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.

2024 – RD 2: New England Free Jacks v Old Glory DC

The New England Free Jacks host their rivals, Old Glory DC for their home opener at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Quincy.

The Flags came into this game with something to prove following last week’s disappointing loss to NOLA, and fought tooth and nail to stay in the contest. DC trailed by 10 at the half, but hung around and were within touching distance as the clock turned red, trailing 34-28. Possession was theirs and good discipline allowed them to steadily gain ground before William Talataina was at last able to dot down to bring the flags within one with the conversion to come. Josh Henderson stepped up for the conversion, and made no mistakes to bring the final score to 34-35 to the visitors, their first win over the Free Jacks in over 1000 days.

For New England, their 13 game win streak dating back to the 2023 regular season comes to an end, and althought they picked up 2pts in this clash, they must regroup ahead of their game against the 2-0, Confernece leading NOLA Gold next week

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Sam Klimkowski

Ohio native Sam Klimkowski played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2024. He played with the LA Giltinis (2022) and the NOLA Gold (2023-2024).

Klimkowski played varsity football at Avon Lake High School in Ohio, before picking up rugby in his Senior year and winning the State Championship. He continued to play rugby while at Notre Dame College, winning a National Championship in 2017 before delcaring for the 2021 MLR draft, where he was selected by the LA Giltinis in the first round, 13th overall. The Giltinis signed Klimkowski for the 2022 season but he did not feature, instead playing with the NOLA Gold academy side during the ARP Fall season that year after NOLA GM Ryan Fitzgerald noticed his talent while at The Rugby Showcase in Connecticut in 2021.

Following his play with the Academy side in 2022, the NOLA Gold signed Klimkowski for the 2023 MLR season, which he spent playing with New Orleans RFC and the Gold academy side once again, earning another MLR contract for 2024. In 2024, Klimkowski finally earned his MLR debut, earning 4 MLR appearances including 1 start for the Gold, helping them to finally end their playoff drought that year. On October 12th 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the departure of Klimkowski, and it is unclear if he will be returning to MLR for 2025.

achievements:
  • 2021 MLR Draftee: 1st Rd (13th Overall) – LA Giltinis

Shneil Singh

New Zealand flanker/lock Shneil Singh played in Major league Rugby during the 2024 season. He represented Anthem RC for his entire MLR career.

Singh played for rugby for the First XV at St. Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton, NZ before playing with the Waikato Juniors in the 2016 Jack Hobbs Memorial Tournament, which they won. His performance at the tournament earned him a selection in Craig Philpott’s first New Zealand under-20s squad. Singh has also played in Japan with Toyota Verblitz in Japan’s Top League, before joining the Southland Stags in NZ’s National Provincial Championship (NPC) in 2023.

Singh was announced as part of the Anthem RC squad for their inaugural MLR season in 2024,

On June 16th, 2024, the Southland Stags announced that Singh would be returning for their 2024 NPC campaign following the conclusion of the MLR season.

 

Declan Moore

New Zealand born Australian hooker Declan Moore played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented Anthem RC for his entire MLR career.

Although born in New Zealand, Moore moved to Australia with his family at a young age. He played for the Sydney University rugby team in the Shute Shield between 2015-2021, also playing with the Sydney Stars in 2015, and the Sydney Rays in 2019, both in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). He was included in the Melbourne Rebels squad for the 2019/20 Super Rugby and Super Rugby AU seasons, but did not feature. Following his time with Sydney University, Moore headed to Ireland, joining Munster in the 2021/22 URC & Champions Cup seasons. Ireland-eligible through his paternal grandfather, Moore was loaned to Ulster, who offered him a full contract for the 2022/23 season, where he was also loaned to Connacht. Having played with 3 of the four Irish provinces during his stint in Ireland, Moore then signed with the newly established Anthem RC for the 2024 MLR season.

Declan Moore started 4 of his 5 games for the MLR, USA Rugby, and World Rugby partnership team, completing 51 tackles and running for over 300m in possession as a hooker. Anthem RC put in improving performances in their inaugural season despite finishing with a 0-16 record. Declan Moore’s return for a second MLR season was confirmed when Anthem RC announced their full 2025 roster on January 21st, 2025.

2024 – RD 1: Rugby FC LA v Dallas Jackals

The Dallas Jackals travel to the west coast to face the new boys in the Western Conference, Rugby FC LA. This game marks the first game in franchise history for Rugby FC LA, having changed ownership and relocated from Atlanta following the 2023 season.

This proved to be a game of two halves, with the hosts running out to a comfortable lead before the Jackals came back at them in the second half, and snatched the victory with a Martin Elias drop goal in the closing minutes. They were helped in teh comeback by a very effective Jackals rolling maul. Canadian hooker Dewald Kotze scored 3 tries off the back of this to record the 33rd hattrick in MLR history, and the first in Jackals history!

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2024 – RD 1: Anthem RC v New England Free Jacks

The Reigning Champion New England Free Jacks travel to Charlotte to face MLR’s newest team, Anthem Rugby Carolina.

Unsurprising to many, this proved a baptism of fire for Anthem. The Free Jacks got on the board after 4 minutes through the forwards, with Cam Davidowicz scoring the first try of 2024 for the defending champs, and they never looked back. In total, the Free Jacks tallied 8 tries including 3 from Reece MacDonald, the 32nd hattrick in MLR history and 3rd by a Free Jack. He also gained 222m in this game alone, a season-high and good enough for the 4th best in MLR history.

Anthem RC didn’t just roll over however. Oscar Koller recorded a penalty to score the first points in MLR history for the team, and they picked up 2 tries in the 2nd half with Mateo Gadsden recording the first try in franchise history.

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2024 – RD 1: Miami Sharks v Chicago Hounds

The Chicago Hounds, now in the Eastern Conference, travel to Miami to face the Sharks at Autonation Sports Field at DRV PNK Stadium. This game marks the first game in Franchise history for the Miami Sharks and they had to wait longer than planned, as a weather delay postponed kick off until 6pm ET.

The wet conditions proved troublesome for both sides, with the slippery ball forcing handling errors on both sides. It didn’t take long for the Hounds to open the scoring however, as Adriaan Carelse nails a penalty right in from of the posts to score the first points of the 2024 season for Chicago. Within a couple of minutes the Miami Sharks would have a near-identical opportunity, and Felipe Etcheverry made no mistake to score the first MLR points in franchise history for the Sharks. Carelse hit back with another pen to give the Hounds back the lead, as the battle of the kickers defined the opening minutes.

With the score at 6-6, the Hounds won a lineout and set up a perfect rolling maul that fell just short of the line. However, referee Khalil Harrison determined it was done so illegally and awarded a Penalty Try for the Hounds to give them a 6-13 lead and Manu Ardao was awarded a yellow card for the infraction. The same story repeated following the first water break. A rolling maul was interfered with by Benjamin Bonasso and a second Penalty Try was awarded. Bonasso committed the infraction but Stan van den Hoven was sin binned in an unfortunate case of mistaken identity. Etcheverry was able to strike back immediately to bring the score to 9-20 to the Hounds.

The first half belonged to the Hounds, but the second saw the Sharks bite back. They were in the ascendency almost immediately, camping deep in the Hounds’ 22 for a long time but unable to convert to points until finally, Sean McNulty found paydirt from a rolling maul for the first try in Sharks franchise history. Etcheverry converts to bring the score to 16-20. After 20 minutes of back and forth, including multiple opportunities for the Hounds, the Sharks landed another penalty to bring them even closer, the score sitting at 19-20 to the Hounds with 15 minutes remaining. Unfortunately for the hosts, they would concede a very easy penalty with which Carelse made no mistake to take the gap back to 4pts, 19-23 with 5 minutes to go but the Sharks were unable to change the scoreboard any further despite Manu Ardao coming so close in the final moments.

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