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.

Mike Sheppard

Canadian forward Mike Sheppard played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2023. He represented the Toronto Arrows for his entire MLR career and is a capped Canadian international, earning his debut in November 2018 against Kenya in which he scored a try.

Sheppard had played with the Ontario Arrows, the precursor to the Toronto Arrows, since 2013 and Captained the Toronto Arrows in their exhibition season in 2018 ahead of their entry into MLR in 2019. In his (and Toronto‘s) debut MLR season, he earned 15 caps and 14 starts, scoring 5 tries as the Arrows qualified for the playoffs in their first season in MLR. He earned a selection to the All-MLR 1st XV for the 2019 season for his outstanding performance.

With the exception of the shortened 2020 season, between 2019-2023 Sheppard was a regular in the Arrows lineup and earned MLR caps in the teens every season, Captaining the team through the 2022 season. 2023 was the only season where he did not score a try, leaving him with 9 tries total over his 58 caps (46 starts), all with Toronto. Sheppard was the 36th player in MLR history to reach 50 caps in the competition, and the 2nd Arrows player after Paul Ciulini.

On August 23rd 2023, Mike Sheppard announced his retirement from playing professionally after spending 5 seasons with the Canadian club. He earned a total of 12 MLR Team of the Week selections, with 9 of these coming in the 2019 season alone.

Achievements:

  • MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Week 8
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Week 4
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Week 16
  • 2019 All-MLR First XV Selection
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Semi-Finals
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Week 18
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Week 16
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Week 15
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Week 14
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Week 13
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Week 11
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Week 10
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Week 6

Morgan Mitchell

New Zealand prop Morgan Mitchell played in Major League Rugby during the 2019 season, and again in 2023. He represented the Toronto Arrows in their inaugural season in 2019, and the Houston SaberCats (2023).

Mitchell was born with a hearing impairment that evolved to full deafness in 2016. He has a cochlear implant allowing him to hear and continue to play professionally. He is the first deaf player to play in the Mitre 10 (now the Bunnings NPC), and MLR. He has represented the Southland Stags in NZ’s Mitre 10/NPC since 2014 and on 22nd June 2023, the Stags announced that ‘Morgy’ will return for their 2023 NPC season following his year with the SaberCats.

Mitchell scored all 3 of his tries with the Toronto Arrows, starting 13 of his 16 appearanes and completing 139 tackles while gaining over 500m as a prop. Following Toronto’s inaugural season in which they qualified for the postseason, Mitchell headed to Japan after signing with the Kamayashi Seawaves. He played in Japan from 2020-21 before heading back to New Zealand and playing with Southland in the NPC. Morgan Mitchell returned to MLR for the 2023 season, signing with the Houston SaberCats, starting all 14 of his appearances for the ‘Cats and completing another 99 tackles and taking his MLR appearance count to 30, with 27 starts.

After his 2nd stint in MLR with the SaberCats, Mitchell returned to New Zealand once again, and continues to represent the Southland Stags in the NPC as of 2025.

 

Andrew Quattrin

Canadian Internationally capped hooker Andrew Quattrin has played in Major League Rugby since 2019. From 2019-2022 he represented the Toronto Arrows and, following a very brief spell with the Utah Warriors as a paper transaction, the New England Free Jacks from 2023-2026.

Quattrin (or simply ‘Q’) earned 48 MLR caps for the Arrows between 2019-2022 including 42 starts, including the Arrows only playoff game vs. the Seattle Seawolves in 2019. He has scored 16 MLR tries, 4 for the Arrows and 3 of them coming in 2022, where he was named as the inaugural recipient of the S. Marcus Calloway Community Impact Award. Also during 2022, Quattrin gained 627m on 152 ball carries, beating 16 defenders. On defence, he made 168 tackles for a success rate of 92.82% On the 29th July, 2022, the MLR Trade Wire announced that Quattrin had been traded from the Toronto Arrows to the Utah Warriors, in exchange for an International Player Spot for the 2023 season. Less than a week later on August 4th, 2022, it was announced that Quattrin had been traded again, this time to the New England Free Jacks in exchange for Salary Cap considerations for 2023. This could be seen as the first 3-way trade in MLR history.

In his debut season with New England, Quattrin scored 5 tries in 15 games (10 starts) as the Free Jacks finished atop the Eastern Conference and advanced to the MLR Championship final where they defeated the very impressive San Diego Legion 24-25 in Chicago thanks to a late score by Le Roux Malan, to lift the Shield for the first time in club history. Quattrin returned to New England for the 2024 season, scoring a further 8 tries (T-9th in MLR) in 17 games (16 starts) as the Free Jacks finished the regular season at the top of the Eastern Conference once again, and defeated Old Glory DC and the Chicago Hounds en route to their 2nd final in as many years, where they defeated the Seattle Seawolves 11-20 to claim back-to-back MLR Shields. Quattrin started all 3 Free Jacks playoff games that year. For his efforts, he was named to the All-MLR Second XV.

On October 16th, 2024, the New England Free Jacks announced the return of Andrew Quattrin for their 2025 MLR season. Quattrin passed 20 career MLR tries with 5 in his 16 appearances in 2025, starting 15 times and recording his 5th season in a row with 100+ tackles made. He was integral in helping the Free Jacks turn their early season shakes around and finishing atop the Eastern Conference for the 4th season in a row. Quattrin started all 3 of New England’s playoff games as they claimed the Eastern Conference Title, before defeating the Houston SaberCats in the 2025 Championsihip in Rhode Island to claim their, and Quattrin’s, 3rd MLR Shield in a row. He was an All-MLR Honorable Mention for his performance in 2025. Following his 3rd MLR Shield win in a row with the Free Jacks, Quattrin signed with Valence Romans in the French Pro D2 as a Medical Joker.

As he was playing in France, Quattrin was not included on an MLR roster to start the 2026 campaign, however just after Round 6 of the regular season on 5th May, the New England Free Jacks announced the return of Quattrin for the latter half of the season, boosting the number of Canadians in Major League Rugby in 2026 to 10. Quattrin was announced alongside Paula Balekana, Cam Gerlach, and New England’s 2025 draftee Adam Chadwick. Quattrin would only earn a single appearance during a forgettable 2026 season for the Free Jacks, coming off the bench as a prop in Round 10. On 9th June, a day after New England were eliminated from playoff contention, French ProD2 side US Carcassonne announced the signing of Andrew Quattrin for the 2026/27 Pro D2 season, showing that he clearly impressed with his time at Valence Romans.

Achievements

Spencer Jones

Canadian-born, New Zealand raised centre Spencer Jones played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2025. He appeared in every MLR season between 2019-2025 with the exception of 2020, for which he was injured and had not recovered by the time the season was cancelled after only 5 rounds. He represented the Toronto Arrows (2019-2022), the New England Free Jacks (2023), and the Utah Warriors (2024-2025).

Jones is a capped Canadian international, earning his debut against the USA in September 2021 and most recently in both of Canada’s games against Tonga in August 2023.

Jones spent 4 seasons with the Toronto Arrows, earning 32 caps (27 starts) and scoring 3 tries and 26pts (4/8 – 50.00%). Following the 2022 season, Spencer Jones signed with the New England Free Jacks for the 2023 season, joining a number of Arrows players moving to Quincy such as Cole Keith and Andrew Quattrin. Jones earned an addition 13 caps (6 starts) for the Free Jacks, adding 1 try as they finished as the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference by a wide margin, and emerging as 24-25 victors over the San Diego Legion to claim their first MLR Shield.

Following the 2023 season, the New England Free Jacks traded Spencer Jones to the Utah Warriors on 21st October 2023, in exchange for Utah’s 1st Rd Draft pick in 2024 (Kaipono Kayoshi), and Salary Cap Considerations (unknown) in 2024. Jones spent the vast majority of the 2024 MLR season injured, and managed only 2 appearances (both starts) for the Warriors during a forgettable season. On 26th December 2024, the Utah Warriors announced the return of Spencer Jones for a 2nd season with the Warriors in 2025, the 7th MLR season of his career.

Achievements:
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 2
  • MLR Champion: 2023 (New England Free Jacks)
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Rd 3

Peter Milazzo

Canadian flanker Peter Milazzo played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2020. He represented the Toronto Arrows for his entire MLR career.

Milazzo appeared in all 17 games of the Arrows’ inaugural MLR season in 2019, starting 16 of them. He completed 200 tackles and finished T-5th league-wide in tackles. He also appeared in all 5 games in 2020, before the season was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. His only MLR try came in the 2020 season as the Arrows sat with a 4-1 record at the point the season was stopped.

Dan Moor

Canadian winger Dan Moor played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2020. He represented the Toronto Arrows for his entire MLR career.

Moor, a Toronto native, attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario between 2009-2013, playing Varsity rugby while there, and spending 2012 as an exchange student at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Moor progressed through the Rugby Ontario system, playing with the Ontario Blues and Balmy Beach RFC before earning his first international cap for Canada in February 2016 against Uruguay in Langford, BC. Moor earned 14 test caps for Canada between 2016-2017, with his final cap coming against the USA in San Diego on 1st July (Canada Day) 2017. Following this cap, Moor continued his education at the University of Oxford from 2017-2018, playing in the famous Varsity Match against Cambridge in 2018 before signing with the Yorkshire Carnegie in the English Championship.

Moor signed with the Toronto Arrows ahead of their inaugural season in MLR in 2019, and captained the side as they earned their first (and only) post-season appearance in their first season. He scored 7 tries and gained over 1,100m with ball in hand, proving himself a formidable winger. He captained the Arrows for their first two years in MLR, appearing in all but 1 Arrows game between 2019-2020 until the 2020 season was cancelled after only 5 rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moor announced his retirement following the shortened 2020 season, just before his 30th birthday. By the time the Arrows withdrew from MLR after the 2023 season, he was still the Arrows’ 2nd highest try scorer, with 11 tries in only 21 games. He finished as T-2nd in league try scoring in 2020, with 4 tries in 4 games before the season shut down.

achievements
  • T-2nd in League Try Scoring: 2020 (4)