Connor Buckley

New York native Connor Buckley played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2025. He represented the Rugby New York Ironworkers (2021-2023) and Old Glory DC (2024-2025).

An Iona College alum, Buckley graduated in December 2020 and already had a MLR contract in place with his hometown Rugby United New York, who he signed with in June of 2020 ahead of the 2021 MLR season. Buckley earned his MLR debut in 2021, his first start in 2022 (finished with 8) and scored his first MLR try in 2023 (finished with 3), all with the Ironworkers. In total he earned 31 MLR caps (19 starts) for NY, scoring 3 tries and winning the 2022 MLR shield following a 30-15 victory over the Seattle Seawolves.

Buckley was expected to return for the Rugby New York Ironworkers for the 2024 season, but in early December 2023 the team and MLR announced that New York would not take part in the 2024 season. This news came about a week after the Toronto Arrows had announced that they weren’t taking part in the 2024 season either. MLR held a Dispersal Draft for NY & Toronto players which Connor Buckley opted into. Buckley was selected 8th by Old Glory DC in this Dispersal Draft, and his signing was announced by the Flags on 19th December, 2023. As he opted in to the Dispersal Draft, Buckley’s 2024 salary did not count against Old Glory DC‘s cap hit for the season. Buckley scored a career high 6 tries in 15 games (8 starts) in 2024, playing as part of a scrum-half tandem with Ethan McVeigh. He scored 2 tries in Rd 16 that earned him a MLR Team of the Week selection to help the Flags qualify for the post-season in the 2nd season in a row. Buckley started Old Glory’s Eastern Conference Semifinal against their rivals the New England Free Jacks, where he scored 3 tries to become the first player in MLR history to score a hattrick in the post-season, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the eventual Champions, as the Flags fell 29-33.

On December 10th, 2024, Old Glory DC announced the return of Connor Buckley for the 2025 season, his 2nd with the Flags and 5th in his career. Buckley set a new career high with 13 starts in 2025, in 15 appearances for the Flags as he cemented himself as the starting scrumhalf in DC, helping Old Glory DC qualify for the postseason for the 3rd season in a row, where they fell to the Chicago Hounds in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. he passed 200 tackles and 600m made in his career, as well as 10 tries scored in MLR. Buckley was an All-MLR Honorable Mention for his performance in 2025, his first All-MLR nod. On 20th January 2026, Old Glory DC announced that Connor Buckley would return for his 3rd season with the team and 6th in MLR in 2026.

He was included in the full Old Glory DC squad when the team revealed it on February 16th, however on 26th February, the team announced the departure of Connor Buckley, thanking him for his contributions to the team. NARDB understands that Buckley has not retired, but will not participate in the 2026 MLR season.

achievements:

 

Dan Hollinshead

New Zealand fly-half Dan Hollinshead played in Major League Rugby in 2021 and in 2024. He represented Rugby United New York (2021),Rugby FC LA (2024), and the New England Free Jacks (2025).

Hollinshead was born and raised in New Zealand, playing rugby throughout high school at Tauranga Boys College, even touring with them to Hong Kong and the UK in 2013. That same year he played with the Bay of Plenty U18s and trained with the New Zealand U20s. The following year until 2016, Hollinshead represented the Bay of Plenty senior side in the ITM Cup (now the National Provincial Championship, NPC) before signing a short-term contract with Agen in the French Pro D2 before signing with the Coca-Cola Red Sparks in the Japanese Top Challenge League. Following 2 years in Japan, Hollinshead returned to the NPC for the 2019 season, also representing the Highlanders in a handful of Super Rugby games that season. He stayed with the BoP Steamers for the 2020 season, also playing with the China Lions in the short-lived Global Rapid Rugby competition, and training with the Crusaders of Super Rugby.

Hollinshead joined Rugby United New York ahead of the 2021 MLR season, and made a huge impact. He appeared in 11 games (10 starts) during his debut season in North America, and scored 2 tries and 111pts in total, finishing 2nd League-wide, a single point behind League-leader Sam Windsor. Following this impressive season, he signed a contract with Vannes and returned to the French Pro D2 between 2022-2023. Hollinshead would return to MLR however, this time on the opposite coast. He signed with Rugby FC LA (formerly Rugby ATL) for their first season in LA in 2024, joining from the Southland Stags in NZ’s NPC. He earned… 9 appearances (all starts) with RFCLA in their debut season, adding another 50pts to his career MLR total.

Hollinshead returned for the 2025 MLR season, although not with Rugby FC LA. On April 1st, 2025, 7 rounds into the 2025 season, the reigning champion New England Free Jacks announced the signing of Dan Hollinshead for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Achievements:
  • 2nd in MLR Scoring: 2021 (111)

Wilton Rebolo

Brazilian prop Wilton Rebolo played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2022, and again from 2024-2026. He represented the Rugby New York Ironworkers (2021-2022), Rugby FC LA (2024), the Houston SaberCats (2025), and the Chicago Hounds (2026).

A native of São Jose dos Campos, Brazil, Rebolo began playing his club rugby with São José, also representing Band Saracens, the Bandeirantes Rugby Club, and Pasteur Athletique during his club career. He earned his international debut against Germany in 2015 and has been a regular in the Brazilian front row ever since.

Rebolo was set to become the first Brazilian to play in MLR when he signed with the Austin Gilgronis, playing with them in the 2020 pre-season before an injury kept him out of the shortened season, and that achievement would have to wait until he represented Rugby New York in 2021. Rebolo became a regular in the New York setup, earning 27 appearances (7 starts) for the Roosters over 2 seasons, including 15 in their Shield-winning 2022 campaign, when he set a career high 156m gained in possession. Following the 2022 MLR season, Rebolo earned a contract with the Western Force, becoming the first Brazilian to play in Super Rugby in 2023.

Rebolo returned to MLR with Rugby FC LA, newly relocated from Atlanta. He earned 7 further appearances (2 starts) in their inaugural season after joining the team later in the season. On November 13th, 2024, RFCLA traded Wilton Rebolo to the Houston SaberCats in exchange for the ‘Cats First Round Draft Pick in 2025 (Ieremia Ieremia). In his 4th MLR season, Rebolo added a 3rd MLR try and earned 10 appearances for the SaberCats, passing 200 career tackles made and 350m gained total to help the SaberCats advance to the 2025 MLR Championship Final, where they fell to the New England Free Jacks.

Following the surprise withdrawal of the Houston SaberCats during the 2025/26 MLR offseason, Wilton Rebolo became a free agent and on 21st January 2026, the Chicago Hounds announced that they had signed Rebolo on a 1yr contract for their 2026 campaign.

achievements

Andy Ellis

2007 Rugby World Cup Champion Andy Ellis played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2022. He represented Rugby New York for his entire MLR career.

The former All-Blacks scrum-half earned 31 MLR caps for New York (23 starts), scoring 9 tries and 49pts and captaining the side once. Following the 2022 season, Ellis was 3rd on New York’s all-time try scorers with 9. He made 564 passes during the 2022 season for a success rate of 85.33%. Ellis confirmed his retirement in a post-match interview after being named as the Man of the Match for the 2022 MLR Final on June 25th and was honoured with a Haka from other New Zealanders on the Rugby New York Championship Side.

Achievements:
  • 2022 MLR Champion – Rugby New York
  • 2022 MLR Championship MVP
  • 2021 Team of the Week – Round 10
  • 2021 Team of the Week – Round 11