Season: MLR 2025

The 8th season of Major League Rugby, held from START DATE to CHAMPIONSHIP GAME DATE.

Corbin Smith

New England native Corbin Smith played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented Anthem RC for his entire MLR career.

Corbin Smith grew up in Connecticut, where he played both football and rugby through high school at Trumbull HS. He attended Hartpury University in England for rugby, and was selected for the USA U20 side in 2024, and was named to the USA Extended Player Squad for 2025. On April 28th, 2025 (the 20235 trade/signing deadline), Anthem RC announced the addition of Smith for the remainder of the 2025 season.

NARDB Player #1,571

2025 – RD 11: Miami Sharks v Anthem RC

The Miami Sharks host Anthem RC in an Eastern Conference match-up in Florida. Anthem RC are playing their 2nd game in 4 days after a tough outing against the Seattle Seawolves during the week. The Miami Sharks are rallying after scraping past Old Glory DC last week, and look to build momentum against an Anthem side that is still hunting for their first ever victory.

These teams have met 3 times in the past, with the Sharks extending their series lead to 3-0 thanks to a hard fought 31-32 road victory in Round 3 of the 2025 season, which is still the closest that Anthem have come to a victory.

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2025 – RD 11: NOLA Gold v Seattle Seawolves

The NOLA Gold host the Seattle Seawolves for a cross-conference clash at the Gold Mine. The Seawolves are playing their 2nd road game in 4 days after decimating Anthem RC on the road during the week. The Gold meanwhile, are more well rested but are looking to bounce back following a closely fought 17-15 defeat to the SaberCats in Houston.

These teams have met 8 times in the past, with the Seawolves holding a 5-3 series despite the Gold taking a 32-31 victory in their last meeting in Round 11 of the 2024 season.

 

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2025 – RD 11: Rugby FC LA v San Diego Legion

Rugby FC LA host the San Diego Legion for their 2nd game of Round 11 of the 2025 season to contest the Cali Cup, after facing the New England Free Jacks all the way in Boston just 4 days ago. LA came close to knocking off the reigning champs with a 23-21 defeat on the road, and should be confident heading into this game against the San Diego Legion, who are reeling on a team-worst 4 game losing streak following a 18-31 home loss to the Utah Warriors.

These teams have met 3 times in the past, and Rugby FC LA is yet to defeat the Legion. Their latest attempt came in Round 4 of the 2025 season, where San Diego took a 36-28 home victory.

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2025 – RD 11: Utah Warriors v Chicago Hounds

The Utah Warriors host the Chicago Hounds in a cross-conference clash at Zion’s Bank Stadium! The Hounds are looking to bounce back after a road loss in Seattle with a much-changed roster, while the Utah Warriors are coming off of a comfortable away victory over the San Diego Legion to continue their march up the Western Conference!

These teams have met 4 times in the past, with Utah leading the series 3-1 including the last meeting between these sides, a 31-45 victory in Round 2 of the 2025 season.

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2025 – RD 11: Houston SaberCats v Old Glory DC

The Houston SaberCats host Old Glory DC for a cross conference clash at SaberCats Stadium during a frenetic Round 11! The SaberCats are coming off a tight 17-15 victory over the NOLA Gold and are looking to build on that momentum against another Eastern Conference opponent. Old Glory DC on the other hand, are looking to get back into the win column following a second straight defeat last weekend.

These teams have met 5 times in the past, with the SaberCats holding a narrow 3-2 lead after taking the last contest between these two with a 17-38 victory in Round 8 of the 2024 season. Can the Flags level the series on the road?

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2025 – RD 11: Anthem RC v Seattle Seawolves

The Seattle Seawolves travel to the East coast to face Anthem RC in a mid-week, cross-conference clash in Round 11 of the 2025 MLR season. The Seawolves are coming off a closely fought home victory over the Chicago Hounds, and will be looking for a win here to build some momentum and try to climb the Western Conference. Anthem RC, as always, are desperate for a win after a convincing defeat to the New England Free Jacks.

These teams have met twice in the past, with the Seattle Seawolves holding a 2-0 series lead including their most recent meeting, a 25-17 affair a few weeks ago, in Round 7 of the 2025 season.

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2025 – RD 11: New England Free Jacks v Rugby FC LA

Rugby FC LA travel all the way to Massachusetts to face the New England Free Jacks in a cross-conference mid-week clash, before RFCLA fly back to California to host the San Diego Legion in 4 days time, playing 2 games in RD 11 of 2025 as the midweek mayhem of the 2025 season begins! Luckily for LA, they are coming off of a bye week while the Free Jacks are roaring back in the Eastern Conference, on a 4 game win streak following a victory over Anthem RC in Round 10.

These teams have met twice in the past with RFCLA yet to defeat the New England Free Jacks, who last defeated LA on the road in their first game of the 2025 season.

Despite an Early red card to John Poland, the first score of the game came from New England’s Dan Hollinshead, but it was the visitors who ran out to a 3-14 lead off of tries from Rory van Vugt and Nick Chan. As the 2nd half began however, the Free Jacks began to scrape their way back into the game, scoring through Captain Wian Conradie and the boot of Hollinshead, taking advantage of poor discipline from Rugby FC LA. A couple of penalties and a try from Kyle Steeves took the hosts to a 23-14 lead with 20 unanswered points, before LA’s Semi Kunatani scored with the clock in the red to secure a losing BP for the guests from California.

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Alexander Hernandez

Indiana native Alexander Hernandez played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the Chicago Hounds, as well as Anthem RC on loan.

Raised in Indianapolis, IN, Alexander Hernandez played rugby through high school at Warren Central HS, before committing to Marian University and playing rugby during his 5 years there. Hernandez declared for the 2024 MLR Draft and was selected in the 3rd Round, 34th overall by the Chicago Hounds. He played with the Hounds academy side during their fall season in 2024 and impressed enough to earn an MLR contract for the 2025 season.

On April 22nd, 2025, the Hounds loaned Hernandez to Anthem RC for 4 weeks, and he was included in the Anthem RC matchday 23 for their Round 11 clash with the Seattle Seawolves on April 23rd, 2025, on the bench.

achievements

NARDB Player #1,561

Justus Tavai

California crossover athlete Justus Tavai played in Major league Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented Rugby FC LA for his entire MLR career.

A native of Inglewood, CA, Justus Tavai grew up playing gridiron football. He played as a defensive tackle at the University of Hawai’i from 2018-2021, and San Diego State in 2022. He entered the 2023 NFL draft but went undrafted, signing with the New England Patriots as an undrafted Free Agent in 2023 joining his brother, Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai. Their other brother, J.R. Tavai, also played football through college and has been in both the NFL and CFL. Justus Tavai’s rugby journey started when he joined the American Raptors and was named on their roster for the 2024 Super Rugby Americas season. Following the demise of the Raptors, Tavai continued to play with Belmont Shore RFC in California.

Listed as a tighthead prop, Tavai signed with Rugby FC LA on 20th April, 2025. Brought in to assist in an LA front row that was down 4 props due to injury. Tavai started on the bench for LA’s Rd 11 midweek clash with the New England Free Jacks.

NARDB Player #1,560