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.

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Takaji Young Yen

Utah-born, New Zealand raised prop Takaji Young Yen played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

Young Yen played 4 games with the Provo Trappers in the 2022 Crossroads Cup, a Warriors-backed development tournament. The Trappers won the 2022 tournament and Young Yen clearly impressed, as the Warriors signed him to a MLR contract in December 2022 ahead of the 2023 MLR season. He earned 2 caps for the ‘big club’ in the 2023 season and earned a call up to the USA Eagles, where he earned his first full international cap in a Rugby World Cup Qualifier against Romania.

On  11th October 2023, the Utah Warriors announced the return of Takaji Young Yen for the 2024 MLR season, along with fellow Utah Pathway product Jesse Hamilton.

Achievements:

Alex Lopeti

California native Alex ‘Ale’ Lopeti played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2026. He represented the NOLA Gold (2022-2025) and the California Legion (2026).

The younger brother of Seattle Seawolves player Tavite Lopeti, Ale had been playing with the Austin Gilgronis academy side (the Outlaws) in the fall of 2021 before signing with the Gold ahead of the 2022 MLR season. He earned his MLR debut and a total of 4 caps during his debut season. The Gold re-signed him ahead of the 2023 season, where Lopeti added another 6 caps to his resume including his first MLR start and first MLR try. On the back of his performances through his sophomore seaosn, Lopeti was selected as the Gold’s Most Improved Player for the 2023 season.

On 24th December 2023 (Christmas Eve), the NOLA Gold announced the return of Ale Lopeti for the 2024 MLR season, where he more than doubled his career highs for appearances (from 6 to 14) and tackles completed (38 to 88) while also scoring two tries to bring his career total to 3. He came off the bench during the Gold’s first ever playoff game in 2024, a defeat to the Chicago Hounds in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. On December 26th, 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the return of Ale Lopeti for the 2025 season. Lopeti enjoyed a career year despite a disappointing year for the NOLA Gold in 2025. He earned 11 of his 13 career starts, and earned a career high 15 appearances to take his career total to 39 appearances, all for the Gold. Lopeti scored 4 tries (another career high) on 126m gained, and recorded over 100 tackles made for the first time in his career. Unfortunately, the NOLA Gold missed out on the postseason, and withdrew from MLR completely during the 2025/26 offseason.

Following this withdrawal, Alex Lopeti returned to his home state of California, and on 24th February 2026 he was announced by the California Legion ahead of their inaugural season.

Achievements

Cameron Nelson

West Virginia native Cam Nelson played in major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Dallas Jackals for his entire MLR career.

Nelson attended Marshall University between 2016-2018, playing with the Thundering Herd Rugby Club, before transferring to Glenville State College to play football and eventually West Virginia University where he continued to play rugby. Between 2020-2023, Nelson lived in Germany while his wife was based there in the US Air Force, where he played with Honeybadger RFC, a club made up of UK & US servicemen in the Ramstein/Kaiserslautern area, as well as local German nationals.

Nelson returned to the US in 2023 and signed with the Dallas Jackals ahead of the 2023 MLR season. He earned 7 caps for the Jackals in his debut season in MLR and on 11th January 2024 the Dallas Jackals announce the return of Cam Nelson for their 2024 MLR campaign. Although Nelson did not earn any game time for the Jackals during their 2024 campaign, as they qualified for the playoffs for the first time ever and advanced to the Western Conference Final after defeating the Houston SaberCats, he was clearly contributing off the pitch, as he was named as the Dallas Jackals Best Teammate for the 2024 season.

achievements

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