On Tuesday December 3rd, 2024, almost entirely out of the blue save a vague TRN tweet, Major League Rugby revealed the home and away jerseys for all 11 teams for the 8th season of the competition in 2025. Credit where it’s due, a huge round of applause to MLR, Macron, and all 11 teams for getting these jerseys ready to launch before the holidays. Even though all jerseys are currently only available to pre-order and may not ship until after the 2025 season kicks off on February 15th, fans will know what they are getting if they ask for their teams’ jerseys from Santa!
Last week, NARDB revealed it’s rankings for all 11 MLR2025 Home Kits. The article for which you can read here. Now this article will follow the same format but for ranking the 11 Away kits for MLR2025. Generally speaking, the away kits feel like the weaker selection, but that could be because I tend to find white jerseys plain and a little lazy, most of the time. We have five away jerseys that are primarily white, and it’s been difficult to a) tell them all apart and b) rank them. As with NARDB’s Home kit rankings, it’s impossible that everyone will agree with the Away kit rankings completely. This is just to offer my opinion. If you disagree, please let me know your favourites in the comments section below, but please keep things civil. We are all rugby and MLR fans, and ‘Kitmas’ is always the major event of the off-season, kick-starting the hype for the upcoming season. Here are my rankings of MLR’s 2025 away kits, followed by an explanation of each ranking. A reminder that each row is also ranked left to right:
Excellent – San Diego Legion
Okay, but just hear me out. The Legion’s 2025 home kit really grew on me, and I’d always preferred the Legion away of the two of them. Perhaps because it looks very similar to a Rugby Canada kit, right down to the Macron logo! The shading stands out better on the red, and the ‘fulmina’ (lightning bolts used in the insignia of some units of the Roman Army, such as Legions) remain. the San Diego Legion claim that the pattern is based on ‘Dazzle Camo’ used on warships, tying the kit in with the close relationship that San Diego has with the US Navy. I’ll let you decide which explanation is better, or if both things can be true. This fits with the Legion’s traditional red and is still a really clean look. The white edges and collar are a nice touch but similar to my comment on their home kit, what if they were black? As mentioned already, the away kits seem weaker in general than the home kits for 2025, but the Legion’s Away is my personal favourite.
Excellent – Chicago Hounds
A double-Excellent for the Chicago Hounds 2025 kits! The Hounds, unlike the Legion, have always had white as a part of their brand, and the collar, sides, bottom edge, and houndstooth sleeves really pops on that beautiful green. I was initially puzzled by the darker design across the body of the jersey, but the Hounds posted a great, informative little video explaining the design:
The design is based on the patterns in the water that are made when the Chicago River is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day, an iconic feature of the City of Chicago. Adjusted to the darker Hounds green, the simple, effective link to their city makes the Chicago Hounds 2025 away kit an excellent jersey.
Great – Utah Warriors
The Utah Warriors away kit is a colour-swapped version of their home, which NARDB also ranked as ‘Great’. The black parts of the home kit become red on the away, with the outlines and edges now white. I still think this jersey really works and if anything, the jersey sponsor actually fits in better on the away kit. The 4 lines representing the Utah Warriors’ core values of Community, Family, Tradition, and Respect still look great in white, stopping behind the crest again. Those core values also look to be written around the edges of the sleeves, which wasn’t obvious on the home jersey but is a great addition. although I prefer the Warriors’ home kit of the two, and don’t think the away kit is quite as good as San Diego or Chicago, it’s still a bold jersey. If they go with red shorts and white socks, it could look fantastic on the field.
Great – Miami Sharks
If you thought the Miami Sharks home kit was unique, take a look at this. the black works great with the vibrant hot pink, the simple shark fin design throughout works perfectly with the brand, outlined with a slightly different shade of pink to add layers. It’s madness. An absolutely bonkers design, and it’s exactly the kind of thing I hoped for out of Miami. Someone (who shall remain nameless) said that it looked a little like a kid’s pajamas which, is a fair point that took a while for me to unsee, but I love this thing. The white Macron logo with the subtle outline fits really well with the sponsor that is the right size, and the blue of the crest still sits on top of the main design. Unlike the Utah Warriors just before this, the Miami Sharks’ away kit is a truly unique jersey that I hope to see plenty of in the crowds. Only Miami could go for a kit like this, and I’m glad they have.
Great – Old Glory DC
At the start of this article I mentioned that generally speaking, I’m not a fan of white away kits. The Old Glory DC away kit for 2025 is the exception to this rule. Perhaps it’s because I keep seeing the little stars and thinking they’re maple leafs which, like the San Diego Legion, make me think it could be a Rugby Canada jersey. Perhaps it’s because the navy and red edges, coupled with the white body and dark Macron logo look incredible similar to the Rugby Canada away jersey from 2024. The busy-ness of all the stars don’t alter the colour on the Old Glory DC away kit like they do with the Home kit, and the edges, while very similar to Canada’s 2024 away, look sharp. It still has a bit of ‘polo shirt’ about it, however. It’s been a while since the Flags had a white away kit and this is a solid entry, my preferred Old Glory DC jersey for 2025.
Solid – Seattle Seawolves
The Seattle Seawolves’ home jersey was one of NARDB’s top three for 2025, but the away kit finds itself in the middle of the pack. This jersey is straddling the line between bland white away kit and something unique, but definitely leans more towards the latter. The Seawolves explained the unique design as a nod to the ‘Crashing Waves’ of the Pacific Ocean and, now that I know what they were going for, I see it. The colour of the jersey sponsor has changed to navy to fit with the accents throughout which look fantastic, and that’s about it. It’s a relatively simple design that fits with the Seawolves away kits of recent years and, as is typical for a Seattle Seawolves kit, contains details tying it to the PNW and Washington State.
Solid – New England Free Jacks
The New England Free Jacks aren’t used to having their kits below the first or second tier of my rankings, but there’s a first time for everything. I can’t quite put my finger on why the Free Jacks 2025 ‘Member’ (away) jersey doesn’t speak to me in the same way as previous years, or even the 2025 ‘Club’ (home) kit. Perhaps it’s because the thicker hoops just end half way down, turning into a block of plain red. If they continued the hoops I think it would look better, but then it would look too similar to their home kit. On one hand the first top half of this jersey looks phenomenal, the navy Macron logo on the white is great, and the sponsor is un-invasive in the centre. On the other, that big patch of plain red doesn’t sit well with me. This isn’t to say that it’s anything remotely close to a bad jersey, It’s solid and the white collar on the navy shoulders is gorgeous, it’s just not quite at the regular high standard of Free Jacks jerseys.
Fine – Anthem RC
For their 2025 away kit, Anthem RC didn’t change much from their home kit. The ‘rising stars’ design stays in the background but in white, with the blue being relegated to the accents on the sleeves and around the neck. The team crest and Macron logo stay the same colour, but don’t seem to work as well against the white as they do against the blue of their home kit. The blue pops around the collar more than on the sleeves, and I can’t help wondering what the kit would look like if the logos shared that same shade of blue or better still, the away kit was a complete colour swap of the home with blue logos on a gold jersey. THAT I would like to see. In essence, the Anthem away kit is just a white version of their home kit, which is a bit boring. We are beginning to enter the territory of bland white alternate kits.
Fine – NOLA Gold
A break with tradition from the NOLA Gold for their 2025 away kit, that has just missed the mark. As one comment I saw online put it: ‘it looks like a golf shirt you’d see on the rack at Goodwill’, and it’s hard to argue against that. This kit may work if NOLA go with purple shorts and/or socks, but any other colour feels like it’d be a mish mash. The NOLA away kit was so close to being in the ‘Meh’ category, but after taking another look, it doesn’t quite deserve that. The Gold tried something different while maintaining the Mardi Gras colours that look fantastic in previous kits such as their 2024 Away jersey. The jersey sponsor fits really well in that green band, and the white actually works really well with the gold logos, seams, and collar (which are actually, obviously gold, unlike the Houston SaberCats…). From the white line under the jersey sponsor up, this is a good looking kit but the large purple section, while a unique colour, just doesn’t look right, similar to the plain red section in the Free Jacks away kit. The Gold made a bold decision in going for something different, and they were close to nailing it but as I stated at the start of this section, they just missed the mark.
Meh – Rugby FC LA
Unfortunately for Rugby FC LA fans, their away kit ranks even lower than their home kit for 2025. The seams and sides change to the light blue seem on the home kit, while the team and Macron logos stay dark blue which actually looks quite good in the chest. The yellow collar and sleeve edges worked better on the home kit, as the blue and yellow looked like a beach, or which LA has some famous ones, of course. The strange dots remain and the team have not given any reasons behind this choice. Unlike the home kit which looked just like TV static, the dots on this away kit start random around the shoulders, but seem to form vague lines further down the kit, before fading completely. At least it’s not complete copy of the home kit but in white, it is however a pretty bland effort. I mentioned this for RFCLA’s home kit, but I was really hoping for a bit more purple like their 2024 City Jersey, which I think was their best kit to date.
Meh – Houston SaberCats
Speaking of boring white recolourings of home kits, the Houston SaberCats. The stripe at the bottom, Macron logo, and neck line have changed from yellow to black, but otherwise this kit is almost identical to the home kit, but in white. Some points for the subtle SaberCat logo pattern as the background, but there is still the baffling decision not to include a crest (again, after announcing a ‘new’ logo, why would you not use it?), which subtracts a lot of points. At least the Houston home kit was their classic black and yellow (maybe gold? It doesn’t look like it…), but white has never been a kit colour for the SaberCats, and is a boring choice for a new colour to try. What happened to the yellow? That was unique and usually a strong kit. I keep mentioning this almost unnoticeable ‘rebrand’ that the SaberCats announced, stating that they were ‘entering their gold era’ (Hello, NOLA?), but the gold that is used still looks yellow, and there’s barely any of it on either kit. The SaberCats may finish top of the league in the regular season again in 2025, but unfortunately, their kits are very disappointing. It’s a double ‘Meh’ for the Houston SaberCats kits in 2025.
That concludes NARDB’s rankings for Major League Rugby’s Away kits for the 2025 Season. As with the Home Kit rankings, I don’t expect everyone to agree with me completely. There will be people that disagree with my rankings of the Legion, New England, Miami, NOLA, etc. but that is part of the fun of ‘Kitmas’, it generates debate and begins the build the hype for the upcoming season, which is what this article is hoping to generate. Please let me know in the comments below or on social media what you think of my rankings, what you agree with, or what you disagree with, and why!
You can find NARDB and James on social media at @MLRStats on Instagram and Threads, at @JamDelay or @NARugbyDB on Twitter/X, and @JamDelay and @NARDB on Bluesky. Additionally, now that all jerseys are available to pre-order, be sure to visit shopmlr.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off your order!
