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.

Mat Turner

South African born former England Sevens player Mat Turner played in Major League Rugby between 2018-2023. He represented the Seattle Seawolves for his entire MLR career.

Turner led the entire league in Meters Gained MLR’s inaugural season in 2018, finishing 2m ahead of Fetu’u Vainikolo, on 926m and earning an All-MLR First XV selection. He would better this by over 400m the following season, finishing with 1,355m gained and 8 tries scored, good enough 3rd in Meters Gained and for T-6th in Try Scoring, earning his 2nd All-MLR selection in 2019, this time for the All-MLR 2nd XV. He had also won two MLR shields in his first two seasons, as the Seattle Seawolves took back-to-back Championships.

Jason Higgins

Canadian-eligible Irish scrum-half Jason Higgins played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2025. He represented the Toronto Arrows (2021), the San Diego Legion (2022-2023), and the Chicago Hounds (2024-2025).

From Cork, Higgins is eligible for Canada through his Canadian father. He played for Cork Constitution in the All-Ireland League and Munster Senior Cup, winning the competition in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019. He was in talks with Rugby United New York (now Rugby New York Ironworkers) to play there in the truncated 2020 season, but was unable to secure a visa before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the season down.

Higgins signed with the Toronto Arrows ahead of the 2021 MLR season, and earned 13 MLR appearances in his debut season in North America, scoring 4 tries. Following the MLR season, he earned his international debut with Canada in September against the USA as part of the RWC 2023 qualifiers. He signed with the San Diego Legion ahead of the 2022 MLR season and spent 2 seasons in California, earning 20 caps total (13 starts) including 7 during the Legion‘s historic 15-1 2023 season, en route to the Championship Final where the Legion fell 24-25 to the New England Free Jacks. Through 2023, Higgins has earned 33 MLR caps (16 starts), scoring 12 tries including 1 hattrick for the San Diego Legion in 2022.

On 13th November 2023, the San Diego Legion traded Jason Higgins to the Chicago Hounds in exchange for Australian hooker Hugh Roach. In his first season with the Hounds, Higgins scored 4 tries in 13 games (5 starts) including his second career hattrick in the same game that Dylan Fawsitt also scored a hat trick, becoming the first teammates in MLR history to score hat tricks in the same game. The Hounds qualified for the postseason for the first time in team history that year, and Higgins came off the bench in both playoff games for the Hounds, defeating the NOLA Gold on the road before falling to the eventual champions, the New England Free Jacks in the Eastern Conference Final. On January 9th, 2025, the Chicago Hounds confirmed the return of Jason Higgins for a second season with the team in 2025.

Achievements:

  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 6
  • 2023 MLR Runner-Up: San Diego Legion
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 16

Ben Grant

Towering Australian lock Ben Grant represented the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby between 2022-2023. At 6’9″ tall (2.05m), Grant was the tallest active player in MLR when he played, and among the tallest in league history just behind former Houston lock Justin Allen at 6’10”.

Grant signed with the Legion in December 2021 from the Queensland Reds, and earned 30 MLR caps in his two MLR seasons (28 starts), scoring 1 try. 17 of his caps (15 regular season, 2 playoff) were earned in the Legion’s 15-1 season in 2023, the best regular season record in MLR history. unfortunately this season fell at the final hurdle, finishing as Runners-Up to the New England Free Jacks.

On July 18th, 2023, Grant was announced as part of North Harbour’s squad for their 2023 NPC season. This is his first season in the NPC, and he will link up with Legion teammate Shilo Klein. On 26th October 2023 the Hurricanes announced the signing of Ben Grant for the 2024 Super Rugby season, ruling him out of a return to MLR.

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Dan Pryor

New Zealand back row Dan Pryor played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2024. He represented the San Diego Legion (2021-2023) and the Miami Sharks (2024).

An Auckland native, Pryor played with Northland in New Zealand’s ITM Cup (later the Mitre 10 Cup, then the NPC) between 2010-2017. He earned his Super Rugby debut in 2011 for the Blues, but would have to wait a few years before he became a Super Rugby regular, when he played with the Highlanders between 2015-2018, and the Sunwolves in Japan in 2019. He stayed in Japan to play with the Munakata Spinx Blues in the Japanese League One between 2018-2021. Dan’s brother Kara Pryor also played in MLR, representing the Rugby New York Ironworkers.

The San Diego Legion initially signed Dan Pryor late in the 2021 season. He earned 2 MLR caps towards the end of the season and re-signed for the 2022 season where he appeared in 14 regular season games for the Legion, starting 12 and scoring his first MLR try. Pryor stayed with the Legion for their record-breaking 2023 season, earning a further 8 caps (6 starts) and scoring 4 tries during their 15-1 regular season. The Legion advanced all the way to the MLR Championship Final, falling to the New England Free Jacks 24-25 in Chicago.

On December 25th, 2023 (Christmas Day), the Miami Sharks announced the signing of then-35yo Dan Pryor for the 2024 MLR season, the first in Sharks history. Pryor earned 12 appearances for the Sharks in their admirable inaugural season, serving as part of the team’s leadership. He recorded a PB of 358m gained, and over 110 tackles completed. Pryor was named to the MLR Team of the Week for Round 5.

achievements

Patrick Madden

California native Patrick Madden played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2023. He represented the San Diego Legion for his entire MLR career.

A native of San Diego, CA, Madden attended California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). He was named a Junior All-American in 2018 and was a finalist for the Rudy Scholz award in 2020. Madden declared for the inaugural MLR Collegiate Draft in 2020 and was selected in the 1st Round, 12th overall by his local team, the San Diego Legion. He earned his MLR debut against the LA Giltinis in April 2021, his first of 5 appearances for the Legion in his rookie season as well as his only career start.

The following season he struggled for game time, earning 2 further appearances for the Legion of the bench despite setting a career high 86m gained. He was a part of the USA Selects team that toured Uruguay that year, and also played in the PR7s during the summer. Following the 2022 campaign, Madden signed with the American Raptors, representing the team in SLAR from 2023-2024 while also playing in PR7s with the Loggerheads as well as the Rugby Tens Championship with the Serengeti Elephants, and won the USA Rugby 7s National Championship with NOVA Rugby in 2025.

achievements