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 Atlético 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:

Nicolás Revol Pitt

Argentinian prop Nicolás 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 Nicolás 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 17^th January 2024, the New England Free Jacks traded McClea to the Utah Warriors in exchange for Utah’s 2^nd 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)

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.

achievements

MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 11

Tomás Malanos

Argentinian centre Tomás ‘Tomy’ Malanos played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2025. He represented the Dallas Jackals (2023-2024) and the Miami Sharks (2025).

A former Argentina u20 player, Malanos’ signing was announced in December of 2022, joining from Atletico del Rosario in Argentina’s URBA Top 14 competition. Malanos has played with Rosario since 2015, and had a stint with the Jaguares XV as a medical joker during their 2021 SLAR (now Super Rugby Americas) season, in which they won the Championship.

Malanos started all 16 games in his debut MLR season for the Jackals, racking up over 500m gained and scoring 4 tries which tied him for 2nd on the team that season. On 29th August 2023 the Jackals announced the re-signing of Malanos for the 2024 season, where he bettered his try total in fewer games, scoring 5 in 13 appearances (all starts), and running for just shy of 700m gained in possession as the Jackals qualified for the playoffs and shocked the 14-2 Houston SaberCats in the Western Conference Semifinals, before falling to the Seattle Seawolves in the Conference Final. For his performance in 2024, Malanos was named as the Dallas Jackals Back of the Year.

Following the 2024 season, the Dallas Jackals announced their withdrawal from MLR. Malanos did not declare for the subsequent dispersal draft, but on December 17th 2024, the Miami Sharks announced the signing of Tomy Malanos as a free agent ahead of the 2025 season.

Achievements:

2024 Dallas Jackals Back of the Year
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 9

Nazareno Valentini

Argentinian fly-half/scrum-half Nazareno Valentini played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Dallas Jackals for his entire MLR career.

Valentini has represented the Rosario U18 & U20 sides, and was the captain of the Old Resian club in the Argentinian Torneo del Litoral before making the move north to the USA. Valentini signed for the Dallas Jackals ahead of the 2023 MLR season, earning 6 appearances (all starts) and racking up 43 successful tackles and over 100m gained with ball in hand.

On 2nd January 2024, the Dallas Jackals announced the return of Nazareno Valentini for the 2024 MLR season.

Jerónimo Gómez Vara

Argentinian back row Jerónimo Gómez Vara played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2025. He represented the Dallas Jackals (2023-2024) and the New England Free Jacks (2025).

Gómez Vara represented the Argentina U20 side at the World Rugby Under-20s Championship while still eligible to represent the U18s, and captained Los Pumitas in 2021 against South Africa, Georgia, and Uruguay. In October of that year, he moved up to the Argentina XV side for the Americas Pacific Challenge. At club level, Gómez Vara played with Atlético de Rosario in Argentina’s domestic URBA Top 12 competition.

Gómez Vara joined the Dallas Jackals ahead of their 2023 MLR season and started every one of the team’s games that season, captaining the Jackals 14 times and scoring 5 tries and racking up over 500m gained and just shy of 150 tackles completed. The following season, he scored another 5 tries in 14 games (13 starts) captaining the side 9 times in the absence of injured Sam Golla, and racked up 598m gained as the Jackals squeaked into the MLR Playoffs, where they upset the 14-2 Houston SaberCats in the Conference Semifinals, where Gómez Vara put in one of the best performances MLR has ever seen. Unfortunately, the Jackals would fall in the Western Conference Final to the Seattle Seawolves. For his efforts in 2024, Gómez Vara was named as the Dallas Jackals Forward of the Year as well as being selected for the All-MLR First XV and, to cap off an excellent season, Gómez Vara was named as the MLR Forward of the Year for 2024.

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, Gomez Vara was selected 11th by the New England Free Jacks and on October 17th, 2024, the Free Jacks confirmed the signing of Gomez Vara for 2025 along with Jackals teammate Kyle Steeves. Gomez Vara’s agency, BSMI Rugby, confirmed that his contract with the Free Jacks runs through the 2026 season. Gomez Vara scored 2 tries and started 9 of his 11 games for New England, gaining over 150m and completing 82 tackles to help the Free Jacks secure their 3rd successive MLR Shield, the 1st in Jero Gomez Vara’s career. Despite his contract with New England running through 2026, Major League Rugby’s severe contraction in the 2024/25 off-season, as well as their shift to a bigger focus on domestic players, meant that Gomez Vara could not remain with the Free Jacks. Instead, he returned to Argentina and signed with Super Rugby Americas expansion side Capibaras on Christmas Eve 2025.