New Zealander Glen Jackson coached in Major League Rugby during the 2027 season. He served as Head Coach of the California Legion for his entire MLR career.

A native of Manawatū on New Zealand’s North Island, Jackson developed as a fly-half and began playing with Bay of Plenty in 1996, representing the Steamers in the National Provincial Championship until 2004. Jackson earned his Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs in in opening round of the 1999 Super 12 (as it was then known) season, and represented the Chiefs over 50 times between 1999-2004 while also playing with the Steamers in the NPC.

In June of 2004, Jackson represented the Māori All Blacks side that won the Churchill Cup that year, before heading to the UK to sign with Saracens in the English Premiership. Jackson represented Saracens over 100 times between 2004-2010, scoring over 1,500pts across all competitions including over 1,200 in the Premiership. He remains Saracens’ 2nd highest Preiership Points scorer of all time, behind only Owen Farrell. After finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with a huge 281pts in the 2006/07 season, Jackson was RPA Player of the Year. The following season, he was awarded the European Golden Boot with 123pts scored in only 8 Heineken Cup games in 2007/08. In the 2008/09 Premiership season, he earned his 2nd Top Scorer title with 239pts. Jackson earned his 130th and final appearance for Saracens in the 2009/10 Premiership Final, falling to the Leicester Tigers. This was also his final professional appearance as a player, as he retired following the season.

With his professional playing career over, Glen Jackson transitioned into refereeing in his native New Zealand. His move to professional refereeing was fast tracked, and within a year he went from reffing Heartland Championship games to officiating in the ITM Cup, now known as the Hilux NPC. In May 2011 he officiated his first Super Rugby match and later that year he worked his first test match, serving as TMO for the Bledisloe Cup clash between New Zealand and Australia in August 2011. A few years later, Jackson refereed his first Six Nations match when he took charge of Scotland v Wales in February 2015, and later that year he was named to the referee team for the 2015 Rugby World Cup before becoming the first New Zealander to play and referee 100 first class fixtures when he took charge of the Argentina v South Africa match in August. Jackson retired as a professional referee in 2019.

Not satisfied with just playing and officiating, Glen Jackson then turned to coaching. He joined the Fijian National Team coaching staff as an assistant in September 2020 serving through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign, and took up the same role with the Fijian Drua in Super Rugby when the team was formed in 2022. Jackson is the first person to play, ref, and coach at Super Rugby level. Towards the end of the 2024 Super Rugby season in May, Jackson was appointed as Head Coach of the Drua for the 2025 season. He served as Head Coach of the Drua for 2 Super Rugby seasons (2025 & 2026), recording an overall record of 9-19.

In July of 2026, Jackson joined the Japanese national team as an assistant coach under Eddie Jones, and in September 2026, the California Legion announced that they had appointed Glen Jackson has their Head Coach for the 2027 season following the departure of Steve Hoiles. NARDB understands that following the 2027 MLR season, Jackson will return to his position with the Japan national team ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.