with the California Legion hosting Anthem RC a week ahead of the other 4 teams due to stadium availability, and saw Anthem RC finally snap a 32-game losing streak to earn their first franchise victory over the California Legion, who were playing in their very first game under their new state-wide identity. The remaining 4 teams kicked off their campaigns the following week, in Week 2. While these 4 teams would play 10 straight games before the postseason, California and Anthem would receive a bye in Week 6, giving them the advantage of a mis-season bye. New for 2026, MLR introduced the MLR Supporters’ Cup, fondly known as ‘The Old Mate’ which serves as a continuous link between MLR today and the history of the league. More information on The Old Mate can be found here.
The talking point of the regular season was without a doubt the Chicago Hounds. Arguably the most dominant side in MLR history, the Hounds went 10 games undefeated, finishing with a 10-0 record and the maximum of 50pts available in the table. They locked up a playoff spot with weeks left in the already shortened season, and completed MLR’s perfect season rather poetically, by defeating the defending Champion New England Free Jacks in their final game of the regular season. They qualified as the #1 seed, followed by the Seattle Seawolves in 2nd (6-4: 31pts), California Legion in 3rd (5-5: 29pts), and Old Glory DC in 4th (4-6: 22pts). This means that, to the dismay of MLR fans, the New England Free Jacks would miss the playoffs for the first time since 2021, and would not compete for a 4th straight Shield. They finished 5th with a 3-7 record due in part to significant team turnover, just ahead of Anthem RC with a 2-8 record in last. The Rising Stars started strong with victories over California and Seattle, but a 7-game losing streak plagued them.
Championship Series
Following a 10-game regular season, the Top 4 teams advanced to a 2-round Championship series. With no conferences in 2026, the Conference Semifinals have been removed in favour of just League-wide Semi-Finals. The Top ranked team will face the 4th ranked side at home, and the 2nd ranked team will face the 3rd ranked side at home. The winners of these Semifinals will advance to the Championship Final. Links to the three playoff games for the 2026 season can be found below:
- Semifinal 1: Seattle Seawolves v California Legion
- Semifinal 2: Chicago Hounds v Old Glory DC
- Championship Final: Chicago Hounds v California Legion
As mentioned above, the Chicago Hounds dominated the regular season and easily qualified as first seed, 19pts ahead of the Second placed Seattle Seawolves who secured home field advantage with a final round victory over the California Legion who were also their Semifinal opponents, having finished in 3rd. Old Glory DC just about qualified in 4th, finishing on top of a 3-way fight for the last playoff spot and they had the unenviable task of facing the Chicago Hounds.
The Semifinals were supposed to take place over the weekend of June 13-14, 2026. However, with the Chicago Hounds securing home field advantage for the Semifinals, but their stadium occupied by a music festival that weekend, their Semifinal with Old Glory DC took place on the evening of Jun 15th, a Monday. The Semifinals kicked off with the Seattle Seawolves hosting the California Legion at Starfire in what proved to be a real battle of the kickers. Davy Coetzer and Coby Miln combined for 42 of the game’s 77pts in total, setting a new record for the highest scoring playoff game in MLR history with Miln’s 23pts also setting a record for the most points scored by a player in a single playoff game. In the end, it was the Legion who took this one, pulling away in the final 20 minutes to take a 34-43 victory in the fortress that is Starfire Stadium, and booking their place in the Final. While the first Semifinal was a tight, back and forth bout, the second semifinal was almost entirely one way traffic. Old Glory DC scored the first points but the Chicago Hounds, fighting for a chance at a home final, ran away with it. In perhaps their most complete performance of the season, the Hounds led 31-3 at half time, scoring 8 tries in total for a 59-22 victory only made to look somewhat respectable by two DC tries in the final 5 minutes. This marks the largest winning margin in playoff history for MLR, and the most points scored by a team in a playoff game. At 81pts in total, it also surpasses the previous semifinal to become the new highest scoring MLR playoff game ever!
The Championship Final, taking place the following weekend on June 21st at 8pm, was also held at SeatGeek Stadium, hosting it’s second MLR Championship Game after the 2023 Final between the New England Free Jacks and San Diego Legion. The 2026 final was contested by the undefeated Chicago Hounds, and the California Legion who reach the big dance in their first season following the merger of the San Diego Legion and Rugby FC LA. In constant heavy rain, the Championship game played out exactly as expected. The weather interfered with the Legion’s style of play, and ill-discipline crept in as they were shown 3 yellow cards throughout the match. The Hounds on the other hand, able to play a combination of different styles, adapted better. They led 32-3 at one point before a valiant comeback attempt from the Legion brought the score to 32-17 with 15 to play, but the Hounds defence rallied and wouldn’t be breached again. A final minute Hilsenbeck penalty cemented Chicago’s first MLR title with a 35-17 victory in from of a committed home crowd, who were enjoying every second despite the weather. The undefeated 12-0 Chicago Hounds cap off the perfect season with a perfect ending, lifting the Shield in an absolute wash out at SeatGeek Stadium.
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 | Coby Miln |  | 130 | 1 | Theo Fourie |  | 11 | |
| 2 | Davy Coetzer |  | 104 | 2 | Mason Flesch | | 10 | |
| – | Chris Hilsenbeck | | 104 | 3 | Paddy Ryan | | 7 | |
| 4 | Jason Robertson |  | 88 | 4 | Ben Houston | | 6 | |
| 5 | Joel Hodgson |  | 75 | – | Joey Mano | | 6 | |
| 6 | Luke Carty |  | 59 | – | John Rizzo | | 6 | |
| 7 | Theo Fourie | | 55 | – | Campbell Robb | | 6 | |
| 8 | Santiago Videla | | 51 | – | Sione Tupou | | 6 | |
| 9 | Mason Flesch | | 50 | – | Brock Webster | | 6 | |
| 10 | Divan Rossouw | | 35 | 10 | Gonzalo Bertranou | | 5 |
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 | Coby Miln – 130pts | |
| Top Try Scorer | Theo Fourie – 11 | |
| Top Tackler | ||
| Top Meter Eater |