Major League Rugby - North American Rugby Database

Irish hooker Pat O’Toole played in Major League Rugby between 2018-2025. He represented the San Diego Legion (2018), the Houston SaberCats (2019), and the NOLA Gold (2021-2025).

O’Toole came up in the Connacht Rugby Academy and played with the Ireland U19s in 2014. He was offered a senior contract with Connacht for the 2018/18 season but never got the opportunity to win his senior debut for the province before his move stateside. He signed with the San Diego Legion ahead of MLR’s inaugural season in 2018, earning 4 caps (1 start). Following the 2018 season, O’Toole was selected to play for the USA Rugby Selects in the 2018 Americas Pacific Challenge, for whom he is eligible through a family member.

The following season, O’Toole signed with the Houston SaberCats and started all 16 games of their 2019 Campaign, scoring 3 tries. In 2020 he signed a short-term contract with the Glasgow Warriors in the then-PRO14 (now the URC), and played in the All-Ireland League as well as for the Ohio Aviators in the World Tens Series. He has represented the NOLA Gold in every season since 2021, earning 38 caps in New Orleans (29 starts) and 58 in total (46 starts), celebrating his 50th cap in 2023 when he racked up over 300m gaines and 99 successful tackles. Through the 2023 season, he has scored 18 tries in total including a high of 7 in 2021, and 92pts total.

On 21st November 2023, the NOLA Gold announced the re-signing of Pat O’Toole on a two year deal through the 2025 MLR season. O’Toole added 11 appearances and 8 starts for the Gold in the 2024 campaign, helping the team to qualify for the post-season for the first time in team history. He started the Gold’s first every MLR playoff game, a defeat to the Chicago Hounds in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. As expected, O’Toole returned for the Gold’s 2025 season, scoring 2 tries and starting both of his 2 appearances that season, earning a Team of the Week Selection in Round 1, his first since 2023. The Gold would finish 5th in the Eastern Conference in 2025, missing out on the postseason and on 9th July, 2025, the team would announce the retirement of Pat O’Toole after 71 games across 7 seasons in Major League Rugby, including 51 for the NOLA Gold. O’Toole scored 20 tries in his MLR career, recording just shy of 550 tackles completed.

Achievements:

MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 1
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 5
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 8
MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Round 15
MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Round 10
MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Round 8
MLR Team of the Week: 2019 – Round 12

US-capped Irishman Paul Mullen has played in Major League Rugby since 2018. He has represented the Houston SaberCats (2018-2019), the San Diego Legion (2020), the Utah Warriors (2021-2024), NOLA Gold (2025), and Old Glory DC (2026) during his MLR career.

From the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland, Mullen played age-grade rugby for Munster under-18s, 19s, and 20s, as well as for Ireland under-19s before moving to Texas in 2011, completing both his undergradate and Master’s degrees at Texas A&M University. He was signed by the Houston SaberCats ahead of MLR’s inaugural season in 2018, earning 3 caps (all starts) with the ‘Cats and impressed enough for a USA Eagles selection, for whom he qualified on residency, and earned his debut as Eagle #525. Mullen has earned 39 caps for the national team in his career so far.

He returned for the SaberCats in 2019, earning 7 further caps (4 starts) before joining the San Diego Legion for the truncated 2020 season, where he started all 5 games before the season’s cancellation. Mullen then joined the Utah Warriors whom he represented between 2021-2024. Mullen was the 43rd player in MLR history to achieve 50 caps in the competition. On 13th November 2023, the Utah Warriors announced the return of Paul Mullen for the 2024 MLR season, where he earned a further 15 appearances (11 starts) to take his career total to 49 starts in 72 MLR games for 3 teams across 7 seasons. On October 2nd, 2024, Mullen was included in an announcement by the Utah Warriors, bidding farewell to 17 players who would not return for the 2025 season. On October 30th 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the signing of Mullen for their 2025 campaign, where he started 11 of his 16 appearances and recorded a career high 115 tackles, the 2nd 100+ tackle season of his career took his career total well over 500.

Following the NOLA Gold’s withdrawal from MLR in August 2025, Mullen became a free agent. On 7th December, Old Glory DC announced the addition of Paul Mullen for his 9th MLR season in 2026, with the Flags serving as Mullen’s 5th team.