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.

Filipe Vakasiuola

New Zealand prop Filipe Vakasiuola played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He represented the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

Tauranga native Filipe Vakasiuola is a product of the Bay of Plenty pathway. He played amateur rugby for Tauranga Sports and was named to the Bay of Plenty Toa (U19s) squad in 2022, before earning his NPC debut for the Steamers in 2024, earning 10 appearances and the title of 2024 Bay of Plenty Rookie of the Year. Vakasiuola has earned 19 NPC appearances for the Bay of Plenty Steamers over the last two seasons, playing just shy of 400 minutes, earning 3 starts and scoring 2 tries, 1 in each season.

On 10th December 2025, the New England Free Jacks announced the addition of 23yo, 290lbs prop Filipe Vakasiuola for their 2026 title defence alongside fellow Bay of Plenty Steamers Jacob Norris and Sione Tupou as well as Free Jacks Captain Joe Johnston, another Steamers player.

NARDB Player #1,641

Sione Tupou

New Zealand hooker Sione Tupou played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He represented the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

Not to be confused with the former Tongan Sevens captain of the same name, Sione Tupou attended De La Salle College in Auckland while also joining the Bay of Plenty pathway. In 2024, he was selected to join the Chiefs U20 side and later that same year Tupou earned his NPC debut for the Steamers, earning a pair of appearances off the bench against Otago and the Tasman Mako. The following season, Tupou would increase this to 5 appearances for the Steamers during their NPC campaign, more than tripling his gametime minutes.

On 10th December 2025, the New England Free Jacks announced the signing of 21yo hooker/prop Sione Tupou for their 2026 title defence, joining fellow Steamer Jacob Norris and Bay of Plenty prospect Filipe Vakasiuola as well as Free Jacks Captain Joe Johnston, another Steamers player.

NARDB Player #1,640

Jacob Norris

New Zealand back row Jacob Norris played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He represented the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

Born and raised in Tauranga, NZ, Jacob Norris played his junior rugby for the Tauranga Sports rugby club before heading to St Peters Cambridge, and signed with the Tasman Mako in the Mitre 10 (now the NPC) in 2017. He made his Mako debut in 2018 and went on to scored 3 tries and start 12 of his 16 games with the Tasman Mako from 2018-2021. In June 2021 Norris earned his debut for the Māori All Blacks as injury cover in a 35-10 victory over Samoa. He moved from the Tasman Mako to the Bay of Plenty Steamers for the 2022 NPC season and has represented them in each NPC season since, starting 34 of his 39 appearances and scoring another 3 tries for the Steamers.

In 2023, Norris earned his Super Rugby debut with the Western Force as injury cover, before breaking into Super Rugby proper with the Moana Pasifika in 2024, earning 12 appearances (11 starts) that season. Norris was named to the Chiefs wider training and replacement players group for the 2025 season, but has yet to make his Chiefs debut. On 10th December, the New England Free Jacks announced the signing of the 27yo back row for their 2026 title defence, joining fellow Steamers Sione Tupou and Filipe Vakasiuola as well as Free Jacks Captain Joe Johnston, another Steamers player.

NARDB Player #1,639

Harison Mataele

Tongan lock Harison Mataele played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He represented the Seattle Seawolves for his entire MLR career.

A product of Tonga’s elite pathways, Harison Mataele took to professional rugby relatively late. He earned his test debut for Ikale Tahi off the bench against the All Blacks in July 2021, and has been a regular for Tonga ever since, representing his country at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, as well as in the 2024 & 2025 Pacific Nations Cup and most recently, the 2025 Autumn internationals. To date, Mataele has earned 16 test caps for Tonga.

At club level, Harison Mataele represented the Manly Marlins (2022-23) and the Eastern Suburbs (2023-24) in the Australian Shute Shield before moving to France, joining Stade Montois in the Pro D2 for their 2024/25 campaign. On 9th December 2025, the Seattle Seawolves announced the addition of the 6’8 lock for their 2026 Major League Rugby campaign. Mataele started the first 3 games of the 2026 Seawolves season before suffering a season-ending injury early in their Round 4 clash with the California Legion.

NARDB Player #1,638

Tayne Hemopo

New Zealand lock/back row Tayne Hemopo played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He represented the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

After graduating from Nelson College in New Zealand, Tayne Hemopo entered the Crusaders pathway system, playing with the Academy side and U20s before joining the Tasman Mako development squad for the 2024 NPC season. He earned 2 appearances for the Mako in his debut season, but followed this up with 5 starts in 8 games in 2025 where he scored his first professional try. On 5th December 2025, the New England Free Jacks announced the addition of 21yo Tayne Hemopo for their 2026 title defence.

NARDB Player #1,637

Reuben Palmer

New Zealand lock Reuben Palmer played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He reprenseted the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

The Tauranga natinve attended Tauranga Boys College in Tauranga, NZ, where he captained the 1st XV, Palmer developed through the Otago/Highlanders system. He played with the Otago U19 and Highlanders U20 sides in 2023 and has played Premier Grade rugby with the Dunedin Sharks for the last two seasons. Palmer has a strong connection to newly appointed Free Jacks forwards coach Pingi Tala’apitaga, and on 5th December 2025, the New England Free Jacks announced the addition of 6’7 lock Reuben Palmer for their 2026 campaign, where he will be hoping to earn his professional debut.

NARDB Player #1,636

Nathan Salmon

New Zealand winger Nathan Salmon played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He represented the New England Free Jacks for his entire MLR career.

A native of Whangarei, NZ, Nathan Salmon attended Whangarei Boys High School and came up through the Northland system, playing with both the U19 and academy sides as well as Old Boys Marist in 2023, the same year he was selected for the NZ Barbarians squad. The following year, Salmon earned his NPC debut with Northland, and has represented the Taniwha for the last two seasons, scoring 4 tries in his 17 games, starting 5 times. He played under New England Free Jacks Head Coach Ryan Martin at Northland and so unsurprisingly, on 5th December 2025 the Free Jacks announced the signing of Nathan Salmon for the 2026 season.

NARDB Player #1,635

2026 MLR Fixtures/Results

This page displays all fixtures/results from the 2026 Major League Rugby season, the 9th season in League History. This list includes both regular season and playoff games. All times are in EST.

The schedule for the 2026 MLR season was announced on 4th December, 2025. Having contracted to 6 teams during the off-season, the 2026 campaign kicked off later than usual, with a single game held on 28th March, 2026 as the California Legion hosted Anthem RC in Orange County for the Legion’s first game under their new, merged identity. The remaining 4 teams received a 1st Round bye (much to the confusion of many) and kicked off their seasons the following weekend on either Friday April 3rd or Saturday April 4th. The California Legion and Anthem RC made up their bye week during Round 6. A far more advantageous time for a bye week.

The regular season concluded on June 7th with ‘MLR Decision Day’, after which the top 4 teams advanced to the post-season. The 2026 Semifinals took place on June 14th & 15th, with the Championship Final held at 7:00pm on June 21st, 2026.

Theo Fourie

South African born, Australian raised hooker Theo Fourie played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He represented the Chicago Hounds for his entire MLR career.

Theo Fourie was born in South Africa where he spent the first few years of his life, before moving with his family to Australia, where he attended Rockhampton Grammar School in Queensland. Once he left school, Fourie played with the Souths under current Chicago Hounds Forwards Coach Todd Dammers, and got his first glimpse at pro rugby in 2019 when he signed with the Queensland Reds academy. His performances at the Reds academy earned him a spot in the Wallabies U20 squad in 2020, but didn’t get a chance to play due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the cancellation of the Junior World Cup that year. Later that year he moved to Melbourne having joined the Rebels as a member of the Training Squad, appearing in pre-season contests in 2021 and 2022 while still playing for Souths.

In July 2022, the Rebels signed Fourie as a full-time player ahead of the 2023 Super Rugby season, where he earned his pro debut in Round 14 against the Western Force which would be his only Super Rugby appearance for the Rebels before signing with the Waratahs once the 2023 season concluded. He earned 3 further Super Rugby appearances with the Waratahs in 2024, but returned to the Queensland Reds for the 2025 campaign, where he started their Round 1 clash with the Brumbies. On 24th November 2025, the Chicago Hounds announced the addition of the 25yo Theo Fourie for the 2026 MLR season, reuniting with Todd Dammers.

achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2026 – Rd 4

NARDB Player #1,634

Campbell Robb

New Zealand hooker Campbell Robb played in Major League Rugby during the 2026 season. He represented Anthem RC for his entire MLR career.

A promising javelin thrower, when Campbell Robb was a schoolboy he ranked 5th at the New Zealand National Championship while also playing rugby in the Waikato academy system and representing the Chiefs U20s, playing against some of the best young players in one of the world’s best rugby nations. As he approached college age, Robb was inspired to try school in the USA and chose Central Washington University with their strong rugby program, arriving at the age of 19 to play under CWU head coach and fellow kiwi, Todd Thornley. He was named a D1A Collegiate All-American in 2025 and following his graduation, he declared for that year’s MLR draft. He was successfully drafted, 2nd overall by Anthem RC who officially announced his signing on 20th November 2025, alongside 1st Overall Pick Will Sherman.

Now domestically qualified through his time at CWU, Robb was already familiar with some aspects of Anthem RC having played alongside Will Sherman and under Anthem Head Coach Agustin Cavalieri in the summer of 2025 while touring South Africa with the USA U23s.