Report
Old Glory DC finally celebrate their home opener at George Mason University, playing host to the California Legion during Round 5 of the 2026 MLR season. This match marks the first ‘Shield Showdown’ of the year as a Sunday Night Rugby marquee matchup.
The California Legion travel to DC off the back of a hard fought victory over the Seattle Seawolves in Los Angeles last week, and sit with a record of 2-2 through 4 games. DC share a 2-win record, but come in 2-1 having only played 3 games, all on the road. A very well executed victory over Anthem RC last week has them currently in 4th.
The visitors struck first through Ben Houston, and despite an early red card to Billy Meakes for a dangerous tackle, DC only managed 3pts during the 20min man advantage, with Ben Houston picking up his 2nd of the game with the clock in the red at the end of the first half to put a dagger into the hosts who trailed 6-17 at the break. The Flags would hit back early in the 2nd half with their first try of the game through Kirby Myhill to cut the score to 11-17, before Cassh Maluia went over about 7 minutes later to restore the Legion’s solid lead. DC pushed hard in the final quarter and added a second through Connor Robinson, his first try in an Old Glory jersey, which cut the deficit to 16-24, but a pair of interceptions from Joey Mano and Tas Smith in the final 10 minutes put the game to bed and secured the try BP for the visitors. Old Glory would get the last laugh with a try out wide from John Powers with the clock in the red, but it was nothing more than a consolation score.
The Legion now get a week off as one of just two teams that get a mid-season bye in 2026, while Old Glory DC look towards next week, where they face the unbeaten Chicago Hounds on the road.
Details
| Date | Time | League | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 26, 2026 | 7:00 pm | Major League Rugby | MLR 2026 |
Old Glory
| # | Player | Position | T | C | P | DG | Asst. | MG | DB | Tackles | KS/KA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bart Vermeulen 17 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Kirby Myhill 16 | Hooker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Paul Mullen 18 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Rob Harley | Lock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Rick Rose 19 | Lock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Cory Daniel | Flanker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Aidan King 20 | Flanker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Benjamín Bonasso | Number 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | John Lefevre 21 | Scrum-half | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Jason Robertson | Fly-half | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 3/5 | 8 |
| 11 | Damien Hoyland | Wing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Jordan Jackson-Hope | Center | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Ross Depperschmidt 22 | Center | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Perry Humphreys | Wing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Max Schumacher 23 | Fullback | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Connor Robinson 2 | Hooker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 17 | Calixto Martinez 1 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Connor Devos 3 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Tevita Naqali 5 | Lock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Collin Grosse 7 | Flanker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Aidan Ridgway 9 | Scrum-half | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | John Powers 13 | Center | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 23 | John Rizzo 15 | Fullback | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 751 | 34 | 127 | 3/5 | 23 |
Legion
| # | Player | Position | T | C | P | DG | Asst. | MG | DB | Tackles | KS/KA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fred Apulu 17 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Joe Taufete’e 16 | Hooker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Michael Scott 18 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Keni Nasoqeqe 20 | Lock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Jason Damm | Lock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Lance Williams | Flanker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Ed Timpson | Flanker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Ben Houston | Number 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 10 |
| 9 | Gonzalo Bertranou | Scrum-half | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Coby Miln | Fly-half | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 9 | 5/6 | 11 |
| 11 | Joe Mano 23 | Wing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 12 | Billy Meakes 22 | Center | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Cassh Maluia | Center | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 5 |
| 14 | Ryan James 21 | Wing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Rory van Vugt | Fullback | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Alex Lopeti 2 | Hooker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Ma’ake Muti 1 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Tonga Kofe 3 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Justus Tavai 4 | Prop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Chase Jones 4 | Flanker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Tasman Smith 14 | Scrum-half | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 22 | Corbin Smith 12 | Fullback | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Matt Anticev 11 | Fly-half | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 469 | 19 | 198 | 5/6 | 36 |
Officials
| Referee | Assistant 1 | Assistant 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Pete Pender | Marquise Goodwin | Marty Steffens |
Venue
| George Mason Stadium |
|---|
| Campus Drive, George Mason, Fairfax County, Virginia, 22030, United States |


Legion