League: Major League Rugby

Founded in 2017 with it’s inaugural season played in 2018, Major League Rugby (MLR) is the highest level of professional rugby in North America.

2026 – RD 5: Old Glory DC v California Legion

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.

v

2026 – RD 5: New England Free Jacks v Anthem RC

The New England Free Jacks host Anthem RC at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Quincy during Round 5 of the 2026 MLR Season.

Anthem RC enter this game with a 2-2 record through 4 games, and are looking to get back in the win column following a defeat at home to Old Glory DC last week. They will have to overcome the formidable Fort Quincy to earn that win, however. That being said, Fort Quincy may have lost some of it’s shine this season, with the New England Free Jacks sitting at the bottom of the MLR table with a 0-3 record. The reigning champs are running out of time to kickstart their 2026 campaign, and will be desperate to earn a win in front of their home fans.

v

2026 – RD 5: Seattle Seawolves v Chicago Hounds

The Seattle Seawolves host the Chicago Hounds at Starfire Stadium on a Friday night during Round 5 of the 2026 MLR season.

The injury-riddled Seattle Seawolves return home after a tough two games on the road, and currently sit in 5th place with a 1-2 record through their first 3 games. Most recently, they fell to the California Legion in a hard fought contest down in Los Angeles. On the other hand, the League-leading Chicago Hounds continue to ride high as MLR’s only undefeated side following a huge 50-26 victory over the Free Jacks in Nashville last week, and are looking to make it 4 wins from 4 in their first meeting with the Seawolves this season.

With a few players playing out of position or filling gaps due to injury, the Seawolves were facing an uphill battle against a very strong Chicago Hounds side, and were on the back foot almost immediately with Brock Webster opening the scoring for the Chicago Hounds after only 3 minutes, and fellow Canadians Lucas Rumball and Mason Flesch adding tries of their own soon after before the Seawolves scored their first try of the game through Paddy Ryan just before the first hydration break. This would be the only score of the game for Seattle until the 70th minute, with the Chicago Hounds running in 6 more scores and 59pts in total before the Seawolves grabbed a pair of late consolation tries, but couldn’t salvage a bonus point from this one. The Chicago Hounds remain at the top of the MLR table with back-to-back 50pt games and 157pts scored in their last 3 games. They take a huge 22-59 score, and The Old Mate back to Chicago to prepare to face Old Glory DC next week.

The Seattle Seawolves fall to 1-3, and will travel from coast to coast to face the New England Free Jacks in Quincy next weekend.

v

2026 – RD 4: California Legion v Seattle Seawolves

The California Legion host the Seattle Seawolves in a Pacific Coast clash during Round 4 of the 2026 MLR season, a Sunday Night Rugby marquee matchup.

The California Legion enter the sole LA fixture looking to bounce back from a tough 48-24 loss to the Hounds up in a very wet Chicago, while the Seattle Seawolves also need to recover after a 34-25 loss away in Charlotte to Anthem RC. Both teams currently sit on 1 win, with the Legion having 2 losses with 1 more game played than Seattle.

The hosts came out firing, putting pressure on the Seawolves defence but it held firm and in the 13th minute, despite barely any possession thus far, the Seawolves opened the scoring following an interception from Davy Coetzer who converted his own score to give the guests the lead! This lead was extended 5 minutes later when Calvin Liulamaga, on his first career MLR start, collected an inside ball from Duncan Matthews for his 1st career MLR try! Coetzer added the extras and the Seawolves were up to 0-14 at the first hydration break. Coming out of this break, the Legion seemed to find their cutting edge, and after some slick interplay from Cassh Maluia and Ben Houston, 2025 5th overall pick Oscar Treacy almost walked in for his first career try on his MLR debut to put the Legion on the board. It would be another 10 minutes in the California heat before the next try, during which time Davy Coetzer slotted a penalty to push Seattle’s lead to 7-15, but the Legion would strike out wide onace again in the 35th minute, with Maluia again barging through the Seawolves line before some crisp passing between Joey Mano and Corbin Smith put the latter through for a try on his Legion debut. With that, the score sat at 14-15 at the half-time break, and was shaping up to be another west coast classic.

The Legion started the 2nd half as they ended the first, and quickly got on the front foot thanks to a line break from Gonzalo Bertranou before winning a penalty that was taken quickly and fed to Ben Houston who caught the Seawolves napping to give the Legion their first lead of the afternoon. Houston’s try was cancelled out a few minutes later however, when Davy Coetzer decided that he was a back row player, and barrelled through 3/4 Legion defenders to claim his 2nd of the game, before converting his own score once again to restore a narrow Seattle lead, 21-22 with 30 minutes to play. It would be almost 20 minutes before the next score despite a few challenges and reviews but in the 68th minute, Declan Leaney took advantage of a gap following a quick pick up and fed it to the supporting Bertranou to flip the lead back over to the Legion, before Joey Mano finished an easy score out wide less than 5 minutes later to give the Legion a strong 35-21 lead with 8 minutes to go. The visiting Seawolves, reeling after these two quick scores, were able to hit back through Liki Chan-Tung to secure the try BP in the 75th minute, but a 78th minute penalty from Coby Miln took the Legion up to 38-29, and denied the Seawolves a losing BP.

An entertaining, back and forth game in California sees the Legion pick up a 2nd win to improve to a 2-2 record and up to 3rd place in the standings. They will look towards next week where they face 2nd placed Old Glory DC for the Flags’ home opener at George Mason University. The Seattle Seawolves fall to 1-2 in 5th, and will face the league-leading Chicago Hounds up in Tukwila on Friday night.

v

2026 – RD 4: Chicago Hounds v New England Free Jacks

The Chicago Hounds host the New England Free Jacks in a repeat of the 2025 Eastern Conference Final during Round 4 of the 2026 MLR season. This game took place at Geodis Park in Nashville, home of Nashville SC of the MLS, marking the first time that an MLR game has taken place in the state of Tennessee!

Marketed as the Music City Showdown, the Chicago Hounds arrive in Nashville at the top of the MLR standings and remain the league’s last undefeated side after a convincing 48-24 victory over the California Legion in their very wet home opener last week. A the complete other end of the table, the New England Free Jacks didn’t fare as well in their home opener last week, falling 19-21 to Old Glory DC who just seem to have their number. The defending champs fell to 0-2 to start a season for the first time ever, and in the shortened 2026 calendar, will be feeling the pressure to pick up their first win.

Geodis Park was ready to host a party, and the Chicago Hounds got the party started early through Theo Fourie at the back of a maul to give them an early lead, which was cancelled out a few minutes later by a Wayne van der Bank interception, getting the Free Jacks on the board against the run of play to tie things up at 7 after Joel Hodgson added the extras. This score seemed to go straight to the legs of the Free Jacks, who suddenly went on the attack and picked up their first lead of the game through a Nate Sylvia score putting them up 7-12. The defending champs enjoyed that lead for about 5 minutes, before Charlie Abel trundled over to even things up once again before Hilsenbeck added the extras. Another 5 minutes later, the Hounds launched a perfect crossfield kick out wide that was collected on the full my Mason Flesch, who fed it inside to Ruben de Haas for a great try to extend the Hounds’ lead to 21-12 following the conversion. The defining moment of the game came yet another 5 minutes later, when Free Jacks Captain Ben LeSage was deemed to have stamped on the head of an opposing player, and was handed a permanent red card, reducing the Free Jacks to 14 men for the rest of the game. The Hounds capitalised on this almost immediately, with Mark O’Keeffe going in in the corner to secure the Try BP for Chicago, who would add a 5th try before half time through Ollie Devoto to make the score at the break a commanding 33-12 lead to Chicago.

The last time these two sides met, the Free Jacks trailed by 17pts and came back to win in last year’s Eastern Conference Final. In this game however, a very different looking Free Jacks were trailing by 21pts with 14 men, and that was too much to ask. They did open the 2nd half scoring through Sione Tupou to cut the deficit to 14, but the Hounds would add scores from Nathan den Hoedt, a 2nd for Charlie Abel after a great line break from 30m out for the prop, and Emmanuel Albert on his Chicago Debut. This put the Hounds at the half-century mark and while the Free Jacks would have the final say with a great team try finished by Ethan McVeigh to secure the Try BP for New England, Chicago took a convincing 50-26 victory in Nashville. Here’s hoping it’s not too long until MLR returns!

This marks the most points ever conceded by the New England Free Jacks, breaking the previous high of 43 set by the California Legion in Rd 2, and is just the 3rd time ever that the Chicago Hounds have scored 50+ in a game! The Hounds successfully defend The Old Mate (the first successful defence this season), and have scored 8 tries in each of their last two games. They improve to 3-0 and top the MLR standings heading into week 5, where they face the Seattle Seawolves on the road. The New England Free Jacks fall to 0-3, the only winless team in MLR. They return home to Quincy to face Anthem RC next week, desperate for a win.

v

2026 – RD 4: Anthem RC v Old Glory DC

Anthem RC host Old Glory DC at American Legion Memorial Stadium during Round 4 of the 2026 Major League Rugby season.

The Rising Stars enter this game on the back of their first ever home victory last week, a 34-25 win over the Seattle Seawolves, and currently sit 2nd in MLR with a 2-1 record. The Flags meanwhile, picked up their first win of the season on the road against their rivals in New England, and now sit with an even 1-1 record.

Keeping up the momentum from their victory over the defending champs last week, Old Glory DC definitely enjoyed the better start. Max Schumacher opened the scoring after only 8 minutes before Anthem got the wake up call. despite the lion’s share of possession, the Rising Stars were unable to get on the scoreboard through the first quarter, but DC weren’t able to extend their 0-7 lead either. That changed after the water break, as Perry Humphreys bagged his first of the season after assisting Schumacher’s early score to double the guests lead, before Kirby Myhill went over about 5 miuntes later, then John Rizzo added a 4th almost straight off the restart from Myhill’s score. This ballooned the score to 0-26 to Old Glory by the half-time break, and both players and fans of Anthem RC must’ve been having flashbacks to their previous two seasons as tehy headed into the sheds.

Although Anthem weren’t able to find that final move to get onto the scoreboard in the first half, that changed early in the second as Will Leonard was able to break the goose egg and get the hosts on the board. After this score, the teams settled into the second half and like in the first, it would be some time before another score which, unfortunately for Anthem, came from the guests. Former NOLA Gold veteran Ross Depperschmidt crossed for his first in a DC jersey in the 62nd minute before Conner Mooneyham bagged his 3rd of the year out wide in the 69th minute. Mooneyham’s score was just a consolation try however, and marked the final score of the game as the DC defence held firm to secure a 14-31 victory to end their 3-game road trip.

The Flags improve to 2-1 on their road trip and finally get to enjoy their home opener at George Mason University next week when they will host the California Legion. Anthem RC meanwhile, fall to an even 2-2 record and will travel up to the formidable Fort Quincy to face the defending champion New England Free Jacks next week.

v

2026 – RD 3: Chicago Hounds v California Legion

The Chicago Hounds celebrate their 2026 home opener, hosting the California Legion at Seatgeek Stadium. This game marks the first ever installment of Sunday Night Rugby (SNR) as the ‘marquee matchup’ of Round 3 of the 2026 MLR Season.

The Hounds enter their home opener on the back of a strong 33-19 victory away to Anthem RC to kick off their 2026 campaign, and will be hoping that the California Legion don’t ruin their home opener like they did down in Charlotte. The Legion currently top the league after their 2 games, bouncing back from an opening weekend loss to Anthem with a record victory over the defending champion New England Free Jacks in front of a strong crowd at Torero Stadium last weekend. This will be the first game of the 2026 MLR season to be held at SeatGeek Stadium, the venue for the 2026 Championship Game in June.

The ‘run & gun’ California Legion would struggle against the defence of the Chicago Hounds, who’s objective was clearly to stifle the Legion whereever they could. The hosts were helped by a very early score from Theo Fourie at the back of a rolling maul just 2 minutes in, and took an early 5-0 lead with Hilsenbeck unable to add the two. Around 10 minutes in, the Hounds would find themselves reduced to 13 men for almost a full 10 minutes after Fourie and Mason Flesch were carded for repeat infringements. Despite some extraordinary defence during this period, the Legion would hit back through Lance Williams from close range, bagging his 20th career MLR try and giving California the lead after Coby Miln’s successful conversion. This lead wouldn’t last however, as Hounds and Canada captain Lucas Rumball would barrel over on the other side of the hydration break and despite Hilsenbeck’s conversion sailing wide again, the Hounds wouldn’t trail again in this game. Roughly 5 minutes later, Tavite Lopeti found paydirt for the Hounds before Rumball bagged his brace another 5 minutes later. Hilsenbeck made no mistakes this time and the Hounds were up 22-7. Not out of it yet, the Legion cut the gap to 10pts through a Ben Sugars score at the back of a maul, and the teams headed for the break with a score of 22-12.

The rain began to fall as the second half started and just with the first, the Hounds struck early through Theo Fourie, picking up his second of the afternoon to keep the pressure on the Legion, who’s miserable evening was made worse when Ronan Murphy received a straight red card in the 51st minute. A man down for 20 minutes, they struggled to contain the Hounds who adapted to the increasingly heavy rain far better, focussing on a forwards-first, bruising, close range style of play. New Hounds Tomas Casares and Brandon Harvey would both cross within 10 minutes of the red card to balloon the score to 41-12. The Legion showed some signs of life in the final quarter, with scores from Ed Timpson and Joey Mano to secure a try BP for their efforts, but these were both just consolation scores that sandwiched an eighth Hounds try of the game from Chilean international Santiago Videla, who converted himself.

A wet, windy, muddy game in Chicago ends with the Hounds successfully challenging for The Old Mate, defeating the California Legion 48-24. They will now defend the Old Mate against the New England Free Jacks in Nashville next weekend! As for the Legion, they return to California to face the Seattle Seawolves in LA next week in a West Coast clash.

v

2026 – RD 3: Anthem RC v Seattle Seawolves

Anthem RC host the Seattle Seawolves at American Legion Memorial Stadium during Round 3 of the 2026 Major League Rugby season.

The euphoria of Anthem’s first every victory in Round 1 was quickly erased by a 33-19 home defeat at the hands of the Chicago Hounds last week, and the Rising Stars now sit 2nd in the league with a 1-1 record. They host the Seattle Seawolves in their 3rd game of the season, who are coming off a strong 33-16 victory in their home opener over Old Glory DC.

The hosts opened the scoring within the first 10 minutes through Campbell Robb with his 2nd try of the season for the Rising Stars to open the scoring in front of a home crowd. The visitors would chip away at this lead with a pair of penalties, before the flood gates opened just after the first hydration break. Seattle scored their first try through a lovely lineout move putting prop Ezekiel Lindenmuth clean through, before Julian Roberts hit back for Anthem a few minutes later. Just 2 minutes after Roberts’ score however, Paddy Ryan crossed at the other end for the Seawolves, which was quickly cancelled out by an Anthem score out wide from former Seawolf Malacchi Esdale. during this flurry of scoring, Seattle tried to challenge for an obvious Anthem knock-on that was missed, but referee Mike Lawrenson deemed that the incident was outside of the scope of the RRS, and Seattle could not challenge this. Despite being unable to challenge this, Lawrenson penalised the Seawolves by taking away their final challenge. Some clarity on this may bee needed from MLR, as fans were left confused as to why the challenge was deemed unsuccessful if they were unable to challenge in the first place. Whats more, the incident was an obvious knock-on that went uncalled. Following this period of back and forth scoring, Anthem RC went into the sheds with a narrow 21-18 lead.

The second half saw significantly less scoring to start, but no less back and forth play, as one line break was met with another, and scramble defence proved solid from both sides. Around the 60 minute mark however, the Seattle Seawolves would feel even more hard done by thanks to a truly baffling decision from the referee team. Anthem RC’s Will Sherman crossed the try line for his 2nd score of the season, and Lawrenson chose to review it to make sure of the grounding. As clear as day, the replay showed that Sherman spilled the ball forward in the try zone, and that there was no grounding (something Seattle did 2 or 3 times during this game too). It was so obvious that none of the Anthem players including Sherman himself, bothered celebrating at all. Despite this, and following the referee intiated review the try was awarded to the consternation of fans. Thankfully this try didn’t decide the game, but it did secure a try BP for Anthem and without it, Seattle would have picked up a losing BP, so it may still play a part in the season. Luke Carty would kick both the conversion, and a few minutes later a penalty to extend Anthem’s lead to 31-18, before Divan Rossouw scored an almost consolation try for Seattle, converted by Mark Bennett. Luke Carty would bank another 3pts in the final minute to deny Seattle a losing BP, and Anthem would record their first home victory in franchise history, a 34-25 win over the Seattle Seawolves.

Anthem will now try to keep that momentum going into next week, and will be staying at home to face Old Glory DC in Round 4 who are coming off of a great road win against the Free Jacks. The injury-stricken Seattle Seawolves on the other hand, will hope they get some guys back in time for next week’s clash with the California Legion in LA.

v

2026 – RD 3: New England Free Jacks v Old Glory DC

The New England Free Jacks host rivals Old Glory DC in their 2026 Home Opener at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Quincy. This game marks the first leg of the 2026 Red, White, & Blue Bowl!

The defending champions enter their home opener off the back of a record defeat at the hands of the California Legion. A 43-5 hiding that the Free Jacks will be determined to avenge in front of a home crowd. Old Glory DC also kicked off their 2026 season on the road, facing a strong Seattle Seawolves side at the formidable Starfire Stadium, where they fell 33-16 last Friday. Both teams are eager to get into the win column early in this shortened 2026 season, and have plenty of history with one another. This game had all the makings of a classic!

Despite being under pressure early, the New England Free Jacks opened the scoring 10 minutes in with Kaleb Geiger dotting down at the back of a rolling maul from a linout, and Joel Hodgson made no mistakes with the conversion to give the hosts a 7-0 lead early on. It would take 15 more minutes for the visitors to answer, with Cory Daniel rumbling over for his first of the season and despite a team challenge from New England, the try stood. Jason Robertson added the extras to tie things up at 7, but Old Glory DC didn’t take their foot off the gas and kept up the pressure on the hosts, before a break out wide presented an opportunity, and Cory Daniel (of all people) finished in the corner for his 2nd of the game and to give DC their first lead of the game, 7-14 to the guests. There were no changes to the score before half-time, but there would be very shortly after the game restarted.

Whatever Head Coach Ryan Martin said to his Free Jacks squad during the half-time break clearly worked, because straight off of the 2nd half kick-off, Oscar Lennon finished a superb team try under the posts to make the game level once again, this time at 14pts a piece. The first 10 minutes of the second half were a flurry of scores, with John LeFevre finishing a DC score in the 46th minutes to restore their 7pt lead in just his 2nd career start in MLR, before Nathan Salmon hit back a couple of minutes later in the corner. Joel Hodgson was given two attempts at the conversion thanks to a failed DC team challenge, but was unable to add the extras from out wide, and the score held at 19-21 to the guests. This would be the final score of the game. Despite the Free Jacks having the lion’s share of possession in the final 30 minutes, the Old Glory DC defence held firm with extraordinary discipline. The Free Jacks discipline, which was highlighted as an issue in their thumping last week, was good for most of the game, conceding just 4 penalties through the first 50 minutes of this game, began to let them down in the final quarter. The defending champions conceded 7 penalties in the final 30mins alone, and they came at critical times. Every break that Old Glory DC got, they made the most of, and defended every phase as if they were on their try line. Their 2pt lead held, and the Flags claimed their first win of the 2026 season and their 3rd straight victory over their New England rivals.

The Free Jacks fall to 0-2 for the first time in their history and while they have definitely improved from last week, the shortened 2026 season means that they are going to start running out of runway quickly. They travel to Nashville to face the Chicago Hounds in MLR’s Music City Showdown next weekend.

v

2026 – Rd 2: California Legion v New England Free Jacks

The Reigning Champion New England Free Jacks kick off their title defence on the road against the California Legion at Torero Stadium in San Diego, after the Legion began their campaign in the season opener last weekend.

The Legion will be looking to bounce back in this one following a convincing defeat to Anthem RC in the season opener, with the rising stars claiming their first ever victory. The Free Jacks enter this game and season as the team with the most player turnover league-wide, with only 10 of their entire 2026 roster having lifted the Shield with the team in 2025. This game marks the first contest of The Old Mate, Major League Rugby’s continuous Challenge Cup, for the 2026 season, and the 125th contest all time. The winner will claim the trophy and attempt to defend it in their next game, so it is contested in almost every match week, regular season and playoff, unless the holder is on a bye.

It looked like the California Legion were out for blood after a disappointing first game, and they did not disappoint in front of a packed house at Torero Stadium, the ‘ancestral home’ of the Legion. The hosts ran out to a 24-0 lead late in the 1st half, before the Free Jacks struck back with their first points of the season through Kienan Higgins on his MLR debut. However, the 2nd half would be all Legion once again as they added a handful more tries to rout the reigning champions by a score of 43-5. With this victory, the Legion pick up their first victory in their 2nd attempt, and also claim their first possession of The Old Mate, MLR’s Supports Challenge Cup that you can learn more about here.

With a 38pt deficit, this loss marks the heaviest defeat in New England Free Jacks history, surpassing the 29pt deficit recorded during a 36-7 defeat to the Chicago Hounds in Round 3 of last season. Free Jacks fans can take solace in the fact that this was the very first game for a very different looking team in very hot conditions at Torero Stadium, which is arguably just as much of a fortress as Quincy. It would be foolish to rule the 3x Champions out, but with a shortened season in 2026 they will need to kick things into gear sooner rather than later.

 

v