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 3: Utah Warriors v NOLA Gold

The NOLA Gold visit Zion’s Bank for the Utah Warriors’ 2025 Home Opener. The Gold are looking to bounce back after a tough loss in Miami, while Utah are coming off a great win up in Chicago!

These teams have met 6 times, and the Utah Warriors have never defeated the Gold, currently at 0-6. Their most recent meeting came in Round 12 of 2024, a 21-14 NOLA victory in the Gold Mine.

It looked as thought it would be a hard fought contest judging from the first 20 minutes, with the Gold taking an early lead from the boot of Luke Carty, before the Warriors were awarded a penalty try, and the sides exchanged both tries and yellow cards. The Warriors led 14-11 after 26 minutes, before Liam Coltman dotted down for Utah’s 3rd, and the Warriors took a 21-11 lead to the sheds.

There was a stalemate to begin the 2nd half before Luke Carty added another 3pts to bring the score to 21-14 and shortly after this, the Warriors decided to step on the gas. Scoring twice through Jordan Trainor and Joe Mano’s 2nd of the game, with Joel Hodgson adding the extras both times as well as a penalty to extend the Warriors’ lead to 38-14. The Gold would hit back and grab their 3rd right on the hour mark, but this game was wrapped up as the Utah Warriors continued to capitalise on NOLA mistakes, adding 3 more tries including a 3rd for Joe Mano to complete the hat trick in front of a home crowd. It seems that the 7th time is the charm for the Utah Warriors, who earn their first ever victory over the NOLA Gold, by a convincing score of 55-21.

With 55pts scored to add to their 45pts from their first game, the Utah Warriors have equalled an MLR record for the fastest team to score 100pts, equalling the Austin Gilgronis’ 100pt effort in their first two games of the 2022 season. Additionally, Joe Mano’s hat trick is the 2nd of his MLR career, becoming just the 4th player in league history to score multiple hat tricks in the competition.

v

2025 – RD 3: Old Glory DC v San Diego Legion

The San Diego Legion continue their East Coast road trip, moving up to Maryland to face Old Glory DC at the Soccerplex. The Legion are coming off an emphatic 5-52 victory in Charlotte, while the Old Glory DC are rested after an early bye week.

These teams have met 4 times previously, with the Legion holding a 3-1 series lead. In their last meeting, San Diego came away with a convincing 11-27 victory in Round 4 of 2024. The scoreline would be remarkably similar this time around, as the Legion walked away as 10-26 winners after securing the try bonus point in the final minutes. The Legion move to 3-0 on the season, while DC fall to 1-1 in their two games.

Remarkably, the San Diego Legion take a Bonus Point win from DC, despite only making 243m. This is the lowest winning meters made total in MLR history.

v

2025 – RD 3: Anthem RC v Miami Sharks

The Miami Sharks travel to the Queen City to face Anthem RC in an Eastern Conference clash in Round 3 of the 2025 MLR season. The Miami Sharks are fresh off their first win of the season over the NOLA Gold, despite another nervy finish, and Anthem RC are still looking for their first franchise victory after a disappointing 5-52 defeat to the formidable San Diego Legion.

These teams have met twice in the past, with the Miami Sharks holding a 2-0 series lead. Their last meeting came in Round 16 of 2024, when the Sharks recorded a 14-30 bonus point victory, also in Charlotte.

A truly back and forth game that saw both sides exchanging both tries and yellow cards throughout. Anthem saw themselves down to 13 men for almost 10 minutes to straddle the half, but defended admirably and led 31-22 at th 60 minute mark. The Sharks would hit back with a penalty from Martin Elias, followed by a 72nd minute try from Tomas Bekerman before Santiago Videla calmly slotted the conversion to give the visitors the narrowest of leads with 7 minutes to play. The final minutes saw plenty of changes in possession, but ultimately Anthem couldn’t crack the Sharks defence, and Miami deliver another thrilling finale to an exciting Friday night game to move to 2-1. Anthem are left imagining what could’ve been, as they secure both bonus points and come closer than ever to their first victory, but it was not to be.

v

2025 – RD 2: Rugby FC LA v Houston SaberCats

Rugby FC LA continue their 2025-opening home stand by hosting the Houston SaberCats in a Western Conference clash at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Both LA and Houston are coming off losses in Round 1, and will be looking to bounce back in this one.

This is the 3rd meeting between these two sides, with the Houston SaberCats taking the season sweep in 2024. The last time these sides met was in Houston during Round 15 of 2024, with the SaberCats taking a 29-12 victory. Despite all the change to Rugby FC LA over the off-season, the margin of victory would remain at 17pts and, despite having home field advantage, LA would fall to 0-2 on the season, while the Houston SaberCats made up for last weeks defeat with a 28-45 bonus point victory in Round 2 against their Western Conference rivals.

v

2025 – RD 2: Miami Sharks v NOLA Gold

After their calamitous defeat to Old Glory last week, the Miami Sharks host the NOLA Gold in an Eastern Conference Southern Showdown during Round 2 of the 2025 MLR season.

Fresh off their healthy victory last week, the NOLA Gold started stronger, with tries from Cooper Coats and Xavier Mignot giving them a healthy early lead before Martin Elias slotted a penalty to get Miami on the board and settle things down. 5 minutes later, Alex Tucci scored his 1st try for the Miami Sharks to bring the game back to 10-12 to the Gold. Both sides would exchange penalties and a late first-half drop goal attempt from Dorian Jones sailed wide, so 13-15 was the halftime score.

The second half started slow, with both sides probing the other’s defences, before the Miami Sharks found a breakthrough via Manu Ardao, who rumbled through defenders for an Auto-7pt try, followed up by a Ben Bonasso score just minutes later to give the Sharks a commanding 27-15 lead. The Gold would respond through Cooper Coats’ 2nd of the day before Elias added another penalty as well as a drop goal attempt that rang off the upright. Jones would add another 3 with 3 minutes to go and the score at 30-25, before more drama in Miami. The Sharks won a penalty and elected to take a shot at goal to burn the remaining time off the clock, but Elias took too long and the shot clock expired, handing the ball over to the Gold for one last kick at the can, knowing a converted try could steal the victory as it had done last week. Thankfully for the Sharks, there would be no repeat of last week’s theatrics.

v

2025 – RD 2: Chicago Hounds v Utah Warriors

After sitting through a bye in Round 1, the Utah Warriors finally get their 2025 season underway on the road against the Chicago Hounds. The Hounds are fresh off an upset victory over the Houston SaberCats on the road, and now face another Western Conference opponent in the Warriors, who will be looking to return to winning ways after a disappointing 2024 where they missed the playoffs.

These sides have met three times prior to this game, with the Utah Warriors holding a 2-1 lead in this match up. The previous meeting between these two teams was in Round 2 of the 2024 season, when the Warriors came away as 29-15 winners at Zion’s Bank. Of note, This was the 100th game for Chicago Hounds hooker Dylan Fawsitt, who became the first player in Major League Rugby history to reach 100 appearances in the competition. Unfortunately for Fawsitt and the Hounds, the Utah Warriors caught them napping early in the game, with tries from Liam Coltman and Blake Makiri giving the Warriors a 0-14 lead within 7 minutes. Chicago would hit back with a Nate Augspurger try, but the Warriors would respond immediately with a Joe Mano score from a perfect crossfield kick from D’Angelo Leuila.

From the 15 minute mark, it seemed at though the Hounds had woken up. Tries from Mason Flesch and Dylan Fawsitt on his 100th MLR cap drew the game level for a 28-28 half time score, with both teams already locking up the try bonus point. Mitch Short would give the Warriors their first lead early in the 2nd half, before Charlie Abel was handed a controversial red card that halted Chicago’s momentum. The Warriors took advantage, scoring 2 tries while a man up, before sealing the deal with Joe Mano’s 2nd score right at the end. The Warriors get their 2025 season off to a perfect start, while the Hounds suffer a 2nd red card in as many games, and move to 1-1.

v

2025 – RD 2: Anthem RC v San Diego Legion

The San Diego Legion cross the country for their first cross-conference clash of 2025, hosted by Anthem RC at American Legion Memorial Stadium. The USA’s rising stars are still looking for that elusive first victory, but it won’t be easy against a Legion side coming off a comfortable victory over their rivals the Seattle Seawolves in Week 1.

The only previous meeting between these sides cam in Round 15 of the 2024 season, a 34-24 home win for the Legion in which James Vaifale scored a brace. Although San Diego scored within the first few minutes to give the visitors an early lead, Anthem remained competitive, scoring a try of their own after 25 minutes of good rugby. Unfortunately for Anthem, the Legion switched gears and struck back almost immediately before running up an 8-try blowout for their second win in a row.

v

2025 – RD 1: San Diego Legion v Seattle Seawolves

The San Diego Legion host their rivals, the Seattle Seawolves, as both teams look to start their 2025 seasons off on the right foot. The Legion were eliminated by the Seawolves in the 2024 Western Conference Semifinals, while the Seawolves were defeated in the Championship game by the New England Free Jacks. Both teams will be looking to go a step further in 2025.

Returning to Torero Stadium for the first time since 2021, the San Diego Legion gave their fans something to cheer about in the first half, with 4 tries within 30 minutes to secure the Try Bonus Point, including a brace from winger Ryan James. The Legion were in complete control for the first 40, taking a half-time lead of 28-0 to the sheds. It looks like the 2nd half would continue much the same way, as Tomas Aoake added a 5th Legion try early in the 2nd frame, and Lincoln McClutchie was solid from the tee to take the San Diego lead to 35-0. It took until the 55 minute mark for the Seawolves to finally wake up, scoring their first try of the season through Jesse Mackail.

For the final 25 minutes, the Seattle Seawolves looked more like the team we all know. They clawed their way to a 2nd and 3rd try to at least make the scoreline look a little better, before Conor Tupai added another try for the Legion to put the nail in the coffin. The Seawolves didn’t give up, however, and following phase after phase of pick and go, Jesse Mackail scored his 2nd of the game in the 85th minute to salvage a losing bonus point for the Seawolves. Unfortunately for Seattle, it’s tough to win games when you only play 1 half. The San Diego Legion take this chapter of MLR’s oldest rivalry in convincing fashion.

v

2025 – RD 1: Rugby FC LA v New England Free Jacks

The Reigning Champions kick off their 2nd title defence in a row on the road against Rugby FC LA at their new home at the Wallis Annenberg Stadium, within UCLA. With only 1 team in the Western Conference missing out on the post-season, LA will be looking to ensure they’re not the odd ones out.

A new-look, Giltinis tinted RFCLA team did their best to take it to the reigning champs, and had vastly more territory and possession than the Free Jacks, but didn’t account for New England’s defensive talent. The Free Jacks were the only team to complete over 120 tackles in Round 1 and in fact, completed almost double that, with 227. They had 5 players with more tackles than anyone else in Round 1, including the only 3 players with over 20 (see below). The reigning champs got their title defence off to a great start with 2024 Finals MVP Jed Melvin snagging an interception early on for his, and New England’s, first of 2025. 2024 Player of the Year Wayne van der Bank and Fijian flyer Paula Balekana would add scores for the Free Jacks, who claimed a try BP thanks to a penalty try. Melvin would make headlines again towards the end of the game, but for the wrong reasons. He was handed a red card in the closing minutes that might rule him out for their next game.

Rugby FC LA would strike back through their superstar half back combo, as Gonzalo Bertranou and Christian Leali’ifano would score tries, but the Free Jacks defence was too strong to mount a successful comeback. LA salvage a losing BP, and move on to next week.

v

2025 – RD 1: Houston SaberCats v Chicago Hounds

The Houston SaberCats begin their 2025 Campaign by hosting the Chicago Hounds at SaberCats Stadium in a ‘Cats v Dogs’ clash!

The Hounds, kicking off their 2025 season on the road, will be looking to take one step further than their Eastern Conference Final finish in 2024, while the hosting SaberCats, who finished with the best record of the 2024 regular season with 14-2, will be looking to avenge their upset at the hands of the Dallas Jackals in the Western Conference Semifinals. Unfortunately for the hosts, their season got off to a rocky start, falling 22-25 to the Chicago Hounds in a closely fought game down in Texas, although they do salvage a losing bonus point thanks to Sam Tuifua’s late try on his SaberCats debut.

The Chicago Hounds get their first win under new head coach, Chris Latham, thanks to tries from Maclean Jones and James Scott, along with Dylan Fawsitt’s league-leading 57th try in MLR. An early injury to Mark O’Keeffe will be a concern for the Hounds however, and he was seen in a sling after the the game.

v