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.
Jackals
Martin Elias
Argentinian fly-half Martin Elias played in Major League Rugby between 2023-24. He represented the Dallas Jackals for his entire MLR career
Dallas announced the signing of Elias in December 2022, joining from AtlĂ©tico del Rosario Rugby Club in Argentina’s URBA Top 14 competition. Elias finished as Dallas’ top points scorer in his debut MLR season, with 37pts and a kicking success rate of 61.53%.
The Dallas Jackals announced that they had re-signed Elias for the 2024 MLR season on September 12, 2023. That year, Elias and the Jackals improved significantly. He started all 13 of his appearances and scored 1 try and 79pts to finish 7th in MLR Scoring. The Jackals themselves improved to a 6-10 record that was good enough to land a playoff spot thanks in part to Elias’ performance, where they upset the best team of the regular season, defeating their Texas rivals the Houston SaberCats 22-34 to advance to the Western Conference Finals where they fell to the Seattle Seawolves in the final minute.
Following the announcement in September 2024 that the Dallas Jackals would withdraw from MLR, Elias declared for the dispersal draft and was selected 25th by the Miami Sharks. The Florida team with a heavy South American influence confirmed the signing of Martin Elias on November 19th, 2024.
Achievements:
- 7th in MLR Scoring: 2024 (79pts)
Pedro Imhoff
Veteran Argentinian scrum-hald Pedro ‘Pit’ Imhoff played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024, representing the Dallas Jackals.
The Jackals announced the signing of the then-33yo scrum-half in December 2022, with Imhoff joining from Duendes Rugby Club in the URBA Top 13 in Argentina, where he had played since 2009 and still spends the MLR offseasons playing there. Like his elder brother (the famous Juan Imhoff), Pit is a capped Los Pumas player, making his debut against Uruguay in Montevideo in April 2013. Splitting the 9 jersey with Danny Christensen primarily, Imhoff earned 9 MLR caps (all starts) in his debut season, gaining 150m as a scrum-half during the season when the Jackals finally earned their first franchise win during the 2023 season.
On 8th August 2023, the Dallas Jackals announced that Pit Imhoff had re-signed with the Texas side for the 2024 MLR season.
Achievements:
NicolĂ¡s Revol Pitt
Argentinian prop NicolĂ¡s Revol Pitt played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Dallas Jackals (2023-2024) and the Chicago Hounds (2024) on loan.
Revol Pitt represented Argentina XV in 2021, the same year he was playing with Yacare in SLAR (now Super Rugby Americas). The following year he played with the Jaguares XV, before heading north for the 2023 MLR season. Revol Pitt’s initial signing was announced by the Dallas Jackals in February 2023, days after the start of the season. He earned 10 caps (7 starts) for the Jackals during his debut season in North America, scoring 2 tries and gaining 145m on offence, and contributing 61 tackles on defence.
On 5th December 2023, the Dallas Jackals announced the return of NicolĂ¡s Revol Pitt for the 2024 MLR season. He made 1 appearance (1 start) for the Jackals in 2024, gaining 20m and completing 3 tackles before being loaned to the Chicago Hounds on 13th May 2024 for the remainder of the 2024 season. He earned his Hounds debut in RD 13, against the NOLA Gold. Revol Pitt earned 5 appearance (4 starts) for the Chicago Hounds in their best-ever 2024 season before his loan ended. However, shortly after the conclusion of the 2024 season the Dallas Jackals announced their withdrawal from MLR. Revol Pitt did not declare for the subsequent dispersal draft and, on December 24th, 2024, was included on the Dogos XV roster for the 2025 Super Rugby Americas season.
Tevita Langi
New Zealand prop Tevita Langi represented the Rugby New York Ironworkers during the 2023 Major League Rugby Season.
Langi joined New York from North Harbour Rugby in New Zealand’s NPC competition, having previously been chosen for a NZ u20s development camp, and was in the Blues larger squad for the 2022 Super Rugby season. In his debut MLR season, he earned 11 MLR caps including 1 start.
On July 18th, 2023, Langi was selected for the North Harbour squad for their 2023 NPC season, and will return to NZ for the MLR off-season. It is unknown if Tevita Langi will return to MLR for the 2024 season.
Achievements:
Kieran McClea
New Zealand scrumhalf Kieran McClea played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the New England Free Jacks (2023) and the Utah Warriors (2024).
McClea attended the University of Otago from 2017-2021, representing the University throughout as well as New Zealand Universities in 2021. Following his graduation, McClea represented Otago in the Bunning’s NPC in 2022 before making the move to the USA ahead of the 2023 MLR season, signing with the New England Free Jacks. In his debut season in North America, McClea earned 6 appearances for the Free Jacks, starting 4 times and scoring 3 tries during the regular season. The Free Jacks would finish as the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference in 2023, advancing to the Championship Final where they defeated the San Diego Legion 24-25 at Seatgeek Stadium in Chicago to lift the 2023 Shield.
Following the 2023 season, McClea returned to New Zealand to play with Otago in the NPC once more. On 17th January 2024, the New England Free Jacks traded McClea to the Utah Warriors in exchange for Utah’s 2nd Rd Draft Pick in the 2024 MLR Collegiate Draft (selection unknown), as well as 2024 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown), and on 17th January 2024 the Utah Warriors confirmed the signing of Kieran McClea for their 2024 MLR campaign. He appeared in all 16 Warriors games of the 2024 season, starting 9 times and scoring 5 tries. McClea also recorded just under 500m gained, relatively high for a scrum-half.
Achievements:
- MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 17
- MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 9
- MLR Champion: 2023 (New England Free Jacks)
Atlanta
Vereniki Tikoisolomone
Fijian winger Vereniki Tikoisolomone represented the Houston SaberCats during the 2023 Major League Rugby Season.
Tikoisolomone joined from the Taranaki Bulls in New Zealand’s NPC competition, and has also served as an injury replacement for the Highlanders in Super Rugby, but did not see game time. He has represented Taranaki since 2021.
Tikoisolomone scored 5 tries in his 12 MLR caps in 2023 (all starts), gaining 866m in the process. He was included in the roster for Taranaki’s 2023 NPC season on 2nd July 2023, and it is unknown if he will return to MLR for 2024.
Achievements:
- MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Week 9
Kyle Steeves
Canadian prop Kyle Steeves played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Dallas Jackals (2023-2024) and the New England Free Jacks (2025).
A Manitoba native, Steeves played in the 2022 Coast to Coast Cup representing Canada West. That same year he played with the Pacific Pride, Canada’s High Performance Development Academy and played for Canada A against A sides from Brazil and Chile. 2022 proved to be a pivotal year for Steeves, and he capped it off with his full international debut for Canada against Namibia in the November tests.
The Dallas Jackals announced the signing of Kyle Steeves in January 2023, ahead of that year’s MLR season. In his debut season in the competition, Steeves earned 11 appearances including a first start in limited match time, gaining over 100m with ball in hand and completing 29 tackles. On 12th December 2023, the Dallas Jackals announced the return of Kyle Steeves for the 2024 season where he earned a career high 17 MLR appearances (1 start) and came off the bench in both of the Jackals’ playoff games that season. The first and last time the team qualified for the post-season.
In September 2024, Major League Rugby announced that the Dallas Jackals were in the process of a sale and were withdrawing from the 2025 season. A Dispersal Draft was held for Jackals players on September 25th, and the results were published by NARDB and others on October 9th. In this dispersal draft, Steeves was selected 6th by the NOLA Gold but on October 17th, 2024, the New England Free Jacks confirmed the signing of Steeves for 2025 along with Jackals teammate Jero Gomez Vara. It was later revealed that the NOLA Gold had traded Steeves to New England for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown) on October 13th, 2024.
achievements
- MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 11