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.

John Lefevre

Virginia native John LeFevre played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2023 and again between 2025-2026. He represented Old Glory DC for his entire MLR career.

LeFevre attended Old Dominion University between 2016-2020, playing rugby throughout. Post his graduation, LeFevre played with NOVA Rugby and attended a USA U23 Pathway Camp in Glendale in the summer of 2021, and also represented the Old Glory DC U23 side. He joined the MLR squad for the 2022 season and earned 5 caps in his debut MLR season, and followed it up with a career high 11 appearances in 2023, earning his first start and scoring 2 tries for the Flags as they earned their first playoff berth in club history, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.

On 11th January 2024, John LeFevre was included on the American Raptors roster for their 2024 Super Rugby Americas season. After spending 2024 with the Raptors and following the announcement that the Raptors would not play pro rugby in 2025, Old Glory DC announced the return of John LeFevre for the 2025 MLR season where he served a limited role with 2 appearances off the bench. On 9th January 2026, the Flags announced the return of John Lefevre for his 4th season with the team that year.

Jack Russell

John Rizzo

Indiana native John Rizzo played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2026. He represented Old Glory DC for his entire MLR career.

The wing/fullback attended Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis between 2017 and 2021 with one semester at West Point, where he played D1A rugby for Army-West Point, and has played for Washington Irish RFC in the DC area outside of the MLR. Across his first 2 seasons in MLR, Rizzo earned 13 caps for Old Glory DC (4 starts), scoring 2 tries in the 2023 season when he racked up 239m gained. On 21st November 2023, Old Glory DC announced the return of John Rizzo for the 2024 MLR season.

In 2024, Rizzo had a statement season. He improved in almost every category, scoring 3 tries in 11 games (10 starts), racking up over 400m gained and completing over 60 tackles, all of which are PBs in MLR. He was named to the MLR Team of the Week in Round 5, and started Old Glory DC’s only playoff game that season, running the New England Free jacks close but ultimately falling 29-33 to the eventual Champions.

On December 13th, 2024, Old Glory DC announced the return of John Rizzo for his 4th MLR season in 2025, where he scored 5 tries in 12 games on 490m gained, all of which were career highs for Rizzo. He started 9 of his games and completed over 50 tackles (57) for the second season in a row. On 11th December 2025, Old Glory DC announced the return of John Rizzo for his 5th Major League Rugby season in 2026.

Achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2026 – Rd 10
MLR Team of the Week: 2026 – Rd 7
MLR Team of the Week: 2026 – Rd 4
MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 8
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 5

Felix Kalapu

New Zealand lock Felix Kalapu played in Major League Rugby during the 2022 season. He represented Old Glory DC for his entire MLR career.

Peni Lasaqa

New Zealand winger Peni Lasaqa played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2023. He represented Old Glory DC for his entire MLR career.

Lasaqa played rugby and ran track through his time at high school at St Kentigern College, and was part of a New Zealand Sevens Development team in 2019 including a tour to Japan, before being included in the NZ U20s wider squad the following year. He played with Bay of Plenty in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship from whom he joined Old Glory DC ahead of their 2022 MLR campaign at the age of 21.

Lasaqa was a stand out for the Flags in his debut season in North America. In 14 games (13 starts) he scored 9 tries and racked up over 1,150m gained with ball in hand. He finished T-9th in MLR for tries scored along with teammate Junior Sa’u and ATL‘s Marko Janse van Rensburg. Lasaqa returned for a 2nd season with DC in 2023 and produced again, scoring an additional 5 tries in 11 games and gaining over 700m.

Following the 2023 MLR season, Lasaqa returned to his native New Zealand where he plays with Tauranga Sports Club.

achievements

T-4th in MLR Try Scoring: 2022 (9)

Rohan Saifoloi

Australian fly-half Rohan Saifoloi played in Major League Rugby during the 2022 MLR season. He represented Old Glory DC for his entire MLR career.

A Brisbane native, Saifoloi represented the Australia U20 side at the Junior World Championship in 2011, before joining the Southern Districts in Australia’s Shute Shield competition. He represented the Souths over 75 times between 2012-2018. During that time he also placed with the Tasman Mako in New Zealand’s ITM Cup (later the Mitre 10 and now the Bunning’s NPC) in 2014, and the Greater Sydney Rams (2015-2016) & Sydney Rays (2017-2018) in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). Following on from his time with the Souths, Saifoloi played with Queensland County in 2019-2020, before returning to the Shute Shield with the Eastern Suburbs. Although Australian by birth, Saifoloi was selected to join the Manu Samoa squad on their European tour in 2017, but did not pick up a test cap.

Old Glory DC announce the signing of Saifoloi in November 2021 ahead of their 2022 campaign, during which he earned 12 appearances (all starts) for the Flags, scoring 3 tries and 79pts in total and finishing T-7th in MLR scoring during the 2022 season, level with Houston’s Davy Coetzer.

achievements

7th in MLR Scoring: 2022 (79pts)

Jake Ilnicki

Fintan Coleman

US-Eligible Irish loose forward Fintan Coleman played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2024. He represented Old Glory DC (2022-2023) and the NOLA Gold (2024).

Born and raised in Limerick, Coleman progressed through the Munster system, representing the province at U17, U18, and U19. He represented the Ireland U18 side in 2017 and earned a short-term contract with the London Irish academy the following year before returning to Ireland and playing with Young Munster in the All-Ireland D1A between 2019-2022.

Coleman has an American father and headed across the pond to join Old Glory DC for their 2022 season, earning 7 starts in 24 games and scoring his only MLR try in the 2022 season, the same season he recorded career highs in meters gained (193) and tackles (54). On 20th February 2024, weeks before the MLR season started, Old Glory DC traded Coleman to the NOLA Gold in exchange for 2024 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown). Coleman earned 1 start in a further 10 MLR appearances for the Gold, bringing his total to 8 starts in 34 games and helping the Gold to finally end their MLR playoff drought that season.

On October 15th, 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the departure of Fintan Coleman. It is currently not known if he will remain in MLR for 2025.

Rob Irimescu

Junior Sa’u

New Zealand born Samoan centre Tafeaga ‘Junior’ Sa’u played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2023. He represented Old Glory DC for his entire MLR career, earning 25 caps in his 2 seasons there.

Sa’u is a dual-codes player and represented both New Zealand and Samoa for rugby league. His signing was announced in early January 2022 ahead of that year’s MLR season, joining from the Leigh Centurions (now Leigh Leopards) Rugby League team in England. In his debut MLR season, he appeared in 15 of DC’s 16 regular season games, starting 14 of them and scoring 9 tries, tying him for 4th in the regular season alongside Old Glory teammate Peni Lasaqa. Following the 2022 MLR season, Sa’u headed back to the UK to play with the Keighley Cougars, another Rugby League side in the Betfred Championship, before Old Glory DC announced that they had re-signed Sa’u for the 2023 season.

In his sophomore MLR season, Sa’u earned another 10 caps (all starts), scoring 3 more tries on a vastly improved DC side that earned a playoff berth for the first time in club history. Old Glory DC would advance to the Eastern Conference Final before falling to eventual champions, the New England Free Jacks, 25-7 in Quincy. A then-35 year old Sa’u started both games of DC’s inaugural Championship Series run.

On August 22nd 2023, the Keighley Cougars announced that Sa’u had signed a 1yr contract with the rugby league side. With the Betfred Championship season running from roughly February-October, this ruled Sa’u out of making a return to MLR in 2024.