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.

James Stokes

English utility back James Stokes played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented Rugby FC LA (2024) and the Chicago Hounds for the latter half of the 2025 season.

Stokes began playing rugby while at high school in Nottingham and continued to play through his time at Nottingham Trent University. he set a National League One record during the 2017/18 season when he scored 21 tries for Coventry as they earned promotion to the English Championship, where he continued to represent them until moving to London Irish in 2019. Stokes played with Exiles from 2019 until they fell into administration in 2023, scoring tries in the Gallagher Premiership, Premiership Rugby Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup.

Stokes signed with Rugby FC LA ahead of their first season under new ownership and relocating from Atlanta, and scored 1 try in 11 games (10 starts) for RFCLA in an admirable first MLR season. Stockes gained over 600m in possession and was named to the MLR Team of the Week in Round 3. While Stokes did not appear on an MLR roster to start the 2025 season, on April 30th, the Chicago Hounds announced that they had added James Stokes for the remainder of the season. He signed before the signing deadline on April 28th.

achievements

  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 3

Matt Anticev

New York native Matt Anticev played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2026. He represented Rugby FC LA (2024-2025) and the California Legion (2026).

Anticev grew up on Staten Island, NY and played rugby through high school at Xavier, where he was coached by former Rugby New York scrum-half and capped USA Eagle Mike Petri. Anticev earned his undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross, graduating in 2021 before attending Dartmouth College between 2021-2023 and earning a Masters degree in Creative Writing and playing rugby throughout.

Anticev declared for the 2023 MLR Collegiate Draft and was selected 5th overall by Rugby ATL, the sale of which had already been announced by MLR. The new owners relocated the franchise to Los Angeles and rebranded the team as Rugby FC LA. Signing for his rookie season, Anticev earned 6 MLR appearances including 2 starts at fly-half, a position relatively thin for the USA Eagles and so Anticev had plenty of eyes watching him, and performed admirably. On December 6th, 2024, Rugby FC LA announced the return of Matt Anticev for the 2025 MLR season where he earned an additional 2 appearances for RFCLA as they earned their first ever postseason appearance.

Matt Anticev remained in California following Rugby FC LA merging with the San Diego Legion to form the California Legion at the conclusion of the 2025 season, and was announced by the team on 19th February, 2026

achievements

  • 2023 MLR Draftee: 1st Round (5th Overall) – Rugby ATL

Sam Walsh

Boston born, Hong Kong raised fullback/fly-half Sam walsh played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented Rugby FC LA (2024), and the Chicago Hounds (2025).

Born in Massachusetts, Walsh and his family moved to Hong Kong when he was an infant. He attended King George V School there before attending Scots College in New Zealand, where he played rugby both for the school and for Clearwater Bay. Walsh attended UC-Berkeley between 2018-2022, playing rugby with the California Golden Bears. Upon his graduation, Walsh joined the USA Men’s 7s program and earned his World Sevens Series debut in Hong Kong in November 2022, alongside Hounds teammate Noah Brown.

In December 2023, Sam Walsh signed with Rugby FC LA ahead of their inaugural MLR season in 2024. He earned 8 appearances and 2 starts for RFCLA in his debut season, recording 135m gained. Following the 2024 season, Walsh played with the Chicago Hounds academy that fall and clearly impressed, as on December 11th, 2024, the Chicago Hounds announced the signing of Sam Walsh for the 2025 MLR season.

Semi Kunatani

Fijian back row Semi Kunatani played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2026. He represented Rugby FC LA (2024-2025) and Old Glory DC (2026).

Born in Nadi, Fiji, Kunatani grew up playing Rugby Sevens and won the Bayleys Fiji Coral Coast Sevens in 2013 before making his debut with the Fiji national sevens side in Dubai that same year. He had a standout World Rugby Sevens series in 2014/15, scoring 37 tries and being named to the Dream Team at 4 different tournaments. In total he played 94 games for Fiji Sevens across 17 tournaments, scoring 54 World Sevens Series tries, and represented Fiji at the Olympics in Rio de Janiero where they captured their country’s first ever Olympic Medal, a Gold. For this, Kunatani and the rest of the team were made Officers of the Order of Fiji (OF).

Following his sevens success Kunatani turned his attention to the 15s game. He signed with Stade Toulousain in the French Top 14, playing in 29 games between 2015-2018 before a stint in the English Premiership with Harlequins. Following 11 games for Quins between 2018-2020, he returned to the Pro 14 with Castres as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. between 2022-2023 he played with the Tel Aviv Heat in the Rugby Europe Super Cup.

Kunatani’s links with the Heat may have allowed him to land a spot on the Rugby FC LA roster for their inaugural MLR season in 2024. The RFCLA ownership group shares some overlap with the ownership of the Heat, explaining why they had a healthy Heat contingent on the west coast in their early years including Niall Saunders and Jurie van Vuuren. In his debut season in North America, Kunatani scored 10 tries in 15 games (11 starts), and gained more ground than any other forward that season with 1,126m, finishing 6th league-wide. Because of his standout performance, he was named as RFCLA’s Player’s Player of the Year for 2024, as well as the All-MLR First XV team.

On December 11th, 2024, Rugby FC LA confirmed the signing of Semi Kunatani for the 2025 season where he unsurprisingly took a step back from his spectacular 2024 campaign. He scored an 11th career MLR try and started 4 of his 11 appearances for Rugby FC LA in 2025, still gaining over 300m in possession and recording 70 tackles completed to push his career total to 231. Following the merger of RFCLA with the San Diego Legion to form the California Legion, Semi Kunatani looked elsewhere and signed with Old Glory DC, who announced the signing of Christmas Eve 2025 ahead of the 2026 season.

achievements

  • 2024 All-MLR First XV: Rugby FC LA
  • 6th in MLR Meters Gained: 2024 (1,126m)
  • T-5th in MLR Try Scoring: 2024 (10)
  • Rugby FC LA Player’s Player of the Year: 2024
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 14
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 13
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 12

Alessandro Heaney

US-eligible front row Alessandro Heaney played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2026. He represented Rugby FC LA (2024-2025) and Anthem RC (2026).

Born to an Italian mother and an Irish American father who was born in Boston, world-traveller Alessandro Heaney was raised in the UK & Ireland. He attended Wellington College in Berkshire, UK (very close to where the owner of this site is from!), representing the school at the Natwest Cup U15s and the U18 Champions Cup. Following this he headed to Ireland and attended the University of Cork between 2020-2023, majoring in Astrophysics and playing for the University of Cork Constitution in the All-Ireland League. During his time there he was also included in the extended squad for the Ireland U20 side.

Heaney signed with Rugby FC LA in December 2023, ahead of their inaugural season in 2024 where he earned his MLR debut and 4 appearances for RFCLA off the bench. On December 12th, 2024, Rugby FC LA announced the return of Alessandro Heaney for 2025. With LA’s pack hit heavily with injury in 2025, Heaney stepped up. He appeared in 15 games during his sophomore season compared to 4 in year before, and earned his first 12 MLR starts, completing well over 100 tackles and gaining 111m in possession, helping Rugby FC LA to qualify for the postseason for the first time in team history. Following news of RFCLA merging with the San Diego Legion to form the California Legion, Heaney signed a short-term deal with the Cornish Pirates in the English Championship for the remainder of 2025, where he played alongside fellow MLR alum Tomiwa Agbongbon. On December 19th, 2025, Alessandro Heaney’s return to Major League Rugby was confirmed when Anthem RC announced that they had signed him for their 2026 campaign.

achievements
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 14
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 13