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.

Dominic Akina

Hawaiian native Dominic Akina played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2026. He represented the Austin Gilgronis (2020-2022) the Houston SaberCats (2023-2025), and Anthem RC (2026).

Akina played gridiron football through high school and into university at Western Oregon. He attended a combine for the Austin Herd (later the Gilgronis) and appeared in an exhibition game for them against the Austin Huns in January 2020. He played with the Austin Gilgronis during the truncated 2020 season, starting 4 of the AGs 5 games prior to the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling the season. Akina played with the Gilgronis for 3 MLR seasons, earning a total of 22 appearances (11 starts) and scoring 3 tries before the club was disqualified prior to the 2022 Championship Series.

Following the Austin Gilgronis‘ cessation of operations following the 2022 MLR season (along with the LA Giltinis), Dom Akina was selected 10th overall in the 2022 dispersal draft by the Houston SaberCats who he signed with ahead of the 2023 MLR season. Akina earned a career best 16 appearances for the ‘Cats (all starts), scoring 5 tries to bring his career total to 8. He gained over 800m and completed 103 successful tackles in a stand-out season. On 6th December 2023, the Houston SaberCats announced the return of Dom Akina for the 2024 MLR season. He added another 2 tries in 13 games (9 starts) for the SaberCats in 2024 as Houston finished as the top team during the regular season with a record of 14-2, and Akina came off the bench during their only playoff game that year as the SaberCats were stunned by the Dallas Jackals in the Western Conference Semifinals.

On November 19, 2024, the Houston SaberCats announced the return of Dom Akina for the 2025 season, his 3rd with the SaberCats and 6th in MLR. That year, Akina would equal his career high of 5 tries to move up to 17 in his career, earning 10 starts in 17 games and racking up over 575m gained for the 3rd successive season while completing over 50 tackles to help the SaberCats advance to the 2025 Championship Game where Akina came off the bench in their loss to the New England Free Jacks. Following the surprise withdrawal of the Houston SaberCats during the 2025/26 offseason, Dom Akina did not initially land on an MLR roster for the 2026 campaign. However, he was brought into the Anthem RC camp ahead of Round 3 of the season as injury cover for Junior Gafa.

Achievements:

  • 2025 MLR Runner-Up: Houston SaberCats
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 13
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 2
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 1
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 6
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 7
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Rd 18
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Rd 13
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2020 – Rd 3

Doug Fraser

Capped Canadian international Doug Fraser played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2023. He represented the Austin Gilgronis (then the Austin Elite) during his debut 2019 season, before moving to expansion side Old Glory DC in 2020, representing the flags from 2020-2023.

British Columbia native Fraser was signed by the Austin Elite in January 2019, just weeks before the start of MLR’s 2019 season. He earned 4 caps (3 starts) for Austin during his debut season, playing 226 minutes, carrying for 182m and completing 22 tackles.

In November 2019, Old Glory DC announced the signing of Fraser ahead of their inaugural 2020 season. He appeared in all 5 games for DC (starting 4) before the season was cancelled, scoring 3 tries and finishing T-6th in MLR try scoring at the point the season was cut short. In his 4 seasons with Old Glory, Fraser earned 34 MLR caps (18 starts) and scored 10 tries. On the 17th August 2023, Doug Fraser announced the end of his professional playing career on social media.

Throughout his entire MLR career, Fraser earned 38 MLR Caps (21 starts) and scored 10 tries.

Achievements: 

  • MLR Team of the Week: 2021 – Week 3