April 4, 2026 - North American Rugby Database

The Reigning Champion New England Free Jacks kick off their title defence on the road against the California Legion at Torero Stadium in San Diego, after the Legion began their campaign in the season opener last weekend.

The Legion will be looking to bounce back in this one following a convincing defeat to Anthem RC in the season opener, with the rising stars claiming their first ever victory. The Free Jacks enter this game and season as the team with the most player turnover league-wide, with only 10 of their entire 2026 roster having lifted the Shield with the team in 2025. This game marks the first contest of The Old Mate, Major League Rugby’s continuous Challenge Cup, for the 2026 season, and the 125th contest all time. The winner will claim the trophy and attempt to defend it in their next game, so it is contested in almost every match week, regular season and playoff, unless the holder is on a bye.

It looked like the California Legion were out for blood after a disappointing first game, and they did not disappoint in front of a packed house at Torero Stadium, the ‘ancestral home’ of the Legion. The hosts ran out to a 24-0 lead late in the 1st half, before the Free Jacks struck back with their first points of the season through Kienan Higgins on his MLR debut. However, the 2nd half would be all Legion once again as they added a handful more tries to rout the reigning champions by a score of 43-5. With this victory, the Legion pick up their first victory in their 2nd attempt, and also claim their first possession of The Old Mate, MLR’s Supports Challenge Cup that you can learn more about here.

With a 38pt deficit, this loss marks the heaviest defeat in New England Free Jacks history, surpassing the 29pt deficit recorded during a 36-7 defeat to the Chicago Hounds in Round 3 of last season. Free Jacks fans can take solace in the fact that this was the very first game for a very different looking team in very hot conditions at Torero Stadium, which is arguably just as much of a fortress as Quincy. It would be foolish to rule the 3x Champions out, but with a shortened season in 2026 they will need to kick things into gear sooner rather than later.

Following their season opener against the California Legion last week, Anthem RC return to Charlotte for their home opener against the Chicago Hounds. This game marks the first of the season for the Hounds, who had a bye in Round 1.

Anthem RC return to Charlotte to a hero’s welcome after claiming their first victory in franchise history last week against the California Legion, snapping a MLR record 32-game winless streak dating back to the start of the 2024 season. They face a Chicago Hounds team that many have labelled as a favourite for the Shield this year. The Hounds team for this game included 7 players in the starting XV who were earning their Hounds debut, including hooker Theo Fourie who made his MLR debut. In addition, flanker Maclean Jones earned his 50th MLR appearance as a Chicago Hound in this game, becoming the first player to reach a half-century of games for the team.

The Chicago Hounds showed no signs of rust in their first showing of a new campaign, and never trailed in this game scoring 5 tries to Anthem’s 3 to lock up the full 5pts and get their campaign off to a perfect start, taking this one 19-33 on the road. Anthem, perhaps overconfident after their first ever victory last week, return to the drawing board to prep for the Seattle Seawolves next week.