As the holidays disappear in the rearview mirror and the cold of the winter lingers on, hopefully the January blues can be staved off with the prospect of professional rugby in the not-too-distant future! The 2026 Six Nations is under a month away and as that finishes, the Major League Rugby season will kick off! MLR teams are putting the finishing touches on their rosters, which means there are still a handful of Player Moves to discuss from a quieter than usual week.
Welcome back to NARDB’s Player Moves Summary series! As regular readers already know, these weekly articles aim to keep fans up to date on every single player announcement to, from, and all around Major League Rugby ahead of the 2026 season. Although the California Legion remain silent (on almost everything), other teams are coming to the end of their announcements with jerseys sure to be announced in the near future as well. As always, let’s start with the summary graphic for Player Moves announced between January 5th and January 11th, 2026, followed by the re-signings section:
Re-Signings
To kick off the week’s Player Moves, on 5th January the Chicago Hounds announced the return of their 2nd Round Draft Pick from 2024, Jake Kinneeveauk, for his 2nd Major League Rugby campaign in 2026. Selected 22nd overall by the Hounds in the 2024 MLR Draft out of the University of Utah, Alaskan back rower Kinneeveauk played with the Hounds academy side after being drafted and earned himself a full MLR contract with the team for the 2025 season. He earned his pro debut off the bench in the Chicago Hounds‘ Rd 10 clash with the Seattle Seawolves which was his only action at MLR level that season. He spent the fall of 2025 playing with the Chicago Hounds’ Autumn Performance Squad, captaining the side in their 33-57 win over the Pacific Pride in Vancouver. Kinneeveauk may find it tough to get consistent game time in 2026 among a very strong Chicago Hounds back row, but extra depth can’t hurt and nor can another taste of training, living, and playing in a professional environment.
The following day, the Seattle Seawolves announced the return of one of their stalwarts in the 2nd row. South African lock Rhyno Herbst will be returning for his 6th season with the team in 2026. Now eligible to play for the USA through residency, Herbst has started 72 of his 73 Major League Rugby appearances for the Seawolves since entering the league in 2021. Although he only has 6 tries to his name, 2x MLR Runner-Up Herbst has gained over 1,850m to date including a career high of 518m back in 2022. In 2025, Herbst recorded his 4th 100+ tackle season with 143 tackles made in 15 games, tacking his career total to 643 and putting him 3rd in Seattle Seawolves team history, behind only JP Smith and Riekert Hattingh (both also from South African, incidentally). His 143 tackles last season wasn’t far off of his career high of 165 set in 2024 which (in part) earned him an All-MLR First XV selection that season as the Seawolves advanced to the Championship Final, where they fell to the New England Free Jacks in San Diego. Herbst is the 2nd lock announced by the Seawolves for their 2026 campaign, joining new addition Harrison Mataele in the 2nd row.
Old Glory DC joined in with a re-signing of their own on January 9th, confirming the return of Virginia native John Lefevre for his 4th season with the team in 2026. Lefevre joined Old Glory DC ahead of the 2022 season, and represented the Flags in 17 games across 2 seasons before he headed to Colorado to join the American Raptors for their 2024 Super Rugby Americas season. Following the news that the Raptors were ceasing operations, Lefevre returned to his hometown Major League Rugby side, Old Glory DC, for the 2025 campaign where he earned a further two appearances. In total, John Lefevre has scored 2 tries in his 19 MLR appearances for Old Glory DC, gaining over 200m in possession and completing just shy of 50 tackles in his career. Lefevre is the first scrum-half announced by DC for their 2026 season and he might enjoy some increased game time with USA Eagle Ethan McVeigh joining the New England Free Jacks this year.
Intra-League Signings
Not stopping at the re-signing of Jake Kinneeveauk, on 7th January the Chicago Hounds announced the addition of Argentinian forward Tomás Bekerman to their roster for the 2026 Major League Rugby season. This will be Bekerman’s 3rd season in the league, joining the Hounds from the now-defunct Miami Sharks. Born in Miami and therefore classed as a domestic player in Major League Rugby eligible to represent the Eagles, Bekerman first entered the league in 2024 with the Dallas Jackals, although he was signed with the Jackals for the 2023 season, but played no part. He scored 5 tries in his debut MLR season, earning 15 appearances (2 starts) and gaining just shy of 300m in possession primarily as a reserve to help the Jackals earn a postseason spot in 2024, featuring in both playoff games for Dallas as they advanced to the Western Conference Final. Following the withdrawal of the Jackals, Bekerman was selected by Anthem RC in the dispersal draft, who promptly traded him to the Miami Sharks for the 2025 season. He scored another 4 tries for the Sharks in 2025, earning 16 appearances and completing 50+ tackles for the first time in his MLR career to help the team advance to the postseason, with Bekerman once again appearing in their playoff lineup for the Eastern Conference Semi-final. In total, Bekerman as 9 tries in 30 MLR games (5 starts) with over 400m gained and 99 tackles made. His domestic status coupled with his ability to play both hooker or flanker will prove valuable to the Chicago Hounds during a MLR season with smaller than normal rosters.
Wrapping-Up
Much like the first week of 2026, last week continued to be far quieter than the weeks leading up to the New Year. Just the 4 Player Moves around Major League Rugby, made up of a re-signing each for Old Glory DC, Seattle Seawolves, and the Chicago Hounds, with the Hounds also treating us to an intra-league signing from the Miami Sharks, adding versatile US-eligible forward Tomás Bekerman. Although not covered here, Anthem RC became the first team to reveal their full 32-man roster for the 2026 MLR season, and it seems like at least New England and Chicago might not be too far behind doing the same thing!
Thank you very much for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! As we all get back into the swing of daily life, player news around the 2026 Major League Rugby season may be winding down, but news around the League is only going to ramp up as kick-off approaches! As regular readers will know, these article are posted on the site and on social media every Monday so keep an eye out for this week’s summary 18th January! If there are any Player Moves that you notice, or just to say what you think about these articles or the site, 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 jump into the January sales or pick up some discounted merch, visit shopmlr.com OR rugbynow.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off of your order!