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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.