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 Poland

Irish scrum-half John Poland played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2025. He represented the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

Poland previously represented Ireland u19s & u20s, and played with Cork Constitution in D1A of the All-Ireland League between 2015-2017, helping them to an All-Ireland title in the 2016/17 season. He has 1 cap for Munster that came during the 2017/18 Pro 14 season, where he spent most of the season playing with University College Cork in D1B of the All-Ireland League, winning the title that year.

Poland signed with the Free Jacks in October 2019 and has been a stalwart of the Free Jacks since joining, scoring 18 tries in his MLR career to date and was their most capped player through the 2024 season. He was the first Free Jack with 50+ caps in MLR. When the 2020 MLR season was cancelled after only 5 rounds, Poland was sat T-2nd for tries scored, with 4.

On 15th June 2023, Manawatu announced that they had signed Poland for the 2023 Bunnings NPC season. The NPC season does not interfere with MLR, so many players jump between the leagues allowing them to play professionally year-round and sure enough, Poland returned for the 2024 MLR season. He started 3 games before suffering a season-ending pectoral injury early in the 2024 season that sidelined him for the entire year, missing out on much of the Free Jacks’ 2024 Shield winning season. He acted as Assistant Coach to the New England Independents (the Free Jacks’ academy side) that year, joining them on tour to Ireland in May. On October 16th, 2024, the New England Free Jacks announced the return of John Poland for their 2025 MLR campaign. His season was plagued with injury, but he still started all 5 of his appearances and scored a pair of conversions for the Free Jacks to help them complete the threepeat. He also passed 400 tackles in his 59 game MLR career.

On 20th November 2025, the New England Free Jacks announced the departure of John Poland after 6 seasons and 3 Championship victories. At the time, he was playing with Young Munster in D1A of the All Ireland League.

achievements

Zach Stryffeler

Ohio native Zach Stryffeler played in Major League Rugby between 2018-2020. He represented the NOLA Gold (2018-2019) and the New England Free Jacks (2020).

Stryffeler represented New Orleans during the first two seasons of MLR, and enjoyed a standout season in 2019. He gained over 500m with ball in hand and finished 3rd league-wide in tackles made, with 225.

Fred Apulu

Samoan born prop Fred Apulu played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2026. He represented the LA Giltinis (2022), the Chicago Hounds (2023-2024), the Utah Warriors (2025), and the California Legion (2026).

Former Samoa U20 player Apulu moved to Hawaii to be with his now-wife, and played for the Hawaii Marist Rugby Club. He made his MLR debut off the bench for the LA Giltinis during the 2022 season, prior to the LA Giltinis’ disqualification before the 2022 Championship Series along with the Austin Gilgronis due to alleged salary cap breaches. Both LA and Austin folded in the offseason and despite not being selected in the subsequent dispersal/expansion draft, Apulu found a home with the San Diego Legion squad for the first half of the 2023 season before signing with the  Chicago Hounds ahead of week 10 of their inaugural season in 2023. He earned 4 appearances for the Hounds in the 2023 season, all from the bench.

On 1st January, 2024 (New Year’s Day), the Chicago Hounds announced the return of Fred Apulu for the 2024 season. He was the first MLR player announced in 2024 and earned his first career MLR start as well as a career-high 14 appearances for the Hounds in 2024, including coming off the bench during both of Chicago’s playoff games that season, the first in team history. On 28th October 2024, the Utah Warriors announced the signing of Fred Apulu for their 2025 campaign. The Warriors had acquired Apulu from the Hounds in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown) on that same day. Apulu scored his first MLR try as a Utah Warrior, and started 3 of his 8 appearances to help the Warriors finish as the top team in MLR during the regular season. With the Utah Warriors withdrawing from the competition in late 2025, Apulu headed west to sign with the California Legion, who confirmed his signing on 4th March, 2026.