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.

Tom Franklin

Former New Zealand u20 player and Māori All Black Tom Franklin played in Major League Rugby during the 2021 and 2023 seasons. He represented the San Diego Legion.

Franklin is an experienced lock, having competed in 6 Super Rugby seasons with the Highlanders, and initially joined the Legion late in the 2021 season from the Kobelco Steelers in Japan, earning 5 starts. Following the MLR season he returned to the Steelers for 2022, but in December of that year the Legion announced that they had re-signed Franklin for the 2023 season.

Franklin became part of a very experienced Legion second row in 2023, playing alongside Ben Grant and former All Black Isaac Ross. He earned 8 caps and 6 starts with the Legion during their record breaking 2023 season, finishing the regular season with a 15-1 record, the best regular season in MLR history. Despite their regular season success, the Legion finished as Runners-Up in 2023 following a 24-25 defeat to the New England Free Jacks in the Championship Final.

On August 23rd 2023, the Taranaki Bulls in New Zealand’s NPC competition announced the signing of Franklin, who is no stranger to the NPC having represented both Otago and Bay of Plenty in his career. It is unknown if Franklin will return to MLR.

Achievements:

  • 2023 MLR Runner-Up – San Diego Legion

 

Michael Smith

Canadian flanker Michael Smith played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2023. He represented the San Diego Legion for his entire MLR career.

Smith, a British Columbia native, attended the University of British Columbia, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacology in 2020. He played age-grade rugby for both British Columbia and Canada, Vice-Captaining the Canada U20s World Rugby U20s Trophy competition in Romania in 2018. He captained the UBC Thunderbirds between 2019-2020, and won the Bobby Gail Memorial Trophy in 2020, recognising the most Outstanding Graduating Male Athlete of the Year. Throughout his 3 seasons in MLR, Smith attended medical school and was training to become a doctor while playing professional rugby. In 2021, he earned his full international debut for Canada, earning 5 caps in their Summer and Fall tests.

Smith joined the San Diego Legion ahead of their 2021 season, where he earned 8 appearances (4 starts) and was named as Legion Rookie of the year. He returned for a stand-out 2022 season, scoring 2 tries in 16 games (13 starts) and completing a whopping 240 tackles, finishing 2nd in MLR behind only Old Glory DC’s Cory Daniel. Smith returned for a 3rd season with San Diego in 2023, earning 9 further appearances as the Legion recorded an MLR-record 15-1 regular season record, and advanced to the Championship Final where they fell to a late score, 24-25 to the New England Free Jacks. In total, Smith scored 4 tries in 24 games for San Diego, starting 17 and completing nearly 400 tackles across 3 seasons.

achievements
  • 2023 MLR Runner-Up: San Diego Legion
  • 2nd in MLR Tackling: 2022 (240)
  • San Diego Legion Rookie of the Year: 2021

Cole Zarcone

Washington State native Cole Zarcone played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2023. he represented the San Diego Legion (2021) and the Seattle Seawolves (2022-2023), his local MLR team.

Central Washington University (CWU) alum Cole Zarcone was drafted with the final pick of the inaugural 2020 MLR Collegiate Draft (2nd Round, 24th Overall) by the San Diego Legion, who he then represented in his debut MLR season in 2021, scoring 2 tries in his 6 caps (3 starts). Zarcone then signed with the Seattle Seawolves ahead of the 2022 MLR season, his local MLR team. Over his 2 seasons with the Seawolves he earned an additional 5 MLR caps (1 start) to bring his total to 11 caps (4 starts), and 2 tries scored.

On 28th September, 2023, Cole Zarcone announced his retirement from professional rugby.

Achievements:

Ethan McVeigh

California native Ethan McVeigh played in Major League Rugby for the 2021 season, and again between 2024-2026. He represented the San Diego Legion (2021), Old Glory DC (2024-2025), and the New England Free Jacks (2026).

A USA U20 player in 2018, McVeigh grew up in San Carlos, a suburb of San Diego. He was signed by his local MLR team, the San Diego Legion, in May of 2021, part way through that year’s season. McVeigh still earned 9 caps for the Legion in 2021 (4 starts), scoring 2 tries. Following the 2021 MLR season, McVeigh returned to Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales to complete his studies and played for the University rugby team during his time there. Following his graduation, McVeigh joined the American Raptors crossover side in the Fall of 2022, and represented them during their inaugural season in Super Rugby Americas in 2023. He earned 10 caps (3 starts) and scored 2 tries during their campaign.

On 26th October 2023, Old Glory DC announced the signing of Ethan McVeigh for the 2024 MLR season. He joined the Flags from Club Gimnasia y Esgrima De Rosario in Argentina, where he had been playing since the Raptors season ended. McVeigh scored 1 try in 15 games in 2024 (9 starts), earning a MLR Team of the Week selection for his performance in Rd 10. Old Glory qualified for the playoffs for the 2nd season in a row that year, and McVeigh came off the bench in the Eastern Conference Semifinal, where the Flags ran the New England Free Jacks close, falling 29-33 to the eventual Champions in Quincy. He earned his test debut for the USA as Eagle #575 in July 2024 against Scotland.

On December 24th, 2024, Old Glory DC announced the return of Ethan McVeigh for his 3rd MLR season in 2025 where he started 4 of his 14 appearances and scored his 4th MLR try, racking up just shy of 150m gained for the Flags as they qualified for the postseason for the 3rd season in a row. On 21st October 2025, Old Glory DC announced the departure of Ethan McVeigh from the team ahead of the 2026 season, and on 19th November 2025, the New England Free Jacks announced that they had signed McVeigh for the 2026 season.

Achievements:

  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 10
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Rd 12

Chris Baumann

Colorado native Chris Baumann played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2024. He represented the San Diego Legion for his entire MLR career.

Baumann’s career as a professional player has taken him all over the world. He played with East Kilbride in Scotland, as well as Yokohama Country and Athletic Club in Japan and the famous Randwick Galloping Green in Australia. He returned to the USA in 2014, playing with the New York Athletic Club before travelling to South America on tour with the USA Selects. He made his full test debut for the USA as Eagle #464 in July 2015 against Tonga in the Pacific Nations Cup. He represented the USA at the Rugby World Cup in England in 2015, and has earned 25 caps to date with his most recent cap for the USA coming against Canada in June 2018.

Baumann represented the Denver Stampede in the short-lived PRO Rugby competition (the spiritual predecessor to MLR), before heading to New Zealand to play with the Welllington Lions in the Mitre 10 (now the NPC). The following year, 2017, Baumann returned to the UK to play with the Leicester Tigers in the English Premiership, earning a handful of caps before returning to the USA once again, playing with the Austin Blacks between 2017-2020.

Baumann has played with the San Diego Legion for the last 4 MLR seasons, earning 46 caps (11 starts) and scoring 2 tries through the end of the Legion’s record breaking 2023 season in which they advanced to the MLR Championship Final, falling 24-25 to the New England Free Jacks in Chicago. On 23rd December 2023, the Legion announced the return of then-36yo Chris Baumann for the 2024 MLR season, in which he will hope to earn his 50th cap in the competition.

achievements

Bjorn Basson

South African winger/fullback Bjorn Basson played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2022. He represented the San Diego Legion for his entire MLR career.

Basson began playing rugby young, graduating Dale College in 2005 and playing youth rugby with the Border Bulldogs U19 between 2005-2006 before joining the Griquas in 2007. He began his senior career with the Griquas in the Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup competitions between 2008-2010, scoring an incredible 47 tries in 56 appearances, including a single-season Currie Cup Premier Division record of 21 in 2010, when he was also named the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year. Unsurprisingly, Basson’s talents had attracted the attention of Super Rugby teams, and he earned his debut with the Cheetahs in 2009, scoring 6 tries in 9 appearances. In 2011 he joined the Bulls whom he represented through 2016, scoring 29 tries in 86 Super Rugby appearances, while also playing with the Blue Bulls, scoring 21 tries in 26 games. Basson also briefly travelled to Japan to play with the Honda Heat during their 2015/16 season.

Basson left the Bulls and spent the 2017 Super Rugby season with the Stormers, scoring 3 tries in 6 games and also scoring 4 tries in 6 additional games with Western Province. Later that year he joined Oyonnax in the French Top 14 as a medical joker, before returning to South Africa to represent the Southern Kings for the 2018/19 PRO 14 season, also returning to play with the Griquas in 2019 before heading to Russia for the Russian Rugby Championship with Enisei-STM.

The San Diego Legion announced the addition of Basson in September 2020, ahead of their 2021 season. He continued his prolific try scoring during his debut season in North America, scoring 10 tries in 15 appearances (14 starts), finishing 4th league-wide, and gaining 1,121m. Across his 2 seasons with the Legion, he scored 14 tries in 28 appearances (27 starts), and gained just over 2,000m with ball in hand.

achievements:
  • 4th in MLR Try Scoring: 2021 (10)
  • 3rd in MLR Meters Gained: 2021 (1,121m)
  • 1,000m+ season: 2021