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.

Tyler Matchem

Canadian prop Tyler Matchem played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the NOLA Gold for his entire MLR career.

A native of Pictou, Nova Scotia, Tyler Matchem began playing rugby with local club Pictou County RFC. He joined Canada’s high performance team, the Pacific Pride, and played for the Canada U20 side in 2022. He continued to play for the Pacific Pride and was included in a Canada Selects squad that faced the Seattle Seawolves in a pre-season match in February 2024, before being included in Canada’s Pacific Nations Cup squad for 2024. He earned his test debut as #510 against Tonga.

On November 30th, 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the signing of Tyler Matchem for the 2025 MLR season, adding to a growing Canadian contingent in New Orleans.

NARDB Player #1,337

Xavier Mignot

French winger Xavier Mignot played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the NOLA Gold for his entire MLR career.

Born in Bourgoin-Jallieu in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in France, Mignot was raised with rugby as his father was a coach. He played with his local club, CS Bourgoin-Jallieu, in the French Pro D2 for the 2013/14 season, before signing with Grenoble and playing in the Top 14 between 2014-2017. While with Grenoble, Mignot was selected for the French national team for their 2016 tour of Argentina. He earned his only international cap on this tour, starting the first test.

Following 3 seasons with Grenoble, Mignot made the move to fellow Top 14 side Lyon (LOU) in 2017, where he was a regular right up to the 2024/25 season. He earned over 120 Top 14 appearances for Lyon alone, scoring 30 tries while also representing the club in the European Challenge and Champions Cups.

On November 26th, 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the signing of Xavier Mignot for the 2025 MLR season. He scored 6 tries through his first 6 games with his new side, including a hat trick in their Round 9 clash with Old Glory DC, for which he was selected for the Team of the Week.

Achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 9

NARDB Player #1,334

Ben Sugars

English hooker Ben Sugars played in Major League Rugby between 2025-2026. He represented Rugby FC LA (2025) and the California Legion (2026).

Born and raised in England where he played as a back row growing up, Sugars moved to hooker and played rugby while attending the University of Nottingham, While there, he also played in the English Championship, representing the Yorkshire Carnegie (now the Leeds Tykes) and Nottingham between 2019-2022. He moved to Australia in 2023 and joined the famous Randwick Galloping Green in the Shute Shield competition, defeating the Northern Suburbs to win the Shield that season. His performances with Randwick put him on the radar of Super Rugby sides, and injuries at the NSW Waratahs gifted Sugars an opportunity to play in Super Rugby. He debuted in Round 12 of the 2024 Super Rugby season.

On November 26th, 2024, Rugby FC LA announced the signing of 23yo Ben Sugars for the 2025 MLR season. This marks Sugars’ first full-time pro rugby contract, and he reunites with RFCLA DoR Stephen Hoiles, who coached Sugars at Randwick, as well as University of Nottingham teammate Ed Timpson. In his debut season in North America, Sugars scored a pair of tries and started 11 of his 15 appearances for RFCLA, recording over 225m gained and completing 135 tackles in total, earning two MLR Team of the Week selections. As well as helping RFCLA to a playoff spot, Sugars started what would be the team’s first and last postseason appearance, a hard-fought 27-21 defeat to the Houston SaberCats in the Western Conference Semifinal.

Following the merger of RFCLA with San Diego to form the California Legion, Sugars remained on the west coast with the new-look Legion, who announced his signing on 2nd February, 2026.

achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 15
MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 11

NARDB Player #1,333

Njabulo Gumede

South African prop Njabulo Gumede played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the Seattle Seawolves for his entire MLR career.

A native of Eshowe in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal in the east of South Africa, ‘Juice’ Gumede developed in the Bulls system, playing with the Blue Bulls between 2015-2017 before moving to represent the Valke in the Currie Cup between 2018-2020. Following his first stint with Valke, Gumede moved to France, playing with Club Hyères Carqueiranne La Crau and Olympique Marcquois Rugby for two seasons in the French fourth tier, the Fédérale 1. He returned to Valke in 2022 and split that Currie Cup season between Valke and the Pumas. Gumede stayed with the Pumas for the 2023 Currie Cup season before representing the Griquas in 2024.

On November 24th, 2024, the Seattle Seawolves announced the signing of Njabulo Gumede for the 2025 MLR season. Gumede earned 5 appearances in his debut MLR season, and was named as the Seattle Seawolves Community Impact Player for 2025 for his work off the field. Following the decision by MLR to slash the number of foreign players in the league, on 27th October 2025, Lokomotiv Penza in the Russian Rugby Championship announced the signing of Gumede on a 2yr contract through the 2027 season. An unusual move, but there are a number of South Africans plying their trade in Russia.

achievements

Seattle Seawolves 2025 Community Impact Player

NARDB Player #1,332

Isaac Te Tamaki

New Zealand centre Isaac Te Tamaki played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the NOLA Gold for his entire MLR career.

A native of Waikato, Te Tamaki attended the famous Hamilton Boys’ High School before going on to play with the All Blacks Sevens team in 2015. Te Tamaki struggled to find game time at 15s level in Waikato, so moved south to join the Southland Stags from the 2018 Mitre 10 (now the Bunnings NPC) season. Te Tamaki represented the Stags between 2018-2022 before heading to France to play with Valence Romans Drôme Rugby in the Pro D2. He spent 1 season in France before returning to New Zealand and the Stags, earning his 50th NPC appearance during the 2024 season.

On November 23rd, 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the signing of Isaac Te Tamaki for the 2025 MLR season.

achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 11

NARDB Player #1,331

2025 MLR Eastern Conference

This table shows the results of the 2025 MLR regular season in the Eastern Conference, as an expanded view of what you can find on the sidebar. This table includes Points Scored, Points Against, Try Bonus, and Losing Bonus points acquired during the 2025 season for all 6 teams in the Eastern Conference

The 2025 Eastern Conference contains the back-to-back Reigning Champions New England Free Jacks, the Chicago Hounds (the only team in MLR to have appeared in both conferences after playing in the West for 2023), Old Glory DC, NOLA Gold, Anthem RC and the Miami Sharks.

The top 4 teams qualify for the Championship Series, with #1 seed facing the #4 seed at home, and the #2 seed facing the #3 seed, also at home. With the 2025 MLR season still in progress, this table will be updated each round to reflect the most recent results.

2025 MLR Western Conference

This table shows the results of the 2025 MLR regular season in the Western Conference, as an expanded view of what you can find on the sidebar. This table includes Points Scored, Points Against, Try Bonus, and Losing Bonus points acquired during the 2025 season for all 5 teams in the Western Conference in 2025.

For the 2025 season, the Western Conference consists of the Houston SaberCats, Rugby FC LA, the San Diego Legion, the 2024 runners-up Seattle Seawolves, and the Utah Warriors.

Only 1 team in the Western Conference will not move into the post-season, with the top 4 teams qualify for the Championship Series, with #1 seed facing the #4 seed at home, and the #2 seed facing the #3 seed, also at home. With the 2024 MLR season still in progress, this table will be updated each round to reflect the most recent results.

Rhian Stowers

Australian cross-codes fullback Rhian Stowers played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the San Diego Legion for his entire MLR career.

Stowers was born & raised on the Gold Coast in Australia, and has played almost every code of rugby imagineable. He has represented the Tweeds Gulls rugby league side, the AIM All Starts in the RL Nines Premier League, played rugby 7s for Queensland at the Next Gen 7s in 2023, and played for Eastwood and his university side while attending Bond University, among others. While at Bond, Stowers was names the 2023 Alec Evans Medallist, and the 2024 Slipper trophy.

On November 15th, 2024, the San Diego Legion announced the signing of Rhian Stowers for their 2025 MLR season. He earned his first MLR Team of the Week selection on his first MLR start, in Round 6 of the 2025 season. Stowers had a meaningful impact on the San Diego Legion in 2025, scoring 3 tries and starting 6 of his 10 appearances that season as the Legion would miss out on the postseason by a single point. Following the 2025 season and news emerging of the San Diego Legion and Rugby FC LA joining forces into the California Legion, Stowers signed with Tokyo Gas in the Japanese 4th tier. It is unknown if he will return to MLR.

Achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 6

NARDB Player #1,330

Nikolai Foliaki

New Zealand born Tongan centre Nikolai Foliaki played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the NOLA Gold for his entire MLR career.

Born and raised on Aotearoa, Foliaki played his club rugby with Karaka RFC just outside Papakura to the south of Auckland. He was first named to the Counties Manukau squad for the 2019 Mitre 10 season (now the NPC), and has represented them since. Foliaki spent the 2023 Super Rugby pre-season in the Western Force camp, and earned his debut in Round 3 of the 2023 Super Rugby season against Moana Pasifika.

Internationally, Foliaki earned his test debut for Tonga in 2021 as #669 against New Zealand, and also represented the ʻIkale Tahi during the 2024 Pacific Nations Cup.

On November 15th, 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the addition of Nikolai Foliaki for their 2025 MLR campaign.

NARDB Player #1,329

Connal McInerney

Australian hooker Connal McInerney played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

A Canberra native, McInerney played in the Australian National Rugby Championship (NRC) competition between 2014-2010, representing the Canberra Vikings with a stint with the NSW Country Eagles in 2017. He progressed through the ACT Brumbies system, earning his Super Rugby Debut in March 2018 and earned over 50 Super Rugby appearances for the Brumbies through 2024, helping them to a Super Rugby AU title in 2020 and finishing runners up in the same competition in 2021.

Internationally, McInerney was on the fringes of the Wallabies for much of 2021, finally earning his test debut as Wallaby #947 in the end of year tests against Japan, where he scored a try on his debut. He has 2 international caps to date.

On November 14th, 2024, the New England Free Jacks announced the signing of Connal McInerney for the 2025 MLR season.

NARDB Player #1,328