Day: May 31, 2026

WER 2026 – RD 4: Bay Breakers v Chicago Tempest

The Bay Breakers host the travelling Chicago Tempest at Heart Health Park in Sacramento during Round 4 of the 2026 WER season!

The Bay Breakers come into this game with a 2-0 all time record against the Tempest, with the most recent meeting coming in Round 12 of the 2025 season when they recorded a 45-21 victory, also at home albeit down in Lodi, CA.

The Tempest’s woes against the Breakers would continue in their third ever meeting. The on-form Breakers opened the scoring in the first minute through Taina Tukuafu and never looked back. They were 21-0 up by the 10 minute mark and the reeling Tempest did rally and open their account after 15 minutes through fly-half Chloe Runge, starting a small alternation of rapid scoring, with the Breakers securing the try BP a few minutes later before Kaylee Westmoreland scored a second for Chicago in the 23rd minute. At this point, the Breakers pulled away with another 3 tries before the half time break, taking a  47-12 lead into the sheds.

The second half started calmer, with the Tempest able to hold off the Breakers for almost the first 20 minutes, but unable to add any score of their own. The floodgates eventually opened once again though, with another 3 scores for the Breakers in the 10 minutes from 58 to 68, before Katie Lohaus and the Tempest were able to get the final score of the day, but it was far too late. The league-leading Breakers take a huge 66-17 victory and remain at the top of the standings. The Tempest were unable to salvage a point, but stay just ahead of the NY Exiles in 5th place.

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2026 – RD 10: Seattle Seawolves v New England Free Jacks

The defending champion New England Free Jacks travel to Washington State to face the Seattle Seawolves for a Sunday Night Rugby marquee matchup at Starfire Stadium during Round 10 of the 2026 MLR season. This match marks the 2nd leg of the 2026 ‘Multi-Shield Melee and ‘Coffee Cup’.

The New England Free Jacks are coming off a tight, rainy victory away to Anthem RC to put them back in a playoff spot by a single point, while the Seawolves return home after a catastrophic defeat to the Chicago Hounds, 57-17. Despite this heavy loss, the Seawolves fielded an unchanged starting XV against the defending champions as they fight with the California Legion for home field advantage in the postseason.

This one took a while to get started, but it was worth the wait. The entire first half was defined by errors. It seemed like any time that either side threatened to break the deadlock, they would spill the ball or get pinged for another unforced error. The Seawolves managed to open the scoring through a close range dart from standout Paddy Ryan, and it took 12 minutes for the Free Jacks to respond through Tayne Hemopo’s first MLR try to even things up. Both sides scored while the other had a man in the sin bin, but this was the only scoring through the first 40. The errors were common and the chances were few and far between, with both sides struggling to convert on their zone entries including about 4 entries for Seattle through the first 10 minutes. With the Seawolves fighting for a home semifinal and the Free Jacks fighting for survival, this one looked like it might go down to the wire.

Thankfully for fans, The second half saw a bit more scoring. The Seawolves would inch in front thanks to a rare penalty try off a scrum, and Paddy Ryan would add his 2nd of the game about 5 minutes later to give the hosts some breathing room, now ahead 21-7. The Free Jacks showed flashes of brilliance that fans have come to expect after the last 3 seasons, such as a superb Ben LeSage score in the 54th minute to show that they still had some fight. This was cancelled out just after the hydration break however, with Dewald Kotze trundling over at the back of a powerful Seawolves maul, and just 2 minutes later Divan Rossouw crossed to extend the lead with a 5th score of the afternoon for the hosts. Trailing 33-14, the Free Jacks put up a great fight in the final 10 minutes, scoring through Sione Tupou and Alex Mackenzie to secure a try BP of their own and pull back to 33-28 thanks to the extras from Joel Hodgson. This put the visitors into a much needed losing BP range as well, but the Seawolves had other plans. A penalty in the final minute was nailed by Dorian Jones to take Seattle just out of reach and limit the Free Jacks to just the 1 bonus point, falling 36-28 to the Seawolves in Seattle.

This final kick shows that the Seawolves really do not want to give the Free Jacks the opportunity to qualify for the postseason. They secure their semifinals spot and give Old Glory DC the best possible chance to beat New England to the postseason. It’s still to be decided if Seattle will host or travel for the semifinal, and the result of their game next week against the California Legion will decide that. Winner gets to host. For the Free Jacks, their 1 bonus point ties them on 17pts with Old Glory DC, but New England hold on to 4th place by virtue of their slightly better points difference. They need to have the game of their lives against the incredible Chicago Hounds next week, who will be eager to keep the defending champions out of the playoffs after the Eastern Conference Final last year.

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2026 – RD 10: Anthem RC v California Legion

The California Legion travel to Charlotte to face Anthem RC at the American Legion Memorial Stadium during Round 10 of the 2026 MLR season.

The Legion are sat relatively comfortably in 2nd place with an even 4-4 record, with a bonus point win able to clinch home field advantage for the 2026 Semifinals. At the other end of the table, Anthem RC enter this game sat last in the standings on a 5 game skid, and are desperate for a win after a disappointing defeat at home to New England last week.

The last time these two teams met was the 2026 Season Opener in which Anthem RC claimed their first ever victory in their 33rd game. The Legion seemed aware of the opportunity in front of them, both to lock up 2nd and a home semifinal, and for revenge. They came out firing and opened the scoring after just two minutes through Nick Chan. Anthem would raly and apply heavy pressure with the majority of both the territory and possession in the first quarter. Despite all that pressure however, a Lance Williams try just before the hydration break put them down 0-14. The Rising Stars would cancel this try out shortly afterwards with a great bruising run from Baden Godfrey to lumber over, but the Legion would bag another two scores within 5 minutes of Godfrey’s try to lock up the try BP, and would add a 5th first half try from Gonzalo Bertranou 10 minutes later. The visitors led 7-33 at half time with Anthem showing few signs that they were capable of coming back from this heavy deficit.

To Anthem’s credit, they opened the second half scoring through Campbell Robb to cut the Legion’s lead to 19pts, but weren’t able to pull any closer before California’s Coby Miln slotted a penalty in the 51st minute, and Steff Crimp scored twice in 6 minutes either side of the second hydration break, adding this brace to his first half score to claim the second hat trick of the 2026 MLR season and the first in California Legion history! Despite there being just under 20 minutes to go, the Legion seemed to think the job was done with the score at 14-50, and allowed Anthem back into the game. Zion Going, who injected some pace and intent into the Anthem attack, also scored a brace withing 6 minutes of each other about 7 minutes after Crimp completed his hat trick, securing a Try BP for Anthem and taking them up to 26pts and put California’s Gonzalo Bertranou in the bin. The Rising Stars’ comeback attempt was stunted soon after however, with a scrap resulting in a second yellow for Makeen Alikhan, resulting in a red, and a yellow for the Legion’s Keni Nasoqeqe on his 100th MLR appearance. The game would end with 13v14 but the visitors didn’t show any mercy, capping off a dominant performance with an 82nd minute try from Ben Houston to make the final score 26-55.

This locks up a playoff spot for the Legion with a 5-4 record heading into the final week of the regular season, and will secure home field advantage should the Seattle Seawolves fall to the New England Free Jacks later today. If the Seawolves win, then it will be a fight for a home Semifinal as they face the Legion next week. Anthem RC will be hoping that Seattle can overcome the defending champs to keep their slim playoff chances alive. The rising stars must defeat Old Glory DC (who are also fighting for a playoff spot) next week, and win by a lot if they want any chance.

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WER 2026 – RD 4: New York Exiles v Denver Onyx

The defending Champion Denver Onyx travel to New York to face the Exiles at Mt. Vernon Memorial Stadium in a repeat of the 2025 Legacy Cup Final!

These two sides have faced each other more than any teams in WER history, meeting 3 times in total with the Denver Onyx holding a 2-1 series lead. The New York Exiles were the only team to defeat the Onyx during their inaugural season, doing so at home. Will history repeat itself?

This is the first time that these sides have faced each other since the first ever Legacy Cup match, where the Denver Onyx took a commanding 53-13 victory at home. Unfortunately for the Exiles, it was a very similar story, and scoreline, in this one. The Onyx started strong with tries from Caroline Bullock and Soraia Parr within the first 10 minutes, who then both doubled up by the half hour mark. By half time, Denver had scored 7 tries while shutting out the Exiles, and were coasting to the victory with a halftime score of 39-0.

Things only got a little better for the home side in the second half, but not before they got worse. Although the Exiles kept the Onyx out for nearly the first 20 minutes of the second half, Captain Carson Hann bagged her second of the game before New York got on the board. Carly Lehman opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, which was cancelled out by a ninth Denver try 5 minutes later. The Exiles would end strong with a pair of tries in the final 10 minutes, but the damage was done. The Onyx leave the big apple with a 19-53 victory, and improve to 3-1 sat in 2nd place. The exiles mirror the Onyx’s record, falling to 1-3 and remain at the bottom of the standings in 6th.

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