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.
Tiaan Loots
South African centre Tiaan Loots played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2026. He represented the Houston SaberCats(2020), the San Diego Legion (2021-2025), and the Chicago Hounds (2026).
Loots’ original move to MLR was announced in August 2019, when the Houston SaberCats announced his signing from the Newport Gwent Dragons (now just Dragons RFC) in the Pro14 (now URC) competition. Loots appeared in (and started) 4 of the 5 SaberCats games in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, finishing 6th in Meters Gained at the point the season was cancelled.
The San Diego Legion announced the signing of Loots in April 2021 for the remainder of that year’s season, which had started a few weeks prior. He earned 8 caps (all starts) and scored 3 tries in his first season with the Legion and has represented them in every season since, amassing 27 caps with them (31 total) and scoring 7 tries (8 total), 4 of which came in 5 games (3 starts) during the Legion’s record breaking 2023 season where they went all the way to the Championship Final before falling 24-25 to the New England Free Jacks in Chicago. Loots earned a personal best of 3 Team of the Week selections in 5 games in 2023.
On 10th October 2023, the Legion announced the return of Tiaan Loots along with 3 other members of their 2023 roster for the 2024 MLR season. Loots scored a career high 6 tries in 10 games (9 starts) in 2024 and gained over 800m in possession. The Legion qualified 3rd in the West but fell to rivals the Seattle Seawolves in the Western Conference Semifinal. Loots was named to the All-MLR Second XV for his performance in 2024. Loots returned for his 5th season with the Legion in 2025, starting 4 his 11 appearances to take him over 50 in his career. Loots scored 13 tries in 48 games for the San Diego Legion between 2021-2025, but following their merger with Rugby FC LA to create the California Legion, Loots headed northeast. The Chicago Hounds announced the addition of Tiaan Loots for his 7th season in MLR in 2026.
Achievements
- 2024 All-MLR Second XV
- MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 17
- MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 13
- MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 4
- 2023 MLR Runner-Up: San Diego Legion
- MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 17
- MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 13
- MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 10
- MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 13
- MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 1
- MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Rd 12
- MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Rd 11
- 6th League-Wide for Meters Gained: 2020 (370)
- MLR Team of the Week: 2020 – Rd 3
Diego Fortuny
Argentinian hooker Diego Fortuny played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2022, and again in 2024. He represented the Houston SaberCats between 2020-2022, and the NOLA Gold in 2024.
Fortuny played for the Universitario de Salta First XV during his time at University in his home town, and played with the Argentina XV in the 2016 ARC, as well as the 2018 & 2019 Nations Cup. At club level he played with the Jaguares in Super Rugby in 2018, the same year he earned his full international test debut for Argentina against the Springboks in the 2018 Rugby Championship.
Fortuny joined the Houston SaberCats ahead of the 2020 season, appearing in all 5 games before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the season down early. Across his 3 seasons in Houston, he earned 21 MLR appearances (12 starts), scoring 1 try and completing 181 tackles before joining the American Raptors in Super Rugby Americas for their 2023 & 2024 seasons. Upon the conclusion of the Raptors’ 2024 season, Fortuny signed with the NOLA Gold for the business end of their 2024 campaign, the first time in club history that the club secured a spot in the MLR Playoffs. Fortuny scored 2 tries in two appearances off the bench for the Gold to help them secure that playoff spot, but did not feature in the post-season. On December 24th, 2024, Fortuny was included on the Tarucas roster for their inaugural Super Rugby Americas season in 2025.
Valdemar Lee-Lo
California native Valdemar Lee-Lo played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2025. He has represented the Houston SaberCats for his entire MLR career.
The former USA U20 player has served as a depth piece across 4 seasons with the Houston SaberCats, but did appear in all 5 games of the shortened 2020 season (4 start) before it was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee-Lo has earned 17 MLR caps to date, appearing for the SaberCats in every season between 2020-2023 with the exception of 2022, which he missed in it’s entirety due to injury. He returned to the Rugby HTX (now the SaberCats 2 academy side) in 2023 and earned 4 MLR caps during the 2023 season.
On 4th December 2023, the Houston SaberCats announced the return of Val Lee-Lo for the 2024 MLR season, where he added 5 appearances in the SaberCats’ league best 14-2 regular season. On December 6th 2024, the Houston SaberCats confirmed the return of Valdemar Lee-Lo for the 2025 MLR season.