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.

Liam Bowman

Ontario native Liam Bowman joined Major League Rugby between 2023 & 2024 representing his local MLR team, the Toronto Arrows.

Bowman’s signing by the Arrows was announced on May 9th, 2023, towards the end of the 2023 Regular season. The former Canada u20 Captain returned to Toronto having spend 2 years with Academy of Pro D2 side US Montauban in France. The 21yo (at time of signing) had also represented the Pacific Pride, Canada’s high-performance development side and Captained the Canada u18 side.

In his debut MLR season, Bowman scored 2 tries in 5 caps (3 starts), racking up 231m gained. A strong showing from the young back resulted in an extension with the Toronto Arrows, which was announced on 4th October, 2023. With the Arrows withdrawing from MLR in November 2023, Bowman has not returned to MLR.

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2023 – RD 12: Dallas Jackals v Old Glory DC

This game was deemed complete at half-time, and the second half was cancelled due to lightning in the area. This is the 2nd game of the 2023 season that only completed 40 minutes due to weather.

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John Dupree

California native John DuPree played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

A native of Lincoln, CA, John DuPree attended the Central Washington University, representing the CWU Men’s Rugby side while there. Following his graduation, DuPree declared for the 2022 MLR Collegiate Draft and was selected in the 3rd Rd (33rd overall) by the Utah Warriors, who signed him ahead of the 2023 MLR season.

He earned 2 MLR appearances off the bench for the Warriors in his rookie season, completing 6 tackles and gaining 14m. On 1st November 2023, the Utah Warriors announced the re-signing of John DuPree for the 2024 season where his numbers jumped hugely. He earned his first MLR start, starting 3 of his 5 games for the Warriors and scored his 1st career MLR try with 35m gained and 22 tackles completed.

Following the 2024 MLR season, DuPree represented the Serengeti Elephants in the 2024 Rugby Tens Championship and in 2025, DuPree had returned to Washington State and was playing with the Washington Athletics Club 7s team.

Achievements:

 

Niko Jones

New Zealand back row Niko Jones played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented Old Glory DC for his entire MLR career.

The son of former All Blacks flanker Sir Michael Jones, Niko played for the first XV during high school and signed with the New Zealand Sevens team after his graduation in 2018, although injury prevented his playing. Jones has played with Auckland in NZ’s National Provincial Championship (NPC) since 2020 and earned his Super Rugby debut for the Moana Pasifika in 2022.

Jones joined Old Glory DC in April 2023, mid-way through that year’s MLR season, He earned 6 appearances (all starts) for the Flags during the regular season and started both of DC’s games in the 2023 Championship Series as they made it to the Eastern Conference Final before falling 25-7 to the eventual champions, the New England Free Jacks. Jones racked up over 450m gained with ball in hand and completed 78 tackles in just 8 games. Jones returned to the NPC with Auckland following the 2023 MLR season, but on 23rd January 2024, Old Glory DC announced the return of Niko Jones for their 2024 campaign, his second in Major League Rugby.

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2023 – RD 11: New England Free Jacks v New York Ironworkers

Wet & Windy conditions defined this chapter of the ‘Chowder Cup’ between the New England Free Jacks & Rugby New York Ironworkers.

The Free Jacks prevailed by a final score of 8-0, setting a new MLR record for the lowest scoring game in league history! The points total of 8 surpasses the previous record of 7-8 when Rugby ATL defeated NOLA Gold in Louisiana, a total of 15pts.

This was the 2nd shutout victory in Free Jacks history, following a 32-0 win over the SaberCats in Week 2 of 2021. The Ironworkers scored no points, resulting in the 8th shutout in MLR history and the 2nd in club history following a 43-0 loss to LA in Week 10 of 2022.

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