With the 2026 Major League Rugby season Kicking off on March 28th, and really shifting into gear last weekend with all 6 teams in action, that means the return of NARDB’s Midweek Milestones articles! Every week during the MLR season, this article will summarise some of the standout stats and key milestones from both teams and individual players that may have gone under the radar, but deserve recognition.
Because there was only a single game on the opening weekend, Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2026 campaign have been combined for this article but going forward the latest round of MLR action will be covered in this weekly series: Midweek Milestones! With that out of the way, let’s start with the big one from the opening weekend.
Thirty-Third Time’s the Charm!
After back-to-back winless seasons in both 2024 and 2025, the 0-32 Anthem RC entered the 2026 MLR season with a very different feel. The roster had been overhauled with some top talent from around the league such as Johan Momsen, Zion Going, and Jordan Trainor, as well as US talent like Luke Carty and Seth Smith to join top draft picks Will Sherman and Campbell Robb. All of this under new head coach Agustin ‘Cuca’ Cavalieri, who turned the Dallas Jackals from a winless side into Playoff contenders, and serves as an Assistant Coach for the USA Eagles National Team.
The mission for the Rising Stars was simple this season, get that first win. On the road against MLR’s newest team, the hard charging California Legion, Anthem’s defence held firm. With 215 tackles completed which remains a MLR season high though Round 2 including a combined 40 tackles from Captain Johan Momsen and 1st overall pick Will Sherman alone, they frustrated the Legion and forced them into making errors, while taking their limited chances brilliantly. A birthday brace from Conner Mooneyham led them to an extraordinary 26-39 road victory to kick off the season in the best possible way. Proving that they are no longer an easy week, Anthem are here to compete this season!
Appearance Achievements
Moving away from the 2026 Season Opener and on to Round 2, where a number of players reached significant appearance milestones, starting with Chicago Hounds debutant, Jake Turnbull! Although this may have only been the first game for Australian prop and USA Eagle #562 Turnbull, he is no stranger to Major League Rugby. The 32yo prop earned his MLR debut for the Houston SaberCats back in 2018, and has earned 98 MLR appearances to date, meaning he may well appear in Midweek Milestones again in a couple of weeks! Turnbull’s debut for the Chicago Hounds marks the SIXTH team that he has represented, becoming just the 2nd player in MLR history to have played with 6 teams: Houston SaberCats (2018-19), Old Glory DC (2020), Austin Gilgronis (2021-22), Seattle Seawolves (2023), Anthem RC (2024-25), and now the Chicago Hounds (2026). Turnbull now sits level with hooker Sean McNulty (NY, NEFJ, LA, SEA, SDL, MIA) on 6 teams represented!
Staying on the subject of the Chicago Hounds and moving from a team debutant to a team veteran, Maclean Jones earned his 50th appearance with the Chicago Hounds in the team’s victory over Anthem RC, becoming the first player in Hounds history to reach 50 games played for the team. Australian back row Jones has started 47 of his 50 games with Chicago (67 of his 72 career MLR games), a number which is all the more astounding when you consider that the Chicago Hounds have only ever played 53 games during their time in MLR. Mac Jones has started 89% of all Hounds games, and started 94% of them!
Moving from the Chicago Hounds to Old Glory DC, who took on the Seattle Seawolves at the formidable Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA. The DC Starting XV contained 9 team debutants including long time NOLA Gold centre Ross Depperschmidt. Like Turnbull above, Texas native Depperschmidt may have been earning his Old Glory DC debut, but he was also earning his 50th career MLR appearance, with his other 49 games coming with NOLA between 2020-2025. Congratulations, Ross!
Heading down the west coast from Seattle to San Diego, where the defending Champion New England Free Jacks took on the California Legion at a packed Torero Stadium. The Free Jacks, having undergone more player turnover than any other team in MLR during the offseason, welcomed back fan favourite Mitch Wilson for their 2026 campaign, along with his brother Bailey Wilson who joined from the Utah Warriors. When Bailey came off the bench in the 49th minute, the Wilsons became the 9th set of brothers to have played together in MLR, after the likes of the 3 Suniula brothers (Andrew, Roland, Shalom) with the Seattle Seawolves, the Kruse brothers (Isaia and Mika) for the Utah Warriors, and the Flesch brothers (Mason and Noah) for the Chicago Hounds to name only a few!
Team Milestones
Turning towards team milestones, the California Legion picked up their first win in franchise history with a rout of the defending champion New England Free Jacks. Their 43-5 victory hands a very different looking Free Jacks team their heaviest ever defeat, the 38pt deficit surpassing the previous record of 29pts in a 36-7 loss to the Chicago Hounds in Round 3 of last season. the 43pts scored by the Legion is the most points conceded by the 3x Champs since their 4th ever MLR game back in 2020 when they conceded 44 in a 44-29 loss to Seattle. As if the Legion didn’t have enough to cheer about already, they also claimed the newest piece of MLR silverware, The Old Mate! They will attempt to defend this going forward, with the first test coming against the Chicago Hounds next week.
Moving over to the East Coast, where the Chicago Hounds spoilt the party at Anthem RC’s home opener, defeating the Rising Stars 19-33 to claim their first victory of the 2026 season, and the 25th win in franchise history! The Hounds reached 25 wins in 53 games, with 23 of these coming in the regular season to add to a pair of playoff victories. In addition, this win takes the Chicago Hounds above the LA Giltinis in terms of the ‘All-Time Regular Season Standings‘!
Flipping to Seattle, where Washington State took on Washington DC as the Seawolves got their 2026 season off to a perfect start with a 33-16 victory against Old Glory DC. With their 33pt haul, the Seattle Seawolves now sit on 3,504pts scored all time, becoming the first team in MLR history to pass 3,500pts scored in the competition! A 23rd career try from Seawolves veteran scrum-half JP Smith (playing on the wing!) nudged the team over the milestone, and they sit almost 900pts ahead of the next nearest active team, the New England Free Jacks on 2,647pts.
Movement in the All-Time Top Scorers List!
To end this week’s article, we’re staying in Seattle where two of Major League Rugby’s Top Scorers were battling it out. Old Glory DC‘s Jason Robertson and new Seattle Seawolves signing Davy Coetzer entered this game as MLR’s 5th and 7th highest points scorers of all time respectively.
Despite the 33-16 scoreline, DC fly-half Jason Robertson still recorded a decent haul with 11 of Old Glory’s 16pts from the tee to move past Toronto Arrows legend Sam Malcolm and become MLR’s 4th highest scorer all-time on 378pts scored in his 44 game career in the competition. On the other side of the pitch, Davy Coetzer certainly made am impression on his Seawolves debut, racking up 18pts from the boot in a Man of the Match performance to move ahead of another Seattle player, Mack Mason in 6th, and Sam Malcolm to slot into the 5th place spot all time with 376pts in his 52 game career in Major League Rugby.
Jason Robertson & Davy Coetzer are the highest scoring active players in MLR history this season, and now that they are separated by just 2pts on 378 and 376 respectively, this battle could be one to keep an eye on all season long!
Round Leaders
Each week, this section will be used to highlight the leaders in various categories from the latest week of MLR action. Check out the table below for the Round Leaders from Round 2!
| Category | Player | Team | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metres Gained | Divan Rossouw |  | 139m |
| Tackles Made | Rick Rose |  | 21 |
| Points Scored | Coby Miln / Davy Coetzer |  | 18pts |
Wrapping Up
That does it for the first edition of Midweek Milestones for the 2026 Major League Rugby season! A historic first, a handful of appearance achievements, and the two highest active scorers battling it out! I hope you’ve found this article interesting and informative, and please feel free to share any of the information in this article with friends or on social media with the hashtag ‘#MLRStats’!
As mentioned off the top, these articles will be released weekly in between rounds so be sure to come back next week for all the Midweek Milestones from Round 3 of the 2026 MLR season! If you find any milestones that haven’t been mentioned here, you can let NARDB/James know on social media: @MLRStats on Instagram/Threads, JamDelay & @NARugbyDB on Twitter/X, and @JamDelay & @NARDB on Bluesky! Alternatively, you can reach out to NARDB via the ‘Contact’ tab on this site.
Finally, if you’re looking to pick up some new gear, visit rugbynow.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off of your order!