Category: Top 10

Major League Rugby’s All-Time Top 10 Tacklers!

NAR Database

James Deeley

The final entry in NARDB’s series on All-Time Top 10 lists, let’s explore Major League Rugby’s most consistent heavy hitters with the league’s All-Time leading Tacklers. Nothing gets fans hyped up like big hits, and it should be no surprise that 8 of these 10 names are forwards! Complete with Tackles per Game (TpG), the leaderboard is as follows:

To any fans who have been following along with this series over the last few weeks, your eyes are not deceiving you. Dylan Fawsitt is on top of yet another MLR All-Time list. The Chicago Hounds try-machine is a monster on both sides of the ball with 883 career tackles across 98 MLR games, for an average of 9 TpG. 678 of his tackles (76.78%) came as a Rugby New York Ironworker including a PB of 181 in 2019, but Fawsitt still completed 131 tackles for the Hounds in 2024, just above his season average of 126.14.

Fawsitt’s lead is far from safe, however. Canadian international Captain and former Toronto Arrows stalwart Lucas Rumball sits just 3 tackles behind, on 880 in 66 MLR games for a much higher average of 13.3 TpG. as with Fawsitt, a huge majority of Rumball’s tackles came outside the Hounds, with 87.5%, including a PB of 228 in 2021 when he finished as MLR’s highest tackler, coming as an Arrow. Rumball completed 110 tackles in 12 games (only 5 starts) in 2024, way down from his season average of 146.67. He’ll be hoping to get back to his regular numbers to crack 1000 in 2025.

Sitting in 3rd despite retiring at the end of 2023 is Rugby New York legend Nate Brakeley, one of the two inactive players on this list. With 842 tackles in 65 MLR games, all with the Ironworkers for a TpG of basically 13, Brakeley was a monster tackler year-in, year-out for New York. He averaged a huge 168.4 tackles per season, only brought down by the truncated 2020 season, when Brakeley still finished with 96 tackles in just 5 games, leading all of MLR.

Source: @rugbynewyork on Instagram

The top 10 MLR tacklers of All-Time currently includes the only 10 players to have passed 750 career tackles, and of these 10 tackling machines, only 6 of them are over the 800 mark. Sitting 4th is NOLA Gold’s JP du Plessis, MLR’s all-time leading Meter Eater and the most tackles of any back in MLR history. Du Plessis averages just under 10 tackles a game, with 837 total in 84 MLR games and averaging 119.57 tackles per season.

The latest player to pass the 800 mark is Rugby FC LA‘s Matt Heaton, holding the highest TpG of all players on this list with a massive 14.3 tackles per game. The Canadian back rower completed almost 80% of his tackles as a member of Rugby ATL, including a PB of 215 tackles in the 2023 season. Heaton shows no signs of slowing down after following the franchise to the West Coast, completing 166 tackles in RFCLA‘s debut season, just above his average of 160.2. With a strong 2025, Heaton could be knocking on the door of the top 3 soon enough…

Source: @RugbyFCLA on Instagram

Bringing up the rear of this list is New England Free Jacks Club Captain Josh Larsen, who sits in the Top 10 despite an injury-marred 2023 season where he only managed 18 tackles that season. This brought Larsen‘s average down to 125.17 tacklers per season, but he exceeded that with 133 tackles in 2024 and has a PB of 231 in 2022 so could easily be over 800 if not for injury. Here’s hoping no injuries prevent any of these guys from continuing to dominate the tackle charts.

Only 2 other players not on this list are over 700 tackles. Matt Heaton’s former teammate, now Houston SaberCat Johan Momsen on 741 (125 tackles in 2024, average of 148.2 per season) and Larsen’s teammate Andrew Quattrin on 706 (PB of 169 in 2024, way up from his average of 117.67 per season. Could we see either of these two crack the Top 10?

As for MLR’s new Single-Season Tackle Leader, Cory Daniel? His 276 tackles in 2024 was more than any other player in MLR history per season, but he’s had a few that have held his career total back. Daniel currently sits 16th with 651 tackles, but has never finished a season with a tackle count between 100-250. He has either fallen well short of 100 due to injury (totals of 59 in 8 games in 2021, and 61 in 4 games in 2023), or exploded to over 250 tackles per season (255 in 2022, record-breaking 276 in 2024). Daniel’s averages are high, with 162.75 per season and a huge 15.5 per game, but he might need another record-challenging season or two to crack the Top 10. If he can remain healthy, could we see him on next year’s list?

Source: @MLRStats on Instagram

Major League Rugby’s All-Time Top 10 Meter Eaters!

NAR Database

James Deeley

Last week we took a close look at Major League Rugby’s All-Time leading try scorers. This week, it’s time for the ‘Meter Eaters’, MLR’s all-time Meters Gained Leaders! Different to Meters Ran (which totals all meters ran by players with the ball), Meters GAINED only accounts for forwards running, and gaining ground. MLR’s All-Time Meter Eaters are as follows:

As you can see from the leaderboard, which includes the average Meters Gained per Game (MGpG) of each player, only 9 players have passed the 4,000m mark. Of those 9 players, only 3 players in MLR history have passed the 5,000m mark. At the top of this list is long-time NOLA Gold center JP du Plessis who has gained 5,849m in his 84 MLR games to date and 3 seasons with over 1000m gained. Du Plessis is roughly 120m ahead of San Diego Legion & Utah Warriors legend Mikey Te’o, who hung up his boots following the 2024 season after 7 seasons, in 4 of which he recorded over 1000m gained. 3rd place is Seattle Seawolves stalwart Riekert Hattingh with 5,221m gained and two 1000m+ gained seasons, the final player over the 5000m mark and MLR’s leading forward in this category.

Of the remaining 6 players that sit between 4,000m & 5,000m, 3 represented the Chicago Hounds in 2024 including back-to-back Back of the Year Billy Meakes (2021-22, the only player in this list with a MGpG over 80), and USA Eagle & 2023 MLR Runner-up Nate Augspurger. The Seawolves’ newest acquisition Mika Kruse is also in this group, having amasses the majority of his 4,218m gained with the Utah Warriors between 2021-2024. The New England Free Jacks’ Fijian flyer Paula Balekana is the final player over the 4,000m milestone, just behind the only other forward in the Top 10 in NOLA Gold‘s 2024 Captain and USA Eagle Moni Tonga’uiha.

Source: @chicagohoundsrugby on Instagram

Bringing up the rear of the Top 10 is Rugby FC LA‘s Irish center Will Leonard, just shy of 4,000m on 3,963m after amassing much of his total with Rugby New York (2019-2021) and Rugby ATL (2022-2023). Leonard is almost guaranteed to pass 4,000m if he returns for 2025, as are a number of big names that are sat on the outside of the Top 10, hoping to break in. The likes of Leonard‘s former ATL teammate, and current Anthem RC standout Te Rangatira Waitokia (3,937m), and a trio of other Chicago Hounds in Julián Domínguez (3,745m), Bryce Campbell (3,715m), and Luke White (3,665m) will be hoping to see their names on this list following the 2025 season.

MLR’s all-time Top 10 Meter Eaters leaderboard is primed to be an entertaining race during the 2025 season with plenty of movement. This will be one of the many sub-plots around MLR’s 2025 season, and keeping an eye on this and other All-Time Top 10 leaderboards could provide fans with an additional level of entertainment to the quest for the Shield next season!

The Top 10 MLR Try Scorers of All-Time!

NAR Database

James Deeley

Although a young league, MLR already has it’s fair share of legends, with try-scoring machines coming and going, or 1-season anomalies lighting up opposition and scoring week in, week out then struggling to repeat that scoring prowess the following year. This post will highlight the Top 10 MLR Try Scorers of All-Time (2018-2024), some of the most consistent scorers in the league. Here is that List:

To those already familiar with Major League Rugby, you are bound to know Dylan Fawsitt. The league’s all-time leading try scorer is no stranger to that title, and 2024 marked his 3rd MLR season with 10+ tries scored. Although fans may think of Fawsitt in a New York jersey, a personal best of 14 tries for the Chicago Hounds (that jointly led MLR in 2024 with Utah’s Michael Manson) ensured that plenty of Hounds fans got to know him very well. Fawsitt was MLR’s all-time leading scorer heading into the 2024 season and he still holds the crown, adding another achievement to his long list as the first player in MLR history to pass 50 tries scored in the competition. Fawsitt‘s 14 tries this season are now that gap between him and 2nd place, Seattle Seawolves talisman Riekert Hattingh.

Hattingh sat 3 tries behind Fawsitt entering 2024, but an injury-marred season affected his bid for first, scoring 3 tries and being sidelined for large chunks of the season. A formidable tackler with a nose for the try line and the only forward in MLR history with over 5,000m gained, Seattle fans will be hoping to see their Captain return to form and close the gap to Fawsitt in 2025.

Photo: Mike Conners (@mikeconnersphoto23)

A long way behind Fawsitt and Hattingh comes the pack, led by Utah Warriors & San Diego Legion legend Mikey Te’o on 32. Te’o announced his retirement following the 2024 season so 32 is where he will stay (notwithstanding a comeback!), along with the only other inactive player on this list, John Ryberg. Affectionately nicknamed the ‘bicep with eyeballs’, Ryberg is worth mentioning because he hasn’t played in MLR since 2022 but still sits 7th on the all-time list with 29 tries, helped by a 13-try season for the Glendale Raptors in 2019, and 9 tries for the LA Giltinis in their 2021 Shield-winning season.

Sandwiched between Te’o & Ryberg are some of the most lethal runners in MLR today. Back-to-Back MLR Champion Paula Balekana, ferocious runner Julián Domínguez, and MLR legend (and current USA Eagle) Nate Augspurger, sat on 31, 31, and 30 tries respectively. This is where I think the real fight is going to go down in 2025, with 3rd place on the all-time list up for grabs. Any fan who wants a little something extra to cheer for next season should keep an eye on this!

This isn’t to say that the other names in the Top 10 can’t set the cat amongst the pigeons. A strong bounce-back season for the Utah Warriors could see Mika Kruse (8th – 26) and Joe Mano (T-9th – 25) close the gap, or even Michael Manson if he can get close to the 14 he scored in 2024. There’s also the 4th Chicago Hound on this list, Mark O’Keeffe (T-9th – 25). A strong runner and prolific scorer in his own right who could notch up a few of his own to interfere with his teammates’ numbers. Let’s not forget about the names sitting just off this list looking to crack the Top 10, the likes of Ed Fidow with NOLA, Ina Futi in Seattle, and Te Rangatira Waitokia with Anthem RC (all on 21). Everyone likes to see tries, and this list is a long way from settled.

Photo: Utah Warriors