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.

Gabe Casey

Canadian centre Gabe Casey played in Major League Rugby during the 2024 season. He represented the New England Free Jacks (2024) and the Utah Warriors (2025).

A native of Ottawa, ON, Gabe Casey has the rare distinction of having been drafted into MLR twice. He was initially drafted in the 3rd Round (31st overall) of the 2022 MLR Collegiate Draft by the Toronto Arrows, but opted to return to play with the University of Victoria Vikes in British Columbia. He was drafted again in 2023 by the New England Free Jacksin the 1st Round (13th Overall), whom he represented in 2024. He is the only player in MLR history to have been selected in 2 MLR Collegiate Drafts (2022 & 2023). Casey was selected as part of the Canada squad for their August tour of Tonga, where he earned his international debut on August 10th, 2023.

Following his 2nd successful MLR Draft in 2023, the announcement of Gabe Casey’s official signing with the New England club came on 25th October 2023, along with the signing of Killian Coghlan and fellow draftee Junior Gafa. The day after his signing was announced, Casey was included in the Canada squad for their November tests in Spain. Casey earned just 1 appearance for the Free Jacks in the shield-winning 2024 season, coming off the bench and making a pair of tackles. His season was affected by injury, as well as a deep Free Jacks squad at centre. On October 28th, 2024, the Utah Warriors announced the signing of Casey for the 2025 MLR season. The MLR Trade Wire shows that the Utah Warriors acquired Casey via trade with the New England Free Jacks in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations, but this trade was dated October 31st, 2024. Three days after the Warriors announced his signing.

Now with the Utah Warriors, Casey earned a pair of appearances off the bench during the Warriors’ best-ever season, finishing as the top team during the regular season and advancing to the Western Conference Final, where they fell to the Houston SaberCats. Casey gained 20m in his two appearances.

achievements

2024 MLR Champion: New England Free Jacks
2023 MLR Draftee: 1st Rd (13th Overall) – New England Free Jacks
2022 MLR Draftee: 3rd Round (31st Overall) – Toronto Arrows

Junior Gafa

Samoan-born, California raised crossover athlete Junior Gafa playing in Major League Rugby between 2024-2026. He represented Anthem RC for his entire MLR career.

A Brown University alum, Junior Gafa played both football and rugby at Brown between 2019-2023, and played with the Peaks at the Collegiate Rugby Shield in 2023. Upon his graduation he declared for the 2023 MLR Collegiate Draft where he was selected in the 2nd Round, 23rd overall by the New England Free Jacks, who signed him for the 2024 MLR season on 25th October 2023 along with fellow draftee Gabe Casey and US-born Irishman Killian Coghlan. Following the hasty introduction of Anthem RC to the 2024 season, Gafa was sent to North Carolina on 9th February 2024 on short term loan to pick up some regular minutes. On 8th April, Anthem RC & the NE Free Jacks agreed to extend this loan for the entire 2024 season and threw in their 2024 1st Rd Pick (12th overall – Ray Santiago) and 2024 Salary Cap Considerations (Unknown).

Gafa had a phenomenal season for Anthem RC, scoring 4 tries in 13 games (all starts) and running for 1,062m with ball in hand (finishing 10th in MLR). Despite their 0-16 record Anthem RC, a partnership between World Rugby, USA Rugby, and MLR, put together admirable performances and Gafa was one of the standouts of that side, earning Anthem RC Back of the Year honors and was named to the All-MLR Honorable Mention XV. He was a clear front runner for the MLR 2024 Rookie of the Year award, which he was awarded on 17th August 2024. On 24th September 2024, Anthem RC announced that they had acquired Junior Gafa from the New England Free Jacks on a permanent basis, in exchange for their 2nd Round pick in the 2025 MLR Collegiate Draft (Tevita Mapa), 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (Unknown), and an International Player Spot in the 2026 MLR season.

In the 2025 MLR season, Gafa proved that his rookie year was not a fluke. He recorded another 95 tackles completed and started all 12 of his games for Anthem RC, scoring 2 tries and gaining over 400m in possession, already passing 1,500m in his young career along with 222 tackles in 25 MLR games. On 25th November 2025, Anthem RC confirmed the return of Junior Gafa for his 3rd MLR season with the Rising Stars in 2026.

Achievements:

2024 MLR Rookie of the Year
2024 All-MLR Honorable Mention XV
Anthem RC Back of the Year: 2024
10th in MLR Meters Gained: 2024 (1,062m)
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 11
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 9
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 6
2023 MLR Draftee: 2nd Round (23rd Overall) – New England Free Jacks

Michael Manson

New Zealand winger Michael Manson played in Major League Rugby during the 2024 season, representing the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

Manson was a Top 3 sprinter in New Zealand at u18 level, recording a time of 10.8 seconds for the 100m. His signing was announced by the Utah Warriors on 24th October 2023, joining from the Southland Stags in NZ’s NPC competition, whom he represented since 2022 having previously played with Otago.

His debut season in North America was hampered by a short suspension and injury, but he still had a huge effect on the field for the Utah Warriors. He was the first MLR player of the 2024 season to pass the 1,000m gained milestone which he achieved in only 8 games, and scored 4 tries in Utah’s high-scoring 50-46 victory over the Dallas Jackals, becoming just the 4th player in MLR history to score 4+ tries in a game. Manson finished his debut MLR season as MLR’s Top Try Scorer (14) and Top Meter Eater (1,491m) during the regular season, and finished as Joint-top Try Scorer and 3rd in Metres Gained (just 1m behind Seattle’s Divan Rossouw…) despite only playing 12 games. For his outstanding performance in 2024, he was named as the Utah Warriors Back of the Year and was selected for the All-MLR First XV.

On 26th June 2024, the Southland Stags announced that Manson would return for their 2024 NPC campaign following the conclusion of the MLR season.

achievements:

2024 All-MLR First XV
T-1st in MLR Try Scoring: 2024 (14)
3rd in MLR Meters Gained: 2024 (1,491m)
2024 Utah Warriors Back of the Year
4+ Try Game: 2024 – RD 17 (4)
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 17
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 16
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 8
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 6

George Merrick

English lock George Merrick played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented the Chicago Hounds for his entire MLR career.

Former England U20 player George Merrick represented Harlequins between 2013-2019, earning over 100 appearances with the English Premiership side. He moved to Top 14 club Clermont for the 2019/20 season, before moving back to the Premiership, signing with the Worcester Warriors before moving to the Newcastle Falcons between 2021-2023. He joins the Hounds from Chinnor RFC after representing Carcassonne in the French Pro D2. His signing was announced by the Hounds on 24th October 2023, and he earned 15 appearances (12 starts) for Chicago in 2024, helping them to qualify for the post-season for the first time in team history. He gained just shy of 200m gained in possession and completed 94 tackles in his debut season in North America.

On January 9th, 2025, the Chicago Hounds confirmed the return of George Merrick for the 2025 season, his 2nd in the league.

Darcy Breen

Australian prop Darcy Breen played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented the San Diego Legion for his entire MLR career.

A former Wallabies U20 player, Breen has played with Sydney University in Australia’s Shute Shield competition between 2019-2023, also earning 9 caps with the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby. Breen joined the San Diego Legion from Sydney University, and his signing was announced on 19th October 2023 ahead of the 2024 MLR season.

Breen appeared in all but 1 of the Legion’s games in 2024, earning 16 appearances (7 starts) for the Legion and racking up just shy of 300m gained as the Legion qualified for the post-season with a solid 11-5 record. Breen came off the bench during the Legion’s only playoff game of 2024, a 30-28 defeat to their rivals, the Seattle Seawolves. On 3rd November 2024, the San Diego Legion announced the return of Darcy Breen for the 2025 MLR season. In his sophomore MLR year, Breen doubled his starts from 7 to starting all 14 of his games, as well as doubling his tackle total from 2024 to 145 in 2025. For his efforts, Darcy Breen was given the 2025 Legionnaire Award in the San Diego Legion’s end of year awards and was an All-MLR Honorable Mention.

achievements

2025 All-MLR Honorable Mention
2025 San Diego Legion Legionnaire Award
MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 17
MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 2
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 12
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 6
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 5

Tommaso Boni

US-eligible Italian centre Tommaso Boni played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented Old Glory DC for his entire MLR career.

A native of Mestre in Italy, Boni earned 11 caps for the Italian national team between 2016-18 before reaching out to the USA Eagles, with whom he is eligible for his US-born grandfather. He was selected in the USA squad for their November tour of Spain, where he earned his debut for the USA as Eagle #557. He has 9 caps with the US National Team to date. Boni’s move to Major League Rugby was announced by Old Glory DC on 19th October 2023, who he joined from Italian club Zebre in the URC. In his debut season in North America, Boni completed 99 tackles and ran for 780m gained in 13 games (all starts), he also started Old Glory’s nailbiting Eastern Conference Semifinal clash against the New England Free Jacks.

On December 24th, 2024, Old Glory DC announced the return of Tommaso Boni for his second MLR season in 2025, where he started 3 of his 7 appearances to help the Flags return to the postseason for the 3rd year in a row, where they fell to the Chicago Hounds in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. Following the MLR season on September 12th, 2025, Old Glory DC announced the departure of Boni from the team. On January 28th 2026, Tommaso Boni’s agency ISC announced that the dual-capped international was returning to Italy on a short term deal with Mogliano Rugby in the Italian Serie A Élite.

Rugby FC LA

Background & HIstory

Rugby Football Club Los Angeles (Rugby FC LA or RFCLA for short) came to be when a new ownership group bought the Rugby ATL franchise, announcing that the team would relocate to Los Angeles for the 2024 MLR season. Due to the significant change that the franchise went through between Rugby ATL and LA, this site treats the two teams as separate entities. This franchise is no relation to the previous LA franchise, the Giltinis.

Between August and December of 2023, fans would hear nothing about the club apart from the odd rumour, or spark of activity on the MLR trade wire. The ownership group of the LA franchise has some overlap with the Tel Aviv Heat who compete in the Rugby Europe Super Cup, which explains why there is a significant number of Heat players on the LA roster during their inaugural season. A number of Rugby ATL players moved with the franchise to LA for their inaugural season where they finished at the bottom of the Western Conference with a record of 5-1-10. Although they finished 6th in the West, they finished on the exact same number of points as fellow 2024 expansion side the Miami Sharks, 32, and only 3pts behind the Utah Warriors on 35. If nothing else, RFCLA were a competitive team in their first MLR season which for an expansion team, is a good result. Following their 2024 season, RFCLA announced that the contact of Head Coach Steve Brett (who had followed the team from Atlanta) ‘would not be renewed’ beyond the 2024 season.

For RFCLA’s sophomore season in 2025, they went with a remarkably Giltinis inspired look. The team brought in ex-Giltinis Shield-winning Head Coach Stephen Hoiles as both Head Coach and Director of Rugby, and ex-Giltinis Captain Dave Dennis as Assistant Coach. RFCLA also made some huge splashes in the player market, signing veteran Pumas scrumhalf Gonzalo Bertranou and veteran Super Rugby Fly-half Christian Leali’ifano, who has been test capped by both Australia and Samoa. RFCLA also shook things up with huge moves within MLR, bringing 2021 & 2022 MLR Back of the Year Billy Meakes back to Los Angeles, and signing reigning MLR Player of the Year Reece MacDonald from the New England Free Jacks. These signings, along with a supporting cast from the famous Randwick club in Australia (Hoiles’ former club as both a player and coach), ensured RFCLA took a huge step forward in the 2025 season. LA recorded victories over the Chicago Hounds and 2025 Runners-up the Houston SaberCats during the regular season, finishing 3rd in the Western Conference with a 8-1-7 record and 51pts, earning a spot in the postseason for the first time in team history. They faced the Houston SaberCats in the Western Conference Semifinal and, despite putting in a valiant effort, fell 27-21, ending a solid second season for RFCLA.

In July 2025, following the MLR season, rumours began to circulate that Rugby FC LA would be merging with their California rivals, the San Diego Legion, for the 2026 season. On July 29th, 2025, this was confirmed true as the news was relayed to players and staff for both teams, and the following day on 30th July 2025, RFCLA, the San Diego Legion, and MLR announced that the two California clubs had merged to form the California Legion for the 2026 MLR Season. For the purposes of this site, and given the changes to the organisation from top to bottom. The California Legion is treated as a separate franchise to both Rugby FC LA, and the San Diego Legion. You can find the California Legion team page here.

Records & Record Holders

all time

Top Scorer: Christian Leali’ifano (95pts)
Top Try Scorer: Jason Damm (14)
Top Playoff Scorer: Christian Leali’ifano (6pts)
Top Tackler: Jason Damm (371)
Top Meter Eater: Andrew Coe (1,639m)
Most Capped Player: Tas Smith (32)
Most Starts: Jason Damm (29)

single season

Top Scorer: Christian Leali’ifano (95pts)
Top Try Scorer: Semi Kunatani (10)
Top Tackler: Jason Damm (199)
Top Meter Eater: Semi Kunatani (1,126m)

historical performance

2024: 5-1-10 (-106) – 32pts: 6th in Western Conference
2025: 8-1-7 (+4) – 51pts: 3rd in Western Conference (Conference Semifinalist)

Overall Regular Season Record: 13-2-17
Overall Championship Series Record: 0-1
Championship Series Appearances: 1 (2025)

The Old Mate

Total Possessions: 0
Longest Streak: N/A
First Possession: N/A
Last Possession: N/A
Successful Challenges: 2
Failed Challenges: 0
Challenge Success Rate: 0.00%
Successful Defences: 0
Failed Defences: 0
Defence Success Rate: 0.00%

head coach & captain

head coach

Steve Brett (2024)
Stephen Hoiles (2025)

captain

Niall Saunders (2024)
Jason Damm (2025)

Logo & Jersey

2024-25

The name, logo, and venue were unveiled on 21st December 2023, and were not received particularly well by the MLR fanbase. While the colours went down well and the acorn outline was something new, fans could not understand how an acorn represented LA or Southern California, and found the ‘L’ and the ‘A’ to make up an unfortunate shape within the acorn outline. RFCLA CEO Pete Sickle stated on Episode 3 of TRN’s Rugby Rundown show that the oak tree had been present in LA long before people, and was a symbol of strength, stability, solidity, & nurture. Sickle also stated that the font chosen was reminiscent of early Hollywood ‘art deco’ style, while the larger A was a tribute to the Rugby ATL franchise that was the foundation of the club. The name of Rugby Football Club Los Angeles was chosen as a more ‘classic’ team name reminiscent of clubs throughout the world, as well as at the professional level in the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, MLR fans thought this name was clunky and lazy, especially after having waited so long to hear any news at all about the team.

RFCLA’s inaugural jerseys instill the sand and beaches of LA, with subtle wave designs throughout. The jerseys are primarily dark blue (home) and light blue (away), with yellow accents similar to the logo. While some fans thought this was also rather dull, it fits in very well with Los Angeles.

Venue

During their inaugural MLR season in 2024, RFCLA played at Dignity Health Sports Park, the 27,000 seat home of MLS franchise LAFC. The stadium had hosted 1 MLR game prior to 2024, a San Diego Legion game against the Utah Warriors in April 2021. It also hosted 3 USA Eagles test matches between 2013-14, and is a planned venue for the 2028 Olympic Rugby Sevens tournaments. For their 2nd season in 2025, RFCLA relocated from Dignity Health Sports Park to the UCLA campus, playing most of their home games out of Wallis Annenberg Stadium, a 2,145 seat soccer stadium.

Brandon Harvey

North Carolina native Brandon Harvey played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2026. He represented the San Diego Legion (2024-2025) and the Chicago Hounds (2026).

Harvey’s signing was announced by the San Diego Legion on 17th October 2023, whom he joined from Cardiff Met University in Wales, where he had been studying since 2021. He was selected as part of the USA U20 team in 2022 and played in the Netherlands. Harvey earned his MLR debut in 2024, starting 3 times and earning 5 appearances in his debut season, and running for over 100m gained in possession.

On 5th November 2024, the San Diego Legion announced the return of Harvey for the 2025 MLR season where he earned a career high 4 starts in 4 games, contributing 22m gained and 39 tackles completed, another career high. Following the 2025 MLR season, Brandon Harvey was included in the USA squad for their Fall internationals, and earned his test debut as Eagle #598 against Georgia in Batumi. After the merging of the San Diego Legion with Rugby FC LA to form the California Legion, Harvey signed a 2-year deal with the Chicago Hounds which was announced by the team on December 19th, 2025.

achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2026 – Rd 5

Manuel Covella

Argentinian centre Manuel ‘Manu’ Covella played in Major League Rugby during the 2024 season. He represented the Dallas Jackals during his debut season in North America.

Covella represented Los Pumitas at u19 level, as well as Los Pumas Sevens. Covella joined from the Club Gimnasia y Esgrima de Rosario (GER) in Argentina’s URBA Top 12 competition, with the Dallas Jackals announcing the signing on 17th October 2023 ahead of the 2024 MLR season.

Zurabi Zhvania

Georgian prop/hooker Zurabi Zhvania played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2025. He represented the Chicago Hounds for his entire MLR career.

Prior to his joining MLR, Zhvania played with Wasps in the English Premiership, earning 21 starts and 35 appearanced before the club fell into administration. He then moved to Grenoble in the French Pro D2 between 2021-2023. His signing for the 2024 MLR season was announced by the Chicago Hounds on 16th October 2023. In his debut season in North America, Zhvania scored 2 tries in 5 games (4 starts) for the Hounds before suffering an injury that ruled him out for a huge chunk of the 2024 MLR season.

On January 9th, 2025, the Chicago Hounds confirmed the return of Zurabi Zhvania for a second season with the team in 2025.