Major League Rugby - North American Rugby Database

Indiana native Jake ‘Jax’ Hidalgo played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2024. He represented the Houston SaberCats for his entire MLR career.

Hidalgo played football and ran track as a sprinter during high school, before attending Indiana University – Bloomington between 2012-2017 and picking up rugby in the fall of 2013, earning a Collegiate All-American Honorable Mention during the 2016/17 season. While at IU he also played with the Chicago Lions Sevens side, and moved to the 15s after his graduation, playing against his future team, the Houston SaberCats, in 2018.

Hidalgo moved to Texas in 2020 and began playing with Rugby HTX (now SaberCats 2), the Houston SaberCats academy team. His performance earned him a spot on the SaberCats’ MLR roster for their 2021 campaign, where he earned 9 appearances (5 starts) in his debut season. He remained with the SaberCats for the 2022 season, when he earned 5 further caps (3 starts), scoring 3 tries and earning 2 MLR Team of the Week selections in back to back weeks. In total, Hidalgo earned 14 MLR caps for the SaberCats (8 starts) between 2021-2023, scoring 3 tries.

On 11th January 2024, Hidalgo was included on the American Raptors roster for their 2024 Super Rugby Americas campaign.

achievements:

MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 4
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 3

Canadian Fly-half Robbie Povey played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2023. He has represented the Utah Warriors (2020, 2024) and the Houston SaberCats (2021-2023).

Born and raised in England, Povey is a capped Canadian international for whom he is eligible through his Montreal-born mother. He made his International debut in 2017 in a game against Chile.

Povey signed with the Utah Warriors in December 2019, ahead of the 2020 season that was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after just 5 games. In May of 2020, Povey was traded from the Warriors to the Houston SaberCats in exchange for Houston’s 1st & 2nd Round Draft Picks in the 2021 MLR Draft (3rd & 15th overall, respectively). These picks were used to pick Derek Ellingson and Danny Giannascoli respectively. Povey played with the ‘Cats between 2021-2023, helping them earn their first Championship Series appearance in club history in 2022. He has earned 33 MLR caps (20 starts) in total for Houston, scoring 7 tries and 73pts total.

At the conclusion of the 2023 MLR season, Povey was sitting on 38 MLR caps and 83pts scored across his 4 seasons in the competition.

On 20th July 2023, Povey was traded from the Houston Sabercats to the Toronto Arrows in exchange for the Arrows’ 1st Round Draft Pick in the 2023 Draft (2nd Overall). Povey may be the first player in MLR history to have been traded for two 1st round picks. In late November 2023 the Toronto Arrows and MLR announced that the Arrows would not compete in the 2024 season due to financial difficulties. A week later, the Rugby New York Ironworkers announced that they too would not compete in the 2024 season. In the subsequent Dispersal Draft for Toronto & NY players, Povey was selected 17^th overall by the Utah Warriors, who confirmed his signing for the 2024 season on 16^th January, 2024. His 2024 salary will not count towards the Warriors’ Cap Hit.