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.

2025 – RD 5: New England Free Jacks v NOLA Gold

The New England Free Jacks finally return to Quincy in their first game since securing back-to-back Shields in the 2024 Championship Game.

They host the NOLA Gold who will look to spoil the party. The Gold are on the road but are fresh after a bye last week, while the struggling Free Jacks are coming off a heartbreaking Coffee Cup defeat in Seattle at the hands of the Seawolves. These Eastern Conference rivals have met 10 times in the past, with the Free Jacks holding a 6-4 series lead. The most recent meeting between these two sides was a 27-17 Gold victory in New Orleans in Round 17 of the 2024 season.

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2025 – RD 5: Chicago Hounds v Old Glory DC

An Eastern Conference clash sees the Chicago Hounds host Old Glory DC at Seatgeek Stadium in Round 5 of the 2025 Major League Rugby season.

Both sides are coming off of victories over Eastern Conference rivals, with the Hounds defeating the Miami Sharks by a score of 18-31 on the road, and Old Glory DC squeaking past an improving Anthem RC side, 26-22. These teams have met 3 times in the past, and Old Glory having won 2 of the previous meetings with the third a 22-22 draw early last season. The most recent meeting was almost the same, but the Flags took a 21-22 victory on the back of 11pts by Canadian Gradyn Bowd.

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2025 Overall MLR Standings

The Overall League Standings for the 2025 MLR season. The season operated with a conference system, consisting of 5 teams in the Western Conference (Houston SaberCats, Rugby FC LA, San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves, and Utah Warriors), and 6 in the Eastern Conference (Anthem RC, Chicago Hounds, Miami Sharks, New England Free Jacks, NOLA Gold, and Old Glory DC).

This table shows the overall league standings, when the conferences are combined into one table.

2025 – RD 4: Seattle Seawolves v New England Free Jacks

The Seattle Seawolves host the New England Free Jacks at Starfire Stadium in a Cross-Conference clash, a rematch of the 2024 Championship Game which the Free Jacks won 11-20 in San Diego. Both sides are looking to bounce back, with the 0-2 Seawolves suffering a close defeat at the hands of the Houston SaberCats last week, and the Free Jacks battered and bruised after a shock 36-7 defeat in Chicago. These teams have met 6 times in the past, with the Free Jacks holding a 4-2 series lead including last season’s final. As well as a rematch of the 2024 Championship Game, the winner of this game will also claim the ‘Coffee Cup’, an annual trophy awarded to the winner of the famous Starbucks v Dunkin’ rivalry.

Unlike the previous meeting between these two sides, on this occasion the Seattle Seawolves would get revenge for their 2024 Final defeat, taking a 27-24 victory in front of their crowd for their 2025 Home Opener thanks to a late score by Malacchi Esdale in his Seattle debut and his first MLR game since 2020! The reigning Champions started strong, with 2 tries and a 0-14 lead after 10 minutes, and come away with a losing BP but they were shut out in the second half and didn’t secure the try BP, falling to 1-2 on the season, while the Seattle Seawolves move into the win column for the first time in 2025, securing the Try Bonus Point for the full 5pts in the standings despite an off day from the tee, going just 1/7.

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2025 – RD 4: San Diego Legion v Rugby FC LA

The San Diego Legion host Rugby FC LA in a Western Conference Clash for the Cali Cup during Round 4 of the 2025 MLR season!

The San Diego Legion return from their Eastern road trip with a pair of victories, and sit at the top of the league with a 3-0 record. Rugby FC LA are fresh off a bye week and are looking to spoil the party at Torero Stadium! These sides have only met twice in the past, both last season. The Legion hold a 2-0 series lead, with the most recent match up being a 19-27 bonus point win for the Legion in LA.

Rugby FC LA held a 10-14 lead at half time, but the Legion came out of the sheds firing, with captain Brad Wilkin scoring almost immediately to give the hosts the lead. LA hit back at their California rivals, with a Gonzalo Bertranou score under 5 minutes later to restore the 4pt gap. roughly 10 minutes later, however, the Legion were awarded a penalty try to swing the pendulum back over to the Legion and, to make matters worse for LA, Tim Anstee was shown a second yellow card, earning him a red card and RFCLA would be down to 14 men for 20 minutes, now trailing 24-21 entering the final quarter.

Ethan Grayson would try to extend that lead through the boot but was unsuccessful, however when LA forward Semi Kunatani was shown a yellow to further reduce them to 13 men, Shilo Klein was able to add another score for the Legion, now ahead by 10 with 15 minutes to play. LA would hit back through Ed Timpson to lock up the Try Bonus Point, but when Ryan James dotted it down for the Legion’s 5th of the game, it was just too much for LA. They attempted a last minute penalty to try and salvage a losing bonus point and come away from Torero with 2pts, but it wasn’t to be. The San Diego Legion move to 4-0 on the season, the only undefeated team remaining in MLR in 2025, and successfully defend the Cali Cup.

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2025 – RD 4: Utah Warriors v Houston SaberCats

The Utah Warriors host the Houston SaberCats in a Western Conference Clash at Zion’s Bank Stadium! The Utah Warriors are flying high after a convincing 55-21 victory over the NOLA Gold, and are looking to go 3-0 for the first time in their history. The Houston SaberCats are also coming off a victory, having squeaked past the Seattle Seawolves with a 24-21 win, and sit at 2-1. These two MLR founding teams have met 12 times prior to this game, and split the series 6-6 heading into this game. Their last meeting saw the SaberCats walk away with a 24-29 victory, also at Zion’s Bank.

This is the 100th MLR game played by the Houston SaberCats, and they celebrated by showing the rest of the league that the Utah Warriors are mortal after all, with a convincing 17-37 victory on the road to claim a bonus point victory over a Utah side that were flying high!

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2025 – RD 4: Old Glory DC v Anthem RC

Old Glory DC host Anthem Rugby Carolina at the Maryland Soccerplex in an Eastern Conference clash during Round 4 of the 2025 season, with both sides looking to kick their seasons into gear.

The hosts are coming off a 10-26 defeat at the hands of the San Diego Legion, while Anthem RC are still looking for their first franchise victory, and came closer than ever last week, falling 31-32 to the Miami Sharks. These sides have met twice in the past with the Flags enjoying a 2-0 series lead. The most recent meeting was a 47-29 Old Glory victory in Round 14 of the 2024 season.

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2025 – RD 4: Miami Sharks v Chicago Hounds

The Miami Sharks host their Eastern Conference Rivals the Chicago Hounds in Round 4 of the 2025 Major League Rugby season.

The Sharks are coming off a nervy win over Anthem RC and currently sit atop the Eastern Conference, while the 2nd placed Chicago Hounds are full of confidence after routing the New England Free Jacks 36-7 in front of a home crowd. Both teams sit on a 2-1 record heading into this match.

The teams have met twice before, with the Hounds holding a 2-0 lead. Their most recent meeting came in the final week of the 2024 regular season, with Chicago taking a 6-try, 38-26 victory at Seatgeek Stadium.

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2025 – RD 3: Chicago Hounds v New England Free Jacks

The New England Free Jacks travel to Chicago fresh off a bye week to face the Hounds in an Eastern Conference clash, and repeat of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final. The Hounds are looking to bounce back after a loss to the Utah Warriors.

These teams have met 4 times in the past, with the Free Jacks holding a 3-1 series lead. Their last meeting was a phenomenal game in the Eastern Conference Final, where the Hounds fell narrowly, 23-17. The Hounds would redeem themselves in this game, however.

The Chicago Hounds had the measure of the Free Jacks for almost the entire 80 minutes. A early penalty by Adriaan Carelse and Penalty Try gave them a 10-0 lead, which would have been enough. Winger Michael Hand scored his first try for the Hounds shortly after to extend the lead to 15-0, which is how things stayed for most of the game. Chicago Flanker Mason Flesch was handed a yellow card which could have let the Free Jacks back into the game, but they struggled to get anything going and when they did, the Hounds defence was up to the task.

Two or three try-saving tackles kept the donut on the board for New England through the half-time break, and as the Hounds started to click the Free Jacks were shown two yellow cards in quick succession to reduce them to 13 men, the second of which also conceded a 2nd penalty try to bury them even deeper. The Hounds were able to add a 4th try relatively easily through Ollie Devoto, before the New England Free Jacks finally found a gap and Jayson Potroz went through for an auto-7pt consolation score. Noah Brown would add an opportunistic score in the final minutes to balloon the final score to 36-7 for Chicago, who move to 2-1 on the season. A battered Free Jacks side fall to 1-1, the bye week seemingly more of a disadvantage than anything.

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2025 – RD 3: Houston SaberCats v Seattle Seawolves

The Seattle Seawolves travel to Houston to face the SaberCats in a Western Conference clash between two MLR founding members in Round 3 of the 2025 season. Houston come into this game having had a quick turnaround from their first victory of the season against RFCLA in Round 2, while the Seawolves are fresh off a bye week and looking for their first win.

These teams have met 13 times previously, 11 times in the regular season and twice in the playoffs. The Seattle Seawolves hold a 9-4 series lead including a 2-0 record in the post-season, however the last meeting between these two sides saw the Houston SaberCats take a narrow 28-25 bonus point victory at home, and by coincidence, the SaberCats scrape another 3pt victory at home over the Seattle Seawolves for a big win in the Western Conference.

The hosts got off to a flying start, with Dom Akina continuing his impressive run of form to give the SaberCats an early lead before controversial new signee Rufus McLean scored his first MLR try after 10 minutes. Houston held a 14-0 lead until Huw Taylor struck back for the Seawolves shortly after the first hydration break, and 14-7 was how the score would stand at the half, following over 15 minutes of back and forth. The guests came out of the halftime break sharper. Kerron van Vuuren added his first MLR try after 47 minutes to even the score, and although ex-Seawolf AJ Alatimu would add 3pts for Houston shortly after, Seattle kept coming and managed a 3rd try from Devin Short to give the visitors their first lead of the game.

The Seawolves seemed to sit back and defend their 17-21 lead behind the famous ‘Sea Wall’ and it took until the 70th minute for that wall to break. Pago Haini was handed the first red card in Seattle Seawolves history, before Pita Anae-Ah Sue bundled over for Houston’s 3rd try to retain the lead, before Alatimu added the extras for a narrow 24-21 lead. Things went from bad to worse for Seattle, however. Just 5 minutes later, Juice Gumede was shown Seattle’s second red card of the game to reduce them to 13 men, and that was that. The SaberCats saw out the final few minutes to take a closely contested victory, and improve their season to 2-1. The Seawolves limp back to Seattle, still looking for their first victory of the season.

 

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