This page summarises the 2025 Major League Rugby Season, the 8th in MLR history. It kicked off on February 15th, 2025 with the Championship Final being held on the last weekend of June, 2025. Here you can view the regular season standings for each conference, as well as the Championship Series structure and results, including links to all 2025 Playoff Games. This page also summarises the All-MLR teams of 2025, and the recipients of the League’s End of Season Awards.
Shortly after the end of the 2024 MLR season, the league and Dallas Jackals announced that the Jackals was in the process of being sold. This sale would not be complete in time for the 2025 season, and so Dallas was withdrawing from MLR. As will many cases of teams withdrawing in MLR’s short history, players and staff were not aware of just how dire the situation was at the top. Following this announcement, MLR held a dispersal draft to help Jackals players onto rosters for the 2025 season. This left MLR with an 11-team competition in 2025 and skewed conferences, with 6 teams in the Eastern Conference, and only 5 teams in the West.
Regular Season
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall Standings
2025 Overall MLR Standings
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Warriors | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 529 | 442 | +86 | 12 | 2 | 58 |
| 2 |  Free Jacks | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 425 | 341 | +84 | 9 | 2 | 55 |
| 3 |  SaberCats | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 458 | 365 | +93 | 10 | 5 | 54 |
| 4 |  Hounds | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 422 | 353 | +69 | 7 | 3 | 53 |
| 5 |  RFCLA | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 501 | 497 | +4 | 14 | 3 | 51 |
| 6 |  Seawolves | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 460 | 422 | +38 | 11 | 4 | 49 |
| 7 |  Legion | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 490 | 429 | 61 | 12 | 4 | 48 |
| 8 |  Old Glory | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 438 | 478 | -40 | 11 | 2 | 45 |
| 9 |  Sharks | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 380 | 442 | -62 | 6 | 3 | 41 |
| 10 |  Gold | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 428 | 473 | -45 | 8 | 8 | 32 |
| 11 |  Anthem | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 282 | 570 | -288 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
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
Despite contracting to 11 teams for 2025, the season format remained largely similar when it was announced on November 19th, 2024. Each team would play 8 home and 8 away games for a total of 16 games in the regular season across 18 weeks. The West, having only 5 teams since the withdrawal of the Jackals, would play an even 8/8 split of cross-conference & in-conference games, while the Eastern Conference teams would play 8-10 in-conference games, and 6-8 cross-conference.
The 2025 regular season was arguably the most competitive season in MLR’s history up until that point. The defending Champion New England Free Jacks got off to a shaky start before recovering, while the San Diego Legion ran out to a 5-0 start, before then going 3-8 and finishing at the bottom of the Western Conference and out of the playoffs with a record of 8-8 and 48pts, a total that would put them ahead of four teams in the East. This includes the NOLA Gold who, despite having almost definitely the strongest roster in franchise history, only managed a 4-12 record, finishing 5th in the East ahead of only Anthem RC, who set a new record for the longest losing streak in MLR history with a second consecutive 0-16 season. The Western Conference produced the top team in MLR for the 3rd year in a row, as the Utah Warriors finished with 58pts, one of 3 teams with an 11-5 record along with the Free Jacks and Chicago Hounds in the East.
Championship Series
The format of the 2025 Championship series followed the same structure as the 2024 season, with the top 4 teams from each conference qualifying to the Conference Semifinals, where the #1 seed would face #4, and #2 against #3. The winners would advance to the Conference Finals, and the Conference Champions would then fight for the 2025 Shield. With an 11 team league split into conferences, this means that 2 teams in the Eastern Conference will not qualify for the post-season, while just the 1 team will miss out in the West. Please see below for a list of Championship Series games from 2025:
- Eastern Conference SF1: (1) New England Free Jacks v Miami Sharks (4)
- Eastern Conference SF2: (2) Chicago Hounds v Old Glory DC (3)
- Western Conference SF1: (1) Utah Warriors v Seattle Seawolves (4)
- Western Conference SF2: (2) Houston SaberCats v Rugby FC LA (3)
- Eastern Conference Final: (1) New England Free Jacks v Chicago Hounds (2)
- Western Conference Final: (1) Utah Warriors v Houston SaberCats (2)
- 2025 Championship Final: (1) New England Free Jacks v Houston SaberCats (2)
Following 17 rounds of regular season action, 8 teams advanced split into 4 from the Eastern Conference, and 4 from the West. For the 4th season in a row, the New England Free Jacks finished as the top seed in the East and faced the 4th seeded Miami Sharks, making their postseason debut. Finishing 2pts behind New England as the 2nd seed were the Chicago Hounds, qualifying for the 2nd time. The Hounds hosted Old Glory DC who made the playoffs for the 3rd straight year.
Over in the Western Conference, the Utah Warriors enter the postseason for the first time since 2021, ending MLR’s longest playoff drought as the #1 seed. They host the 4th seed Seattle Seawolves, who squeaked into their league-leading 6th postseason in the very last game of the season. The 2nd seed Houston SaberCats secured a home semifinal in their last game of the season, looking for their first postseason victory in 3 straight attempts. The SaberCats hosted Rugby FC LA who are making their MLR Playoff debut, much like the Sharks in the East.
The Conference Semifinals saw the higher seeded team emerge victorious in every match-up. The Utah Warriors squeaked past the Seattle Seawolves after racing out to a big lead in the first half before the most experienced playoff team in MLR mounted a comeback that fell just short. The New England Free Jacks had an easier time, securing a 32-10 victory over the 4th seeded Miami Sharks in their first postseason match. The Free Jacks will face the Chicago Hounds who were behind at half time before shutting out Old Glory DC in the 2nd half and emerging as 27-16 victors to set up a repeat of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final. The final game of the Conference Semis was delayed for two hours before MLR announced that the game would be postponed and replayed the following day, Monday night. Despite another 30 minute delay on the Monday, the Houston SaberCats finally took on Rugby FC LA in a cracking game that saw Houston finally earn that elusive first ever postseason win over a gutsy RFCLA side enjoying their first playoff appearance. The ‘Cats advanced to face the Warriors in an all-new postseason matchup for the Western Conference title!
The 2025 Conference Finals were almost the complete opposites of each other. In the East, the Chicago Hounds dominated the Free Jacks for the first 50 minutes, amassing a 0-17 lead before New England began to claw their way back. The score had shifted to 14-20 to Chicago has Kyle Ciquera crasheded over between the posts for an automatic 7 to give the Free Jacks the lead and, with the clock in the red, Chris Hilsenbeck’s penalty rang off the left upright to seal the victory for New England, despite only leading for about 90 seconds of the game. However, the TV audience was robbed of the exciting climax by a technical error that caused the feed to cut out for the most important 15 seconds of the 2025 Eastern Conference.
Over in the Western Conference Final, the story was very different. The Houston SaberCats, who had had the Utah Warriors’ number for the whole season, dominated. Although the score was only 5-7 to the ‘Cats at the first water break, Houston scored twice before half time and ran out to a 5-21 lead. The SaberCats continued where they left off in the second half, scoring 5 tries in total including a pair of interceptions to lead 5-33 before a pair of Utah Warriors’ consolation scores softened the scoreline. The controversy in this game was an apparent clear red card offence from Houston SaberCats’ Drake Davis that was check by TMO Derek Summers and deemed a clean tackle. Davis would go on to score an interception try later in the game, causing an uproar amongst Utah fans.
New kids on the block versus the veterans for the 2025 Shield as the Houston SaberCats earn their first Championship appearance, facing the New England Free Jacks who play in their 3rd straight Shield match! With the game held at Centreville Bank Stadium in Rhode Island, this was very much a home game for the Free Jacks who could easily drive to the stadium, compared to the SaberCats who needed to fly from Texas. The Championship Game was a close, back and forth affair with the Free Jacks trying to pull away, but the Houston SaberCats just drawing them back in. A pair of tries from Paula Balekana and some excellent kicking from Dan Hollinshead with a MVP performance from Brock Webster gave the Free Jacks a 28-22 victory over a determined Houston SaberCats side who had two tries from 2023 MLR Draftee Max Schumacher. This marks the 3rd Shield in a row won by the Free Jacks who now have more Championships than any side in Major League History, moving ahead of the Seattle Seawolves and their pair of Shields. The Free Jacks conclude the 2025 season by lifting their 3rd Shield in front of a very New England heavy crowd.
All-MLR Teams
2025 Player Leaderboards & Accolades
Scoring Leaderboards – Top Points Scorers & Try Scorers
| Pos. | Player | Team | Points | Separator | Pos. | Player | Team | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Hilsenbeck |  | 109 | 1 | Paula Balekana |  | 15 | |
| 2 | AJ Alatimu |  | 98 | 2 | Joe Mano |  | 14 | |
| 3 | Joel Hodgson | | 96 | 3 | Brad Wilkin |  | 11 | |
| 4 | Christian Leali’ifano |  | 95 | 4 | Liam Coltman | | 10 | |
| – | D’Angelo Leuila | | 95 | – | Shilo Klein | | 10 | |
| – | Shane O’Leary |  | 95 | 6 | Dylan Fawsitt | | 9 | |
| 7 | Rodney Iona |  | 83 | – | Maclean Jones | | 9 | |
| 8 | Paula Balekana | | 75 | – | Jed Melvin | | 9 | |
| 9 | Jason Emery |  | 73 | 9 | Ben Houston | | 8 | |
| 10 | Joe Mano | | 70 | – | Jonah Mau’u |  | 8 |
Other Leaderboards – Tackling & Meters Gained
| Pos. | Player | Team | Tackles | Separator | Pos. | Player | Team | Meters Made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Lochore | | 301 | 1 | Duncan Matthews | | 1,152m | |
| 2 | Cory Daniel | | 237 | 2 | Jordan Trainor | | 1,117m | |
| 3 | Dylan Nel | | 234 | 3 | Damien Hoyland | | 1,073m | |
| 4 | Joe Johnston | | 224 | 4 | Divan Rossouw | | 995m | |
| 5 | Brad Wilkin | | 224 | 5 | Paula Balekana | | 921m | |
| 6 | Maclean Jones | | 222 | 6 | Axel Müller | | 918m | |
| 7 | Johan Momsen | | 220 | 7 | Joe Mano | | 869m | |
| 8 | Wian Conradie | | 210 | 8 | Rory van Vugt | | 850m | |
| 9 | James Scott | | 209 | 9 | Reece MacDonald | | 848m | |
| 10 | Emmanuel Albert | | 206 | 10 | Ethan Grayson | | 840m |
Note: Charles Elton (SEA) Finished T-10th in Tackling with 206 tackles completed.
End of Season Awards
| Award | Recipient | Team |
|---|---|---|
| MLR Player of the Year | Paula Balekana | |
| MLR Forward of the Year | Frank Lochore | |
| MLR Back of the Year | Gonzalo Bertranou | |
| MLR Rookie of the Year | Peyton Wall | |
| MLR Coach of the Year | Ryan Martin | |
| MLR Executive of the Year | Milagros Cubelli – CEO | |
| S. Marcus Calloway Award | Not Awarded. | N/A |
| Top Points Scorer | Chris Hilsenbeck – 109pts | |
| Top Try Scorer | Paula Balekana – 15 | |
| Top Tackler | Frank Lochore – 301 | |
| Top Meter Eater | Duncan Matthews – 1,152m | |