North American Rugby Database

Report

The 2025 Major League Rugby season kicks off with the Miami Sharks hosting Old Glory DC in an Eastern Conference clash. The Sharks will be looking to make a push for the post-season in 2025, while the Flags will look to finally get the better of their Eastern rivals, the Free Jacks.

The visitors got off to a dream start, with two Axel Muller tries in the opening 20 minutes. Jason Robertson put both conversions wide, but the flags still had a 0-10 lead early. Whether it was the visitors taking a breath, or the home side waking up, the Sharks began to pull the momentum back towards them, and tries from Ma’ake Muti and Tomas Cubilla, along a pair from Mauro Rebussone, gave the Miami Sharks a 29-10 lead deep into the second half, but Old Glory DC weren’t done yet. Replacement hooker KoiKoi Nelligan got DC moving again, and Robertson made up for his early errors off the tee with a lovely linebreak to score and convert his own try  in the 76th minute, before a dramatic finish.

Old Glory DC had a penalty in the dying stages of the game, and kicked for touch. The lineout was stolen by Miami and with the clock in the red all the Sharks needed to do was find touch…but the kick was charged down, and DC reclaimed possession! With a hail mary, Robertson launched a crossfield kick for Axel Muller, who got on the end of it after it was mishandled by the Sharks defender. Muller completed his hat trick to tie the score at 29-29 with the conversion to come. Robertson got the early season jitters out of the way, and made no mistakes to give Old Glory a memorable victory at the death, kicking off the 2025 season with a wonderful game, although the Sharks will be disappointed to have blown that opportunity at home.