Tag: Major League Rugby

MLR Player Moves Summary: February 16th, 2026 – March 1st, 2026

NARDatabase

James Deeley

Major League Rugby’s 2026 season kicks off at the end of THIS MONTH! 4 teams have announced their complete squads for the upcoming campaign, but there may still be a few surprises for the 2 remaining teams that have not revealed their full rosters: the California Legion, and the Seattle Seawolves. The California Legion left it late to begin their announcements, and the Seattle Seawolves are right at the tail end of revealing their roster for 2026!

Welcome back to NARDB’s Player Moves Summary series! This series aims to keep fans up to date on every single player announcement to, from, and all around Major League Rugby ahead of the 2026 season. This week’s article follows the same pattern as the last few weeks, but unlike the usual 1-week timeframe this edition covers a couple of weeks to account for the drop in Player Moves announced lately. As the last team to begin announcing their Player Moves (by quite some way), the California Legion are unsurprisingly the only team still going strong with their announcements, and as a result this article is very Legion-heavy. The summary graphic for Player Moves announced between February 16th and March 1st is below followed by the one BIG re-signing of the last couple of weeks:

Summary Graphic of Player Moves around Major League Rugby between February 16 – March 1, 2026!

Re-signings

Seattle Seawolves fans can breath a sigh of relief, as on 23rd February the team confirmed the return of a Major League Rugby and Seawolves legend for his NINTH season in the league and with the team, club captain Riekert Hattingh. The son of capped Springbok Drikus Hattingh and capped USA Eagle himself, Riekert developed in the Blue Bulls system before moving to the US in 2015 and is one of a dwindling number of MLR players that played in the short-lived PRO Rugby competition back in 2016, where he represented the Ohio Aviators. As PRO Rugby was replaced with Major League Rugby, Hattingh signed with the Seattle Seawolves ahead of the inaugural 2018 season, scoring his first MLR try and earning 4 appearances as the Seawolves claimed the very first MLR Shield. Hattingh was a huge part of the Seawolves’ 2nd Shield in 2019, starting all 17 of his appearances, scoring 8 tries and completing 203 tackles and gaining 1,374m in possession, both of which remain career highs through the 2025 season. Skipping forward a few years, it does need to be mentioned that Hattingh was handed a 6-month ban from August 2022 – February 2023 which ruled him out of USA Eagles selection that fall due to testing positive for Tamoxifen, a banned substance under USADA rules. The Seattle Seawolves released a statement which mentioned that “At the time the medication was prescribed, neither Riekert nor the physician who prescribed the medication were aware that the medication was on the Specified Substance list and required a Therapeutic Use Exemption.” and states that “His prescription use did not confer any competitive advantage to Riekert, as reflected in his sanction.” Hattingh accepted personal responsibility for this, and did not miss any of the 2023 Major League Rugby season as a result of this. At face value this seems like an unfortunate mistake rather than anything malicious, and should not take anything away from Riekert Hattingh’s numerous achievements in MLR. A one-club man, Hattingh is undoubtedly a MLR Great already, and likely a first ballot Hall of Famer (if such a thing existed…). Hattingh has started every single one of his 94 appearances for the Seattle Seawolves, scoring 10+ tries on 2 occasions and dotting down 48 times in total, 2nd all-time in MLR behind only Dylan Fawsitt on 65. Hattingh has gained more metres than any other player in MLR history and is one of only 5 players to record over 5,000m gained, sitting 3rd all time on 5,563m. Defensively, he’s recorded over 120 tackles in 4 seasons, and over 200 tackles twice, sitting on 950 tackles made all time which puts him 4th in league history. Now returning to the Seattle Seawolves for a 9th season, Hattingh is likely to pass 50 tries scored, 100 appearances, and 1000 tackles made in 2026! At still only 31yo and with 6 tries scored in 14 games for the Seawolves in 2025 with 139 tackles made, it’s likely that Riekert Hattingh will still be Seattle’s go-to starting Number 8, joining the likes of Marno Redelinghuys, Paddy Ryan, Callum Botchar, and Kalisi Moli as back row options for the Seawolves.

A few days later on 27th February, the Seattle Seawolves announced another returning player from their 2025 squad, veteran Major League Rugby scrum-half Nick Boyer will return for his 9th season in the competition in 2026. The Sacramento, CA native began his MLR career in the league’s inaugural season in 2018 with the San Diego Legion, having graduated from UC-Berkeley. He started 6 of his 8 appearances for the Legion, before earning his test debut for the USA as Eagle #530 when he was called up as injury cover. Nick Boyer represented the San Diego Legion for 2 seasons between 2018-2019, scoring 7 tries on 25 games (17 starts) and recording a career high with 479m gained in possession. He spent a brief season with the Colorado Raptors in 2020, adding 2 tries and appearing in all 5 games before COVID-19 shut the season down. When MLR returned in 2021, Boyer had signed with the LA Giltinis, but was traded to the Houston SaberCats before making his Giltinis debut, where he spent 3 seasons and earned 15 starts in 36 appearances and scoring another 9 tries before re-joining the San Diego Legion for the 2024 season and earning another 9 appearances. Most recently, Boyer was dropped in to the Seattle Seawolves squad late in the 2025 season, and scored 2 tries in 6 games (5 starts) and added a pair of assists to help Seattle secure a playoff spot. In his 81 game Major League Rugby career, Nick Boyer has started 38 games and scored 20 tries and 113pts on just under 1,500m gained, and completed 260 tackles on defence. The 32yo joins the Seawolves as a depth option at 9, playing behind André Warner and competing with Seattle stalwart JP Smith.

Intra-League Signings

As is tradition lately, the California Legion got things started with the first Player Move of the week on 17th February when they announced the addition of US-Eligible Tongan prop Ma’ake Muti for their 2026 squad. A native of Tongatapu in Tonga, Ma’ake Muti moved to Hawaii with his family in 2008 and was a multi-sport athlete through high school, competing in wrestling, shot put, and gridiron football as well as playing club rugby with the Kalihi Raiders. He became a US citizen in 2014 along with his brother Netane Muti who has played in the NFL as a Guard with the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, and Detroit Lions. Ma’ake Muti played football while attending Azusa Pacific University from 2014-2019, before returning to rugby following his graduation. His pro rugby career got off to a rocky start, as he signed with the Dallas Jackals ahead of their planned entry into MLR in 2021, but when this was pushed back to 2022 he landed in Los Angeles with the Giltinis, earning 6 Major League Rugby appearances off the bench to help the team lift the MLR Shield in their inaugural season. After spending his debut professional season in MLR, the football convert joined the American Raptors in Colorado, playing with the team from 2021-2024 and representing them in the South American Super Rugby Americas competition. Following news that the Raptors would not be playing professional rugby in 2025, Ma’ake Muti was picked up by the Miami Sharks and returned to MLR for their 2025 campaign. Muti appeared in 16 of the Sharks’ 17 games in 2025 including their lone playoff appearance in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. He started 12 times and scored his first career MLR try on 78m (as a prop, remember) and completed 91 tackles in total. Tongan born, US front row now returns to California with the Legion, and is the first out-and-out loosehead prop announced by the team for their 2026 campaign.

The California Legion kept the ball rolling and on 19th February 2026, they announced the signing of a TENTH former Rugby FC LA player ahead of their inaugural season in 2023 Major League Rugby draftee Matt Anticev. A native of Staten Island, NY, Anticev played rugby under USA Eagle and former Rugby New York scrum-half, and current MLR commentator Mike Petri at Xavier High School before attending the College of the Holy Cross for his undergrad. He attended Dartmouth College between 2021-2023 to earn his Masters degree, playing rugby throughout his time there. Upon his graduation, Anticev declared for the 2023 MLR Collegiate Draft and was selected in the 1st Round, 5th overall by Rugby ATL shortly before the news came out that the RATLers were relocating to Los Angeles as Rugby FC LA. The team announced that they had signed the young Fly-half for their inaugural season, and in his rookie year he earned 6 pro appearances including a pair of starts, recording over 50m gained in total. Anticev returned for a 2nd season with RFCLA in 2025 and earned an additional two appearances to bring his career total to 8 and counting. Matt Anticev now returns for a 3rd season in MLR, joining a new team but with a very familiar feel in the California Legion. Anticev is the first Fly-half confirmed by the team, although Tas Smith did fill in at 10 at times for RFCLA.

Following their two new additions from the week of February 9-16, the California Legion would also announce the first player move of the following week when they confirmed the signing of a 2nd fly-half on 22nd February: US-eligible Welshman Steffan Crimp! Born and raised in Wales, Crimp’s mother was born in Indiana and raised in San Diego, making him US-eligible and therefore classified as a domestic player in Major League Rugby. Crimp attended Cardiff Met University and represented the USA U20s against Canada in June 2023, before first entering Major League Rugby with Anthem RC during the 2024 season. In his debut season, Crimp earned 3 starts in 4 games for the rising stars, before being named to the USA Eagles Extended Player Squad for their July tests in 2024. Crimp returned to MLR the following year, signing with the San Diego Legion and enjoying a solid season in 2025, scoring 2 tries and 26pts total (53.85% from the tee) and starting 6 of his 7 appearances, recording over 275m gained. The USA Eagles are relatively thin at the fly-half position, so fans should keep an eye on Steffan Crimp during the 2026 season. He will compete for game time with Matt Anticev as the only other fly-half announced by the California Legion so far.

The Legion followed up the signing of Steffan Crimp with another signing the following day, confirming the addition of California native Ale Lopeti for his 5th Major League Rugby season in 2026. The younger brother of capped USA Eagle Tavite Lopeti, Ale joined the NOLA Gold ahead of the 2022 MLR season after spending the fall of 2021 playing with the Austin Gilgronis academy side, the Outlaws. Lopeti earned his MLR debut and 4 appearances off the bench total during his first season in the competition, upping this to 6 the following year including his first pro start, and scored his first MLR try on just under 200m gained (194) which remains his career high. From 2024, Ale Lopeti became a regular in the NOLA Gold matchday 23. After earning 10 appearances in the previous 2 seasons combined, he earned another 14 in 2024 alone and added another pair of tries while also recording 88 tackles completed, more than double his previous career high of 38. Lopeti enjoyed another career year in 2025, breaking into the Gold’s starting XV and earning 11 of his 13 career starts in 15 appearances that season, scoring 4 of his 7 career tries on 126m gained to pass 500m in his career. Defensively, Lopeti set another career high with 111 tackles made, recording over 100 tackles for the first time in his career.

A few days later, the California Legion announced the signing of a second former NOLA Gold player in Davis, CA lock Chase Jones. A graduate of St. Mary’s College in California, Jones declared for the 2022 MLR Collegiate Draft and was selected in the 1st Round, 6th Overall by the NOLA Gold using a pick acquired from the LA Giltinis. Jones signed with the team ahead of the 2023 season and played with the NOLA Gold academy side in fall of 2022, suffering an serious achilles injury that ruled him out for the entirety of the 2023 MLR season, with recovering lasting until well after the 2024 season had begun, 22months in total. Despite this major set back, Chase Jones remained with the NOLA Gold and re-signed with them for the 2025 season, where he finally earned his pro debut. Jones scored his first MLR try that year, and started 8 of his 11 appearances, completing just under 100 tackles completed in his first real season in Major League Rugby. Like Ale Lopeti, Jones now returns home to California to join the Legion for their inaugural season following the withdrawal of the NOLA Gold from MLR and is the first lock confirmed by the California Legion ahead of the 2026 season.

Averaging an announcement a day over the last week, the Legion announced the addition of another front row on 25th February with the signing of Scottish tighthead prop Michael Scott for his 2nd Major League Rugby campaign in 2026. The Scotsman developed in the Glasgow Warriors system, progressing through their academy before playing with the Ayrshire Bulls in the Super 6 competition from 2021-22. In 2023, he headed to Australia and joined the Northern Suburbs in the Shure Shield competition, representing the Norths between 2023-24 and must have impressed, as he was called up the the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby as injury cover in 2024, earning his Super Rugby debut against the Moana Pasifika in Round 14. After a couple of years in Australia, Scott signed with the Houston SaberCats for the 2025 MLR season. In his first year in North America, Michael Scott appeared in 18 of the SaberCats’ 19 games, helping the team to a 14-2 regular season record and appearing in all 3 post-season games for Houston, including their 2025 Championship Game defeat to the New England Free Jacks. He earned 3 starts in 18 appearances, and recorded over 75 tackles made before the SaberCats’ surprise withdrawal from Major League Rugby. Now joining the California Legion, Michael Scott will compete for game time with Justus Tavai, the only other tighthead prop confirmed by the team so far.

The Legion continued to monopolise the Player Moves when they announced the addition of Fijian born Major League Rugby veteran Keni Nasoqeqe to their 2026 squad on 26th February! The 32yo lock/back row started is US rugby journey with Belmont Shore RFC in 2015, representing the California club until 2019 when he signed with the San Diego Legion at MLR level scoring 2 tries and starting 12 of his 13 games, earning three MLR Team of the Week selections to help the Legion advance to the 2019 Championship Game against the Seattle Seawolves. He would represent the San Diego Legion for 3 seasons between 2019-2021, earning 28 MLR appearances (22 starts) and scoring 5 tries. Following the 2021 campaign, Keni Nasoqeqe left California for Texas, signing with the Houston SaberCats and representing them for 4 seasons between 2022-2025. Nasoqeqe was a regular in the SaberCats’ matchday 23, and enjoyed a career year in 2024 when he scored a career high 4 tries in 17 games (13 starts) and gained 407m in possession (another career high) while completing 107 tackles in defence, his 3rd 100+ tackle season. Nasoqeqe earned 17 appearances in 3 of his 4 seasons in Houston, including both 2024 and 2025, and is closing in on 100 appearances in his career. He has earned 54 starts in 91 appearances across 7 MLR seasons to date, scoring 10 tries on just under 1,800m gained, and completing 630 tackles. Keni Nasoqeqe now returns to California to join the new-look Legion for their inaugural season in 2026. Although he primarily played in the back row for the SaberCats, the California Legion list Nasoqeqe as a lock (where he does have experience). He would be the first lock announced by the team for 2026, but it is likely that he will serve as a reserve for both the second and back rows of the Legion pack.

Believe it or not, the California Legion weren’t done there! Later on the 26th, the Golden State franchise announced the signing of their ELEVENTH former Rugby FC LA player: Australian loosehead prop Declan Leaney! A native of New South Wales, Leaney played with the famous Randwick Galloping Greens between 2019-2024, a favourite recruiting ground of California Legion (and former RFCLA) head coach Stephen Hoiles. Leaney was a part of the Shute Shield winning Randwick team in 2023, playing through a foot injury after entering the Championship game early. He headed to California to join Rugby FC LA ahead of the 2025 season, and started 2 of his 7 Major League Rugby appearances, earning a Team of the Week Selection on his debut in Round 8. He scored a first MLR try and recorded over 50m gained as well as 57 tackles made to help RFCLA qualify for their first, and only, playoff appearance. Leaney now returns for a 2nd MLR campaign for the California Legion’s inaugural season, and will be competing with new aquisition Ma’ake Muti for the Legion’s ‘1’ jersey in 2026.

Retirements & Departures

Early on 25th February, Missourian prop Alec McDonnell announced his retirement after 6 seasons of professional competition in Major League Rugby. Capable of playing both tighthead or loosehead, McDonnell developed in the famous Lindenwood Lions rugby program, attending LU between 2015-2019. Following his graduation, McDonnell headed to New York and signed with Rugby United New York ahead of the 2020 season where he earned his professional debut off the bench before the season shut down due to COVID-19. When MLR returned for the 2021 campaign, McDonnell had signed with the Houston SaberCats and spent three years in Texas, earning 10 starts in 25 appearances, playing 16 games for the ‘Cats in 2023. Following his time in Houston, McDonnell headed to Florida to join the Miami Sharks for their inaugural season in 2024, earning 16 appearances for the 2nd season in a row, starting 4 times and gaining a career high 101m in possession. He returned for a 2nd season with the Sharks in 2025 and enjoyed a career year, earning a personal best 10 starts in 15 games to pass 50 Major League Rugby appearances across his career and completing 55 tackles, marking the 4th season in a row where he recorded over 50 tackles made (55, 56, 52, 55, talk about consistent!). With the Miami Sharks withdrawing from Major League Rugby during the 2025/26 offseason, McDonnell has made the decision to call time on his playing career after 6 seasons and 24 starts in 57 appearances across 3 teams. This is a shame, as at only 29yo, he is entering prime front row age and had caught the eye of the National Team after a solid 2025 season, having been named as a non-travelling reserve for the Eagles’ July tests following the season. Unfortunately, with significantly fewer roster spots available in MLR in 2026 compared to previous years, playing professionally is no longer a viable career path for players like McDonnell. Regardless, Congratulations Alec on a fantastic career in MLR, and all very best of luck in your next chapter!

In a bit of a jaw-dropping development, on 26th February Old Glory DC announced the departure of starting scrum-half Connor Buckley, thanking him for his contributions to the team just a month out from the start of the 2026 MLR season! This shock departure comes just over a month after Old Glory DC announced that Buckley would return for the 2026 season back on January 20th, and Buckley was included when the Flags confirmed their complete 2026 squad just 2 weeks ago on 16th February. As mentioned in the Player Moves Summary article that covered his re-signing, Buckley has earned 40 starts in 61 appearances across his 5 seasons in Major League Rugby, recording over 200 tackles made and 600m gained, scoring 11 tries. Buckley is a MLR Champion, having lifted the Shield with New York in 2022, and started 21 of his 30 appearances with Old Glory DC from 2024-25. NARDB understands that although Connor Buckley has not officially retired, the New York native will not participate in the 2026 season and may be pursuing opportunities away from professional rugby. Without Buckley, the Flags are now down to John Levfevre and 2024 draftee and academy call-up Aidan Ridgway at scrum-half. Lefevre has experience in the 9 jersey in MLR, but may struggle as a regular starter and Ridgway is yet to make his MLR debut.

Old Glory DC got to work immediately and signed a replacement for Buckley the following day, announcing the addition of New Zealand scrum-half and former Houston SaberCat, Jay Renton for their 2026 squad. A former All Blacks U20 player, Renton played with the Southland Stags in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship competition between 2017-2024. He first entered Major League Rugby with the Houston SaberCats during the 2nd half of the 2024 season, starting both of his appearances that season and scoring his first MLR try. The following season Renton was a regular in the SaberCats 23, starting 7 times and appearing in 17 of their 19 games, including all 3 playoff contests and finishing as a Major League Rugby runner-up following defeat to the New England Free Jacks in the 2025 Championship Game in Rhode Island. Renton added a 2nd MLR try that year and a pair of assists recording just under 250m gained in possession. Re-entering MLR after playing with the Tasman Mako for the 2025 NPC season, Renton will likely slot in as Old Glory DC’s starting scrum-half with John Lefevre acting as reserve with a handful of starts, and Aidan Ridgway a 3rd string option. The fact that Renton is not classed as a domestic player will make things tricky for DC, but he is a great last minute replacement for Connor Buckley.

Wrapping Up

Unlike recent Player Moves articles, this edition covers the last fortnight of Player Moves rather than just the last week due to the general decrease of announcements across the league, which does make sense given that training camps have begun! This doesn’t apply to the California Legion however, who are yet to announce roughly a third of their roster, even though these players have surely turned up in camp in California. As a result, this week’s article is remarkably Legion-heavy, with 8 of the 13 moves involving new additions for the California Legion’s inaugural squad. However, the Seattle Seawolves helped to mix things up with a pair of re-signings including club legend Riekert Hattingh, and Old Glory DC had to scramble to replace Connor Buckley, who is pursuing opportunities outside of rugby. The California Legion will no doubt still be busy with their Player Moves as we are under 4 weeks out of their opening game against Anthem RC to kick off the 2026 season!

Thank you, as always, for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! We’re no doubt at the tail end of Player Moves ahead of the 2026 season. Be sure to check back here next week (dependant on player moves…) to find out more about all of this week’s news. If there are any Player Moves that you notice, or just to say what you think about these articles or the site in general, 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 pick up some new rugby gear, visit rugbynow.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off of your order!

MLR Player Moves Summary: February 9th, 2026 – February 15th, 2026

NARDatabase

James Deeley

With the Superbowl now in the rearview and the Six Nations in full swing, it’s rugby’s time to step up. Although we are still around 6 weeks away from the 2026 season kicking off on March 28th, there will be plenty of news and plenty to talk about between now and then including jerseys, pre-season, training camps, and of course the final few Player Moves, which is the purpse of this article!

Welcome back to NARDB’s Player Moves Summary series, covering all the Player Moves around the league last week! As regular readers are well aware, this series aims to keep fans up to date on every single player announcement to, from, and all around Major League Rugby ahead of the 2026 season. This week’s article kicks off in the now-traditional way, with the summary graphic for Player Moves announced between February 9th and February 15th, 2026, followed by the Intra-league moves as for the 2nd week in a row:

Summary Graphic of Player Moves around Major League Rugby between February 9 – February 15, 2026!

Intra-League Moves

The California Legion remain the busiest team in MLR, and once again kicked off last week’s Player Moves by announcing the addition of a Rudy Scholz Award nominee and 2025 MLR Runner-Up with the Houston SaberCats, back row Ronan Murphy! The California native played with the Gaels at St. Mary’s College to earn the Rudy Scholz nomination, before heading to Ireland to attend Trinity College in Dublin in 2021, continuing his rugby journey while there. After returning from Ireland Murphy dipped his toe into Major League Rugby for the first time, signing with the Austin Gilgronis for the 2022 season and earned his pro debut, starting all 3 of his appearances before the AGs were disqualified from the MLR season, folding shortly after. Rather than return to MLR, Ronan Murphy signed with the American Raptors in Colorado for their fall season at the end of 2022, earning a full contract with the team for their 2023 Super Rugby Americas campaign where he earned a number of SRA Team of the Week selections. Following a year playing with the Raptors in the South American top tier, Ronan Murphy returned to Major League Rugby with the Houston SaberCats ahead of their 2024 campaign, where he enjoyed a career year in Texas. He appeared in all 17 games for Houston in his debut year with the team, starting 15 times and scoring 6 tries on 440m gained while also completing a very impressive 172 tackles made to finish as the 4th highest tackler league-wide that season. Murphy would return to the SaberCats for a 2nd season in 2025 but struggled with injury. He still added a 7th career MLR try on another 72m gained, and started 2 of his 6 appearances to help the SaberCats to a 14-2 regular season record, and finished the year as a MLR Runner-Up following defeat to the New England Free Jacks in the 2025 Championship Final. With the Houston SaberCats’ surprise withdrawal from MLR during the 2025/26 offseason, Murphy returns to his home state with the California Legion for their inaugural season in 2026. Ronan Murphy joins a stacked Legion back row, and will compete with the likes of USA Eagles Christian Poidevin & Jason Damm, as well as former RFCLA players Ben Houston and Ben Sugars.

Unsurprisingly, the California Legion would announce the signing of yet another former Rugby FC LA player a couple of days later on February 11th, when they confirmed the signing of Major League Rugby veteran Jurie van Vuuren for his 7th season in the competition in 2026! The former Springboks U20 forward played with The Stormers in Super Rugby (at the time) and both Western Province and the Southern Kings in the Currie Cup before entering MLR with the Utah Warriors in 2020. Van Vuuren would represent the Utah Warriors for 4 seasons, earning 51 appearances in that time (43 starts) and scoring 8 tries on over 1,600m gained while completing 544 tackles made including a high of 199 in 2021, and 3 seasons with over 100 tackles made. During the MLR off-seasons, Jurie van Vuuren played with the Tel Aviv Heat in the Rugby Europe Super Cup so it wasn’t surprising that, when a consortium with significant overlap with the ownership of the Heat took over Rugby ATL and relocated them to Los Angeles, van Vuuren signed with the newly rebranded Rugby FC LA for their inaugural season in 2024. He would represent RFCLA for a further 2 seasons, his 5th & 6th in MLR, starting all 17 of his appearances and adding another 173 tackles including a 4th 100+ tackle season in 2025 when he recorded 133 to pass 700 in his 68 game MLR career through 6 seasons. Van Vuuren added another 2 tries to reach 10 in his career, and over 200m gained to pass 1,800m gained in his career. Jurie van Vuuren started all 13 of his appearances for RFCLA in 2025 under Stephen Hoiles, so will likely earn a number of starts under Hoiles with the California Legion in 2026. He is listed on the Legion’s signing announcement as a number 8 so would join Ronan Foley in competing for game time among a stacked Legion back row.

The final California Legion Player Move from last week came on 15th February when the team announced that they had signed US-born Australian scrum-half Tas Smith to their 2026 squad. Born in New York but raised in Australia, Smith has been selected for both the USA U20s and Australia U20s, but was unable to attend due to COVID-19. He first entered Major League Rugby with the LA Giltinis in 2022, earning 6 starts in 14 games under Stephen Hoiles before the team was disqualified at the end of the season. Smith returned to Australia to complete his studies at the University of Sydney in 2023, but returned to Los Angeles once again in 2024, signing with Rugby FC LA. Over 2 seasons from 2024-2025, Tas Smith appeared in 32 of the franchises 33 games, starting 10 times and scoring 2 tries, also recording a career high 77 tackles in 2024. Having played under Stephen Hoiles at both the Giltinis and RFCLA, it is no surprise that the 24yo has joined the California Legion ahead of their inaugural 2026 season. Smith is the 9th former RFCLA player to join the Legion for 2026, and will likely play behind 2025 MLR Back of the Year Gonzalo Bertranou.

On February 10th, Old Glory DC announced the first Player Move not related to a West Coast team when they announced the addition of former NOLA Gold standout Jordan Jackson-Hope for his 3rd Major League Rugby season in 2026! The Australian centre represented the Junior Wallabies at the 2016 Junior World Championship and made his Super Rugby debut that same year with his local team, the ACT Brumbies. The Canberra native represented the Brumbies in Super Rugby from 2016-2019 before heading to Japan and playing with the Toyko Shokki Shuttles in the JRLO – D2. He also enjoyed a spell with the Sunwolves in Super Rugby in 2020, and represented Tokyo Gas from 2020-2022. Following his time in Japan, Jordan Jackson-Hope headed stateside and signed with the NOLA Gold for their 2023 MLR campaign, and represented the Gold for 2 seasons between 2023-24 where he was a consistent standout in the midfield. Jackson-Hope started all 25 of his games for the NOLA Gold across 2 seasons, gaining over 850m each season and scoring 8 tries in total including 6 in 2024 alone. He completed 238 tackles in total (well over 100 each season) and was named to the MLR Team of the Week 5 times during the 2024 season. Jackson-Hope started the first (and only) playoff game in NOLA Gold team history, gaining over 50m and scoring a try as the Gold fell to the Chicago Hounds in the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinal. He was named as NOLA Gold’s Player of the Year in both 2023 and 2024, and was selected for the All-MLR First XV for the 2024 season. Following a year away from MLR during which he focused on training and coaching, Jordan Jackson-Hope now joins Old Glory DC for his 3rd season in the competition and will likely be a first-choice 12 for the Flags in 2026, joining former NOLA Gold teammate Ross Depperschmidt in the midfield, as well as possibly Jason Emery and John Powers.

The Seattle Seawolves announced their first intra-league move of last week on February 12th, when they confirmed the signing of US-eligible Irish winger Michael Hand for his 3rd Major League Rugby campaign in 2026! Born in Connecticut but raised in Ireland, Hand played rugby and was a 4x100m sprinter growing up. He attended UC Cork and represented Cork Constitution in the All-Ireland League following his graduationin 2023. At the tail end of that year, the Chicago Hounds announced that they had signed Michael Hand for the 2024 MLR season but before he could earn his MLR debut with the Hounds, he was loaned to the Miami Sharks where he started 6 of his 8 appearances, scoring 3 tries for the Sharks on over 200m gained. Still under contract with Chicago, Hand returned to the Hounds the following season and started all 5 of his appearances during their impressive 2025 season, gaining a career high 310m gained including 86m in the Hounds’ Round 3 drubbing of the New England Free Jacks, scoring a 4th career try and earning his first MLR Team of the Week selection in that game. He suffered a hamstring injury later in the season which impacted his gametime, however. With 4 tries on over 500m gained in 13 MLR games across 2 seasons, Michael Hand is one to watch out for and may even get on the USA Eagles’ radar if he can get some quality game time in Seattle. He will join a Seawolves back three roster that includes Divan Rossouw, Ina Futi, Duncan Matthews, and a new Seawolves signing covered below…

New Additions

In what is a rarity for the 2025/26 Major League Rugby offseason, the Seattle Seawolves announced that they had signed a completely new addition to the league in US-eligible Italian winger Matthias Douglas! Born and raised in Italy but US-eligible through his father, Douglas developed in the Italian domestic leagues, primarily in the Mogliano Veneto system where he played in the Top flight of Italian domestic competition, the Serie A Élite. Douglas has featured for the Italian age grade sides at U18, U20, and U23 level, scoring a try against France during the 2023 U20 Six Nations while playing with URC’s Benetton. That same year he also represented the Italian Sevens side in the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in 2023. The following year, Matthias Douglas returned to Mogliano Veneto and continued to represent Italy at age-grade level, this time with the U23s before heading to Australia in 2025 to join the Wests Bulldogs, playing Premier Grade rugby in Queensland before returning to Italy with Rangers Vincenza, another Serie A Élite. The 22yo enters Major League Rugby from Vicenza, and will join Michael Hand in a strong Seattle Seawolves back three.

Wrapping Up

For the 2nd week in a row there were no re-signings among last week’s Player Moves, and for the 2nd week in a row the California Legion are the busiest team around the league after leaving it late to begin their announcements. The new-look Legion added another pair of former RFCLA players to take their running total to 9 of the 16 players already announced by the team which includes the addition of former Houston SaberCats back row Ronan Murphy, also announced last week. The Seattle Seawolves also stayed busy with the addition of a pair of new wingers for the 2026 season, and Old Glory DC are the first non-West Coast team to announce a Player Move in 2 weeks with the addition of former NOLA Gold standout Jordan Jackson-Hope!

Thank you, as always, for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! We’re no doubt at the tail end of Player Moves ahead of the 2026 season, but the California Legion still have plenty of players to announce yet. Be sure to check back here next Monday (16th February) to find out more about all of this week’s news. If there are any Player Moves that you notice, or just to say what you think about these articles or the site in general,, 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 pick up some new rugby gear, visit rugbynow.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off of your order!

MLR, USRPA, and a CBA: What does it all mean?

NARDatabase

James Deeley

On 11th February 2026, Major League Rugby (MLR), the United States Rugby Players Association (USRPA), and the Major league Rugby Players Association (MLRPA) announced that they had unanimously ratified the first ever Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in American Rugby history!

This is undoubtedly a huge step for MLR and for professional rugby in North America, but what exactly is a CBA? What does the CBA contain/involve? and what does this agreement mean for the players and for fans? This article intends to tackle all of the acronyms and jargon, and lay out why this is such a big deal, especially going into a critical 2026 season. This article will cover CBAs as they apply to sports specifically, rather than in the wider employment market.

What is a CBA?

Starting off with the basics, A CBA or Collective Bargaining Agreement is a contract between a union (in this case, USRPA) and an employer (in this case, MLR) that guarantees certain standards and securities. In sports, this most commonly affects the players within a certain league. Players will choose to work with the league in a group (collectively) on these agreements as their bargaining power is far stronger as a group than as individuals. A league will be less likely to accept an individual’s request (however reasonable) even if it means that player not signing in the league, but if a large group of players present a reasonable set of demands the league is more likely to take notice as without players, there is no league.

CBAs almost always have an ‘expiry’ date’, in that they are negotiated between a league and their players for ‘X’ number of years. For leagues that have a CBA in place, when it comes to negotiating a new CBA ahead of the expiry date of the current CBA, things can get tense. If no agreement can be found between the players and the league to either instate a CBA or ratify a new agreement, this can become a labour dispute and can result in a lockout, shutting a league down. Across the ‘Big 4’ North American leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) there have been numerous strikes or lockouts due to a failure to agree on a new CBA. Notably, the 2004/05 NHL lockout cancelled the entire season, and roughly half a season was lost in 2012/13 due to labour disputes, but this is not unique to hockey. The NFLPA strikes in 1982 & 1987 affected those seasons, the 1998/99 and 2011/12 NBA seasons had to be shortened due to lockouts, and more recently, a lockout in the MLB in 2021/22 didn’t cancel any games, but forced Opening Day of the 2022/23 season to be pushed back a week.

While this may seem extreme to some, a CBA means a great deal to the athletes that put their bodies on the line in these sports during what is a relatively short career even for stars. If an athlete is going to risk their health and well being in a professional sports league, they will need certain guarantees. For example, if a player gets injured during the season, will they still earn an income even if they are unable to play? Will healthcare costs be taken care of to recover from that injury? If a player is traded, will relocation costs be covered by the league, Players’ Association, or team(s)? Who owns a player’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and the ability to profit from the commercial use of that? A CBA provides all kinds of basic rights and protections for the players within a union or Players’ Association, even covering basic issues like minimum compensation and access to healthcare.

To summarise, in a sporting landscape a CBA provides members of a Union or Players’ Association with basic rights and protections to guarantee that they can live while playing in a professional league, and make a decent career while doing so. Generally speaking it improves conditions for the players and can serve as an incentive or attraction for players considering a career in that sport or pro league. As mentioned earlier, a professional sports league cannot exist without it’s players, and a CBA ensures that these players can exist. With that being said, let’s move into the specifics of this historic CBA between MLR and the USRPA.

The MLR x USRPA Collective Bargaining Agreement

Before digging into the details, some clarification may be necessary. This historic CBA is between MLR and the USRPA. Some more ‘in the know’ fans may be wondering what the difference is between the USRPA, and the Major League Rugby Players’ Association, the MLRPA. With former MLR player and USA Eagle Chris Mattina at the helm of both as Executive Director, it seems that the MLRPA is simply a bargaining unit of USRPA. To alleviate any concerns that the USRPA may not include any foreign players within MLR, their statement regarding the new CBA confirms that ‘The bargaining committee of over 20+ Players consisting of USA Eagles, Canadians, Internationals, and Player leaders were the heart and voice of this agreement.’ so this agreement affects all players within Major League Rugby regardless of eligibility.

With that cleared up, let’s dive into the weeds of what we know about the CBA so far. This was by no means a quick process. The USRPA was founded in late 2016 (prior to the start of MLR) with it’s MLRPA bargaining unit formed in mid-2023, but was only formally recognised by MLR in January of 2024. In June 2025 the USRPA announced that Chris Mattina had been named as Executive Director, and that his ‘initial priorities include leading the MLRPA through it’s first-ever Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations with Major League Rugby’. In the roughly 6 months since Mattina’s appointment, the USRPA and MLR have been in constant negotiation through labour group Sports Solidary and it’s president, Harry Marino in order to get this first-ever CBA in place prior to the 2026 campaign, and congratulations to everyone involved in making this a reality.

‘This CBA formalized key protections and provides stability so Players can focus on performing at the highest level’ – Chris Mattina, USRPA Executive Director

Although the announcement from MLR was short on details, Alex Goff of Goff Rugby Report (who broke the news of this CBA first) was able to provide a bit more information in his article. Goff writes that ‘this CBA provides every MLR Player with increased salaries alongside several other new rights and protections, including rights for injured players and free agents, health and safety protections, and the establishment of a clear discipline policy and neutral grievance procedure‘.

The USRPA themselves were the first to provide some concrete details about what is included in this new CBA, and divided it into 4 categories: Economic, Health & Safety, Player Rights & Representation, and Fair Discipline & Grievance Procedures. The USRPA revealed that the new CBA secured Economic wins such as an immediate $2,000 lump sum payment for every player, as well as an increase to the minimum weekly compensation for all players and a team assistance to help players find housing in their new cities, if needed. On the Health & Safety front, the new CBA ensures that injured players will remain under contract and continue to earn their full salary and enjoy full benefits as if they were fully fit, with guaranteed access to doctors, trainers, medical health clinicians, and a surgeon of the player’s choosing if required and full compliance with World Rugby safety protocols such as minimum rest periods between matches and Graduated Return to Play (GRTP) protocols for head injuries. In regards to player rights and representation, the CBA also guarantees certain rights to Free Agents not currently under contract and although the release does not specify what these rights are, it’s hard to view that as a negative in any way. This is in addition to returning core NIL rights, allowing players to profit and benefit of their own images which in turn may help to promote bigger personalities that the North American sports landscape loves so much. And finally (at least, publically), the CBA ensures that written notice is required for any disciplinary action against any player, and that any fines are stayed (paused) during grievances, with those grievances settled by a neutral and impartial arbitrator.

Per Irving Mejia-Hilario’s article in the Sports Business Journal, the new CBA is valid for 2 years and covers the 2026 & 2027 MLR seasons. Considering it took the best part of 6 months to negotiate, this is relatively short when compared to other CBAs around North America. The most recent NHL CBA, ratified in July 2025 for the 2026/27 season, will run through to September 2030 (4 seasons). NFL’s current CBA was ratified in 2020 and also runs through the 2030 season. the NBA CBA runs from the 2023/24 season through (you guessed it) 2029/30, and the MLB CBA covered 5 seasons from 2022-2026. Even within the sport of rugby, the Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA) in Australia ratified a CBA that would run from January 2023 to November 2026, and in England, there is a ‘Men’s Professional Game Partnership’ (MPGP) between the RFU, PREM Rugby, and the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) from 2024-2032, 8 years in total. So the question is, why is the first ever CBA between MLR and USRPA so short?

As you may have noticed, MLR has had a rough time of things lately, contracting from 11 teams in the 2025 season to just 6 in 2026. With the league in such a precarious state, the 2026 season is critical and it’s in the best interests of both MLR and the USRPA that it recovers, and so there is no point negotiating a 5-10 year agreement when the MLR landscape is in turmoil. A longer term CBA is far better negotiated when the league has regained stability and bounced back financially. This short term CBA helps to stabilise the league, and will contribute to the success of MLR whcih will put the USRPA in a better position to negotiate in 2 years time. To put it simply, if this CBA was for 10 years (an extreme case), but by 2030 MLR is profitable and growing ahead of the 2031 home RWC, the Players’ Association would potentially be losing out on securing more benefits for their members until they were able to negotiate once again. When you remember that prior to this, there was NO CBA and very little guarantees for players in the league, a short, 2yr first CBA is a very savvy move given the present state of MLR. What’s more, the details released by USRPA highlight the ability for the Union to ‘reopen economic terms next offseason if the League’s finances improve’. Meaning that should MLR enjoy a wildly successful 2026 season (fingers crossed!) and meet financial goals (that have not been disclosed), USRPA can renegotiate player compensation to adjust for that during the 2026/27 offseason. the Players’ Association have put themselves in a great position, and they have done so by working in cooperation with Major League Rugby who, to their credit, seem to understand that without the players they have nothing.

What does this mean for MLR?

It seems approriate to reiterate that this is the first CBA in Major League Rugby history, and the first CBA for rugby in North America at all. Prior to this, there was no guaranteed welfare, financial, or represensational rights for players. Yes, there were vague ‘industry standards’ prior to this agreement, but nothing set in stone. As a result, players could be dropped, wages may not be paid to injured players, traded players would have to relocate themselves, and all sorts of other potential nightmares that doesn’t even touch on the worst-case scenario of teams folding, which MLR knows a little bit about, unfortunately. This historic CBA changes that. It lays that foundation for player rights, securities, and guarantees that all future CBAs between MLR and the USRPA can build on. As mentioned above, the USRPA announced that the CBA contains a clause that allows the Union to ‘reopen economic terms next offseason should league finances improve’, which more closely ties player salaries and compensation to the success of the league. It means that both sides are rowing together to achieve the same goals: The success of professional rugby in North America.

‘Make no mistake – this is a momentous achievement for the sport in the U.S., as reaching the first CBA for American rugby provides clarity heading into the 2026 season and demonstrates a commitment to finding common ground as MLR seeks to grow the game in the U.S.’ – Graeme Bradbury, MLR Co-President

For fans, this doesn’t really change anything in practice, but it means a huge deal and show the commitment from both MLR and the USRPA to pro rugby in the US. It should settle some nerves following the worst offseason in league history full of chaos that has filled not only fans, but also players and executives with uncertainty ahead of a critical 2026 season, the announcement of this new CBA is a refreshing sign of co-operation between MLR and it’s players. It serves as a commitment from both sides to their mutual success and while lockouts were touched on early in this article, this historic CBA ‘was a really good-faith negotiation with the league’ said Chris Mattina to the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly. From a fan perspective, there really is no downside to the players improving their conditions within the the MLR environment. Given the short duration of this CBA, it’s likely that we will hear more on this subject following the 2026 season but for now, both MLR and the USRPA are shoring up the foundations of the league, stabilising ahead of what must be the most important season in league history so far.

MLR Player Moves Summary: February 2nd, 2026 – February 8th, 2026

NARDatabase

James Deeley

As we enter February and teams continue tweaking with their roster and preparing for Training Camp to open any day now, Major League Rugby fans have begun to ask about jerseys for 2026 and it’s a fair question. The first game of the critical 2026 season is under 50 days away, and so far only the New England Free Jacks have given us a peek at what they will be wearing. With more news on that surely coming imminently, this article is more interested in the players wearing those jerseys, than the jerseys themselves.

Welcome back to NARDB’s Player Moves Summary series, covering all the Player Moves around the league last week! As regular readers are well aware, this series aims to keep fans up to date on every single player announcement to, from, and all around Major League Rugby ahead of the 2026 season. This week’s article is very west-coast themed, and because there were no re-signings last week, this article kicks off with the summary graphic for Player Moves announced between January 26th and February 1st, 2026, followed by the intra-league moves:


Summary Graphic of Player Moves around Major League Rugby between February 2 – February 8, 2026!

Intra-League Signings

As is the pattern these last few weeks, the California Legion kicked off last week’s player move with the announcement that they had added yet another former Rugby FC LA player to their squad for the 2026 Major League Rugby season. Hooker Ben Sugars will return for a 2nd season in North America for the California Legion’s inaugural campaign. The Englishman attended the University of Nottingham and played in the BUCS university competition before playing in the English Championship with the Yorkshire Carnegie (now Leeds Tykes) and Nottingham between 2019-2022. Following 3 years in the English 2nd tier, Sugars headed to Australia and joined Randwick in 2023, helping the club to the Shute Shield title over the Northern Suburbs that year. He was a standout at Randwick which drew the attention of the injury-stricken NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby. Sugars was called up by the Waratahs for their 2024 campaign and earned his Super Rugby debut during Round 12 of the 2024 season, earning 4 appearances for the team that season. Following his stint in Super Rugby, Sugars headed from Australia to the States to join Rugby FC LA for their 2025 MLR season under his former Randwick head coach, Stephen Hoiles. In his debut MLR season, Ben Sugars started 11 of his 15 appearances including RFCLA’s first (and as it turned out, last) playoff game in their 27-21 defeat to the Houston SaberCats in the Western Conference Semifinal. Sugars scored 2 tries on 239m gained for RFCLA recording an impressive 135 tackles completed for an average of 9 per game. Sugars now re-unites with Stephen Hoiles under a new banner, that of the California Legion. He also joins former University of Nottingham teammate Ed Timpson, who was announced by the Legion at the end of January, and will compete for the 2 jersey with USA Eagle Joe Taufete’e.

@legion.rugby via Instagram

The following day, the California Legion announced their 2nd signing of the week with the addition of New Zealand fullback Rory van Vugt for his 5th season in Major League Rugby, over 2 stints. Following a touch rugby career during which he represented New Zealand, van Vugt joined the Southland Stags in New Zealand’s NPC competition and has played with them ever since including during the MLR off-season. Rory van Vugt first entered Major League Rugby with Rugby ATL for their inaugural season in 2020, starting 3 games before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season after only 5 rounds. He returned for the RATLers in 2021, and in his first full MLR season he scored 2 tries in 13 games (all starts), completing 64 tackles and gaining over 600m gained to help Rugby ATL reach the 2021 Championship Final, falling to the LA Giltinis. With the 2021 season over, van Vugt returned to New Zealand and signed with the Highlanders in Super Rugby for the 2022 season. After a couple of years back home, van Vugt returned to Major League Rugby with Rugby FC LA for their inaugural season, newly relocated and rebranded from Atlanta. He represented RFCLA for two seasons, starting 22 of his 23 games between 2024-2025 and scoring 8 tries on over 1400m, including 6 tries on 850m gained (both career highs) in 2025 alone, starting all 14 of his games including RFCLA’s first and only playoff appearance in the Western Conference Semifinal. Primarily a fullback, van Vugt played on the wing a fair amount for RFCLA, and while likely a first choice at 15 with Reece MacDonald now playing in Japan, van Vugt would be competing with the likes of Ryan James and draftee Oscar Treacy on the California Legion wing.

Surprise surprise, the California Legion announced a 3rd new addition for their inaugural Major League Rugby season on 5th February, 2026 when they announced that they had signed Australian back row Ben Houston for the 2026 campaign, marking his 2nd season in the competition. The 6’4, 270lb Number 8 represented the famous Randwick club in the Shute Shield prior to entering MLR, playing with the Galloping Green from 2019-2024, Captaining the side to their first Shute Shield title in 19 years in 2023 and playing under former Giltinis and RFCLA head coach, Stephen Hoiles. When Hoiles became RFCLA’s Coach ahead of the 2025 season, he recruited Ben Houston who enjoyed a stand-out debut MLR season that year. He started all 14 of his appearances for LA, scoring 8 tries on over 625m gained including 1 in their lone playoff appearance in the Western Conference Semifinals, and completed an impressive 160 tackles in total. Houston returned to Randwick during the MLR off-season but with Stephen Hoiles now leading the new-look Legion, he returns to California for a 2nd season in MLR. Houston re-unites with Randwick teammate Ben Sugars, and will be competing for gametime with the likes of USA Eagles Captain Jason Damm, former RFCLA teammate Ed Timpson, and USA Eagle and former Randwick teammate Christian Poidevin in the Legion back row.

Not done there, on February 7th the California Legion announced the signing of their 4th former Rugby FC LA player of the week when they confirmed the addition of crossover athlete Justus Tavai for his 2nd Major League Rugby season in 2026. The Californian prop developed on the gridiron, and was a defensive tackle for the University of Hawai’i (2018-21) and for San Diego State (2022). Tavai declared for the 2023 NFL draft but went unsigned, although this did not stop him reaching the NFL. He signed with the New England Patriots in 2023 where he linked up with his brother, Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai. Justus’ rugby career began in 2024 when he joined the American Raptors crossover program and represented them in the Super Rugby Americas competition that year. Following the cessation of the American Raptors as a pro team, Justus Tavai returned to his native California, continuing to play rugby with Belmont Shore RFC, which served as a sort-of feeder team to RFCLA. Sure enough, in April 2025, part way through that years’ MLR season, Rugby FC LA announced the addition of Justus Tavai for the remainder of the season due to injuries in their front row, and he earned his MLR debut in a narrow loss to the reigning Champion New England Free Jacks in Round 11. In his debut season in Major League Rugby, Tavai earned 4 appearances for RFCLA including a first career start, and recorded a pair of tries and 20 tackles made. Likely a depth option at tighthead, Tavai is the first out-and-out prop announced by the California Legion for their inaugural 2026 campaign.

Not to let their west coast rivals have all the fun, on 3rd February Seattle Seawolves confirmed their first Player Move of the week when they announced the addition of Uruguayan international prop Ignacio Péculo for the 2026 MLR season. Born in Argentina, Péculo moved to Uruguay at a young age and represented the Los Teros U20s from 2018 until 2020, where he also represented the Los Teros XV and earned his full test debut for Uruguay against Spain, all in the same year. Below international level, Péculo played with Uruguay’s Super Rugby Americas franchise, Peñarol, between 2020-2023, claiming back-to-back SRA titles between 2022-23. Following the 2023 campaign, Ignacio Péculo moved north. the tighthead prop signed with the Chicago Hounds ahead of the 2024 Major League Rugby season, earning a total of 31 MLR appearances for the team over two seasons between 2024-2025, starting 9 times. He set career highs for appearances (17) and tackles (93) in 2025, passing 150 career tackles completed and scoring a 2nd career MLR try in the Hounds’ thrilling Eastern Conference Semifinal victory over Old Glory DC. Following 2 years in the windy city, Péculo now heads west to join the Seattle Seawolves, where he will compete with MLR veteran Mason Pedersen for the starting tighthead spot in 2026.

@seawolvesrugby via Instagram

A couple of days later, the Seattle Seawolves followed up their signing of Uruguayan international Ignacio Péculo with the addition of Welsh playmaker Dorian Jones for his 3rd season in Major League Rugby and first with the Seawolves in 2026. The son of former Canadian Men’s Team Head Coach Kingsley Jones, Dorian’s professional career began in his native Wales, representing the Newport Gwent Dragons in the Pro14, playing there between 2013-2018 and earning over 70 appearances before moving to England for a stint with the Worcester Warriors in the Premiership. Following his time with Worcester, Dorian Jones headed to France to join Soyaux Angoulême in the Pro D2, spending 3 seasons there before a short spell with Nice in the 3rd Tier Nationale in 2021, then back to the Pro D2 with Carcassonne from 2021-2023. After spending 5 years in France, Jones made the move across the pond and signed with the NOLA Gold ahead of the 2024 Major League Rugby season, representing the Gold for 2 seasons between 2024-2025. Although Jones only earned 12 appearances with the Gold due to struggles with injury, he started every one of his games and racked up an impressive 93pts in total, leading the team in points scored in 2025, with 55pts in 7 games. Jones scored 1 try on 374m gained and completed over 50 tackles in total, and recorded an impressive 74.51% success rate from the tee during his time in New Orleans. Jones how heads northwest to join the Seattle Seawolves for their 2026 campaign, where he will likely play behind former Houston SaberCats fly-half Davy Coetzer as the back-up 10, but may earn the odd start if Coetzer plays at 15.

As if competing with the California Legion last week, the Seattle Seawolves announced their 3rd intra-league signing of the week on 6th February when they confirmed the return of Major League Rugby veteran prop LaRome White for his NINTH season in 2026. The Louisville, Kentucky native began his rugby journey in 2010 and continued to play during his time at the University of Kentucky between 2012-2015. White’s professional journey began with the Seattle Seawolves in MLR’s debut season in 2018, helping the team to life the tournament’s first Shield before signing with the Austin Elite for the 2019 season. He spent 4 seasons with the Elite/Gilgronis between 2019-2022, earning 46 appearances and a career high 7 starts in 2019. Following the disqualification and subsequent folding of the Gilgronis, LaRome White was selected by, and signed with, the Chicago Hounds in the dispersal draft, where he earned a career high 14 appearances for the Hounds in their inaugural MLR campaign in 2023 and returned to the team for the 2024 season, but was traded from the Hounds to the Houston SaberCats early in the season, where he spent the next two seasons. White earned 24 appearances for the SaberCats including 11 during their 2025 campaign where they finished as MLR Runners-Up. Throughout his 8 seasons in MLR to date, LaRome White has earned 77 appearances and represented 4 different teams, scoring 4 tries on over 900m gained, and completed over 300 tackles in his career so far. Now prime front-row age at 31, loosehead prop LaRome White will likely serve as a reserve front row but may earn the odd start while competing for gametime with the likes of Dewald Donald and recently capped USA Eagle Ezekiel Lindenmuth.

@seawolvesrugby via Instagram

Departures

On the subject of the Seattle Seawolves, on 6th February 2026 it was confirmed that 2024 Runner-Up Huw Taylor would not be returning for a 3rd season with the team in 2026. The Welsh-qualified English forward represented England U18 & U20s in the early days of his career, winning the Junior World Cup with the England U20s in 2016 while playing with the Worcester Warriors, whom he represented between 2014-2018. Following this he headed to Wales to play with the Dragons in the URC, playing there from 2018-2023. Taylor was a player/coach with Super Rugby Cymru side RGC1404 when he signed with the Seattle Seawolves ahead of the 2024 season, and earned 14 appearances during his debut season with the team, starting all 3 of the Seawolves’ playoff games that year and recording a huge 43 tackles in the postseason including 23 in their Western Conference Semifinal victory over the San Diego Legion. Taylor finished 4th league-wide in tackling that year, with a huge 192 tackles completed in total. He returned for a 2nd season with the team in 2025 and recorded another season with over 100 tackles, completing 111 in 11 games (7 starts). Across his 2 seasons with the Seawolves, Huw Taylor scored 3 tries on just under 500m gained in possession and recorded 303 tackles made in 25 games (20 starts), averaging an impressive 12.1 tackles per game. Following the 2025 season, he headed to Australia to play with the Hunter Wildfires in the Shute Shield Competition and just last week it was confirmed that Taylor was returning to the UK to join Plymouth Albion RFC in the English National League 1, the 3rd tier. Very best of luck, Huw!

@Albion_RFC via Twitter/X

Wrapping Up

As mentioned in the introduction, this week’s Player Moves Summary article has a very West Coast flavour with every single move related to either the California Legion or the Seattle Seawolves! With 4 new additions from Rugby FC LA, it is becoming clear that the California Legion will essentially be RFCLA but with the San Diego Legion branding, with a few of the Legion’s stand-outs mixed in. They are yet to announce a player who was not representing either LA or San Diego last season, although the bulk of the California Legion roster is yet to be announced. The Seattle Seawolves added a pair of new faces to their roster from the Chicago Hounds and NOLA Gold as former Seawolves forward Huw Taylor returns home to the UK.

Thank you, as always, for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! It seems that announcements have dried up all of a sudden, but no doubt the California Legion will still be going strong for a few weeks yet. Be sure to check back here next Monday (16th February) to find out more about all of this week’s news. If there are any Player Moves that you notice, or just to say what you think about these articles or the site in general,, 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 pick up some new rugby gear, visit rugbynow.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off of your order!

MLR Player Moves Summary: January 26th, 2026 – February 1st, 2026

NARDatabase

James Deeley

January has flown by and February has arrived and with it, Major League Rugby training camps! Players are heading to their teams and cities for 2026, and Training Camp will open in the next few weeks! One would hope that each team has announced their entire 2026 roster by then, but with MLR that’s never a sure thing. Welcome back to NARDB’s Player Moves Summary series, covering all the Player Moves around the league last week, January 26th to February 1st, 2026!

As regular readers are well aware, 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. This week’s article kicks off as they all do, with the summary graphic for Player Moves announced between January 26th and February 1st, 2026, followed by last week’s re-signings:

Summary Graphic of Player Moves around Major League Rugby between January 26 – February 1, 2026!

Re-Signings

The Chicago Hounds kicked off last week’s Player Moves on January 26th by confirming that Premiership Rugby and Champions Cup winner Ollie Devoto would be returning for a 2nd season with the Hounds and in Major League Rugby in 2026! The English centre earned his Premiership debut with Bath at the age of 18 due to an injury crisis at the club, and would earn over 70 appearances between 2012-2016 as well as representing the England U20s and England Saxons (England A), and earning his test debut for England during their 2016 Summer Tests. The following year, Devoto signed with the Exeter Chiefs and would go on to earn over 100 appearances for the club between the Premiership, Premiership Rugby Cup, and Champions Cup between 2016-2024. His impressive list of achievements with the Chiefs includes 3x Premiership Runner-Up (2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21), 2x Anglo-Welsh/Premiership Cup Titles (2017/18, 2022/23), 2x Premiership Champion (2016/17, 2019/20), and to top it off, a Champions Cup winner (2019/20). Devoto headed across the pond following his departure from Exeter, signing with the Chicago Hounds ahead of the 2025 MLR season, but this wasn’t just a holiday prior to retirement. Devoto started all 16 of his appearances for the Hounds in 2025 (of the 18 that the team played) and scored 3 tries on over 450m gained, also completing an impressive 154 tackles in total including 30 in the playoffs alone as the Hounds advanced to the Western Conference Final, where they fell to the New England Free Jacks in a heartbreaker. Although he didn’t lift the Shield, Devoto’s stellar debut MLR season didn’t go unnoticed. He was named the Chicago Hounds Back of the Year for 2025, as well as an All-MLR Second XV selection for his performance. Devoto will join the likes of USA Eagle Mark O’Keeffe and new acquisitions Tiaan Loots & Tavite Lopeti in the Chicago midfield.

@chicagohoundsrugby via Instagram

The Seattle Seawolves made some noise with their first move of the week on 28th January, announcing the return of fan-favourite Seawolves veteran Lauina Futi for his 6th season with the team in 2026! Born in American Samoa, Futi grew up playing football as a running back, recording two undefeated seasons and back-to-back championships at Tafuna High School. He continued his football career after moving to California in 2014, playing with Allan Hancock College between 2014-2015 before moving to moving to Idaho and picking up rugby, then moving to Seattle in 2018 and joining Seattle RFC. He entered Major League Rugby with the Seattle Seawolves in 2021, and has proven an electric presence on the wing across his 5 seasons of competition so far. He has gained over 500m each season of his career, including a career high of 1,495m in 2023 when he finished 2nd league-wide and scored a career high 9 tries. On the subject of tries, Futi sits on 27 tries scored in 66 games (53 starts) after adding 6 in 13 games during the 2025 season, and is currently T-9th all-time in MLR tries scored with Mika Kruse, his 2025 teammate. 2x MLR runner-up Futi has recorded 3 hat tricks for the Seawolves in his career, one of only 2 players to record a ‘hat trick of hat tricks’ along with former Utah Warriors speedster Joe Mano. The fan favourie American Samoan is almost guaranteed to increase his try tally in the 2026 season, and re-joins the likes of Divan Rossouw in the Seawolves back three for 2026, with another signing announced shortly after…

The following day, the Seattle Seawolves announced their second returning back-three player of the week in South African fullback Duncan Matthews, who will join Divan Rossouw and Ina Futi in the back three for his 5th Major League Rugby campaign for the Seawolves in 2026. A native of Atlantis on the Western Cape, the former Springboks U20s man represented the Blue Bulls and Golden Lions in the Currie Cup before making the move to the US and joining the Seattle Seawolves for the 2022 MLR season. Matthews exploded in his debut season, with 7 tries in 16 games (all starts), and a massive 1,489m gained which led the entire league that year and remains his career high today. Matthews gained over 200m in his 2 playoff games for the Seawolves but played no part in the 2022 Championship Final, in which the Seawolves fell to Rugby New York. He was named to the All-MLR First XV for his efforts in his debut season. Over the next 2 years from 2023-2024, Matthews added another 4 tries in 18 games and over 1,600m gained as a reliable, effective runner for the Seattle Seawolves and featuring as a starter in the 2024 Championship Final where the Seawolves fell to the New England Free Jacks. His 4th year with the team in 2025 was another stand-out season for Matthews, adding 6 tries and recording over 1000m gained for the 2nd time in his career, finishing with 1,152m to lead the entire league for the 2nd time in his career and earning his 2nd All-MLR selection with a Second XV nod, as well as Seattle Seawolves Back of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year honours.. In his first 4 seasons with the Seattle Seawolves, 2x MLR Runner-Up and 2x All-MLR player Duncan Matthews has started every single one of his 47 appearances, scoring 17 tries and 89pts for the team on over 4,200m gained with over 150 tackles completed.

@seawolvesrugby via Instagram

Intra-League Signings

Old Glory DC kicked off the week’s intra-league signings on 26th January when they announced that they had signed former Dallas Jackals and Anthem RC hooker Connor Robinson for 2026. A Massachusetts native, Robinson developed in the New England Free Jacks system as well as with Mystic River RFC, but an injury crisis for the Dallas Jackals catapulted him into Major League Rugby during the 2022 season. Although he would only earn 1 appearance for the Jackals that year (his pro debut!), he would return for a second season in Dallas in 2023, earning a further 9 appearances off the bench and scoring his first MLR try. Following 2 seasons in Texas, Robinson joined the newly created Anthem RC franchise ahead of their inaugural season in 2024, and was the regular first-choice hooker there. Robinson started 20 of his 25 games for Anthem RC across 2 seasons, 11 of which came in 2025 when he scored a career high 4 tries. He recorded over 100 tackles in both seasons with the Rising Stars, taking his career total to 281 completed and just shy of 400m gained in 35 appearances (20 starts), with 7 tries scored in total. Connor Robinson has a decent chance of getting solid game time with the Flags, joining Welsh international and fellow new arrival Kirby Myhill, as well as existing DC hooker KoiKoi Nelligan in competing for the 2 jersey. It’s possible that Nelligan and Robinson compete for the starting places, with 33yo veteran Myhill serving as backup.

The Flags would follow up the addition of Connor Robinson with their second front row signing of the week, adding Australian loosehead prop Liam Fletcher to their squad for 2026. The Brisbane native developed his game with both the Souths and Brothers clubs in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition, helping the latter to back-to-back Hospital cups between 2023-2024 before heading to the States to join the Chicago Hounds for the 2025 Major League Rugby season. In his debut season in North America, Fletcher would feature in 12 of the Chicago Hounds’ 18 games including both of their playoff matches, and completed 12 of his 60 tackles that year as a reserve in the Hounds’ heartbreaking Eastern Conference Final defeat to the New England Free Jacks. Fletcher scored his first MLR try for the Hounds and recorded over 100m gained (not bad for a prop), and now heads to the nation’s capital for his 2nd year in the competition. Although Fletcher will take up a valuable foreign player slot on the Flags’ gameday roster, the 26yo prop has proven himself a reliable and effective reserve front row. Will he transition into a starter with Old Glory DC in 2026? Who knows. Fletcher is the 6th prop announced by the Flags for 2026 along with fellow looseheads Bart Vermeulen and Canadian international Cali Martinez, and tightheads Paul Mullen, Patrick Beattie, and 2025 MLR Draftee Connor Devos. One would expect Martinez to be DC’s go-to loosehead, but even though it’s shorter than previous years, it’s still a long season.

The California Legion would make a splash with their first announcement of the week, also on the 26th January. The newly formed Legion confirmed the return of Los Pumas veteran scrum-half and 2025 MLR Back of the Year Gonzalo Bertranou for his 2nd season in Major League Rugby after representing Rugby FC LA in 2025. A true rugby veteran who signed with RFCLA to rekindle his international career for Los Pumas (which worked!), Bertranou earned his test debut for Argentina back in 2016, years before MLR had played a single game. He has racked up over 60 test caps to date and has represented his country at two Rugby World Cups, Japan in 2019 and France in 2023 when Argentina finished 4th. below international level, Bertranou is a veteran of both the URC and Super Rugby, playing with the Jaguares for their entire Super Rugby tenure from 2016-2020 before heading to the URC (Pro14 at the time), first with Benetton then the Dragons from 2021-2024. He was a standout in his debut season in MLR in 2025, appearing in 16 of RFCLA’s 17 games that season, and starting 15 times. A true general in control far more often than not, Bertranou could change games or serve as the catalyst for someone else to do the same with spectacular game management. He racked up nearly 700m gained (as a scrum-half!) and scored 6 tries, along with consistently flawless kicking and solid defence when required with 59 tackles made. For his outstanding season, Bertranou was deservingly named 2025 MLR Back of the Year, and selected as a part of the 2025 All-MLR First XV. He is the first scrum-half announced by the California Legion so far, and the 6th player in total.

@legion.rugby via Instagram

Not done there, the very next day the California Legion followed-up the signing of the 2025 MLR Back of the Year with the signing of a 2020 NFL draftee for his 3rd season in Major League Rugby in 2026. Selected in the 6th round of the NFL draft, New England Patriots draftee and former Titans player Cassh Maluia has joined the California Legion for the 2026 Major League Rugby season, his 3rd year in the competition. Following his time in the NFL, Maluia joined the Colorado XOs crossover program (formerly MLR’s Colorado Raptors, later the American Raptors) developing his game in Glendale, CO until 2023. He entered Major League Rugby with the Chicago Hounds in 2024, earning his MLR debut and 2 starts in 7 games during his debut season, scoring a first MLR try and over 150m gained in a depth role for the Hounds. His performance for the Hounds earned the California native a spot with the San Diego Legion for the 2025 season, where he recorded career highs almost across the board with 6 starts in 9 games, adding a 2nd MLR try on 187m gained, and doubling his 25 tackles from 2024 to 50 in 2025. Maluia has started 8 of his 16 MLR appearances over 2 seasons, scoring 2 tries on over 300m gained with 75 tackles completed, proving himself as a reliable, domestic qualified depth option in the midfield. With San Diego now morphing into the California Legion along with Rugby FC LA, Maluia remains in his home state of California representing the Legion’s new iteration in his 3rd MLR season in 2026, and is the first of two centres announced by the California Legion last week.

The third announcement of the week for the California Legion and the second of the two centres announced was a big one. On 28th January, the new look Legion announced the addition of 2021 Champion and 2x Major League Rugby Back of the Year Billy Meakes for his 6th season in the competition in 2026. The former Gloucester and London Irish centre entered MLR with the LA Giltinis for their inaugural season in 2021, starting all 12 of his games en route to the 2021 Shield. He represented the Giltinis for their entire short tenure in MLR, recording 5 tries in 27 games (all starts) over 2 seasons, recording a massive 2,466m gained and over 250 tackles made to earn back-to-back MLR Back of the Year awards, the only player in league history to do so. Following the disqualification and subsequent folding of the LA Giltinis, the Chicago Hounds selected Meakes in the dispersal draft and signed the Australian for their inaugural season in 2023. Meakes would represent the Hounds for 2 years from 2023-2024, recording over 1000m gained each season (and 3 seasons in a row from 2022-2024) and recording another 180 tackles in 30 games for the Hounds, starting every time. Following his time in Chicago, Meakes returned to Los Angeles where he owns a coffee shop (Boulevard Neighborhood Coffee), signing with Rugby FC LA for their 2025 season. Meakes scored a career high 6 tries in 16 games (15 starts) for RFCLA, recording over 130 tackles made for the 4th successive season, and gaining over 600m. Through his first 5 seasons in MLR, Billy Meakes scored 13 tries and 73pts in 73 games (72 starts) across 3 teams, earning an All-MLR selection in every season he’s played in for an incredible FIVE selections in total as well as a MLR Shield in 2021 and a pair of MLR Back of the Year awards. He has completed 690 tackles to sit 5th in MLR history among backs, and is one of only 5 players in league history to have recorded over 5,000m gained, sitting 4th all-time with 5,346m. The level of talent and experience that the 35yo Meakes will bring to the team will be invaluable for the California Legion in their inaugural season as their new iteration, and it’s great that Legion fans will be able to see the veteran centre representing their team and the state of California in 2026.

@legion.rugby via Instagram

Leaving their announcements so late means that the California Legion are inundating us with Player Moves, for their 4th signing of last week on 30th January they mixed things up a bit, announcing the signing of a forward to follow the 3 backs already announced. The Legion confirmed that they had added English flanker Ed Timpson to their squad for 2026 after he spent his debut Major League Rugby season with Rugby FC LA in 2025. Timpson attended the University of Nottingham, playing in the English University league, BUCS, during his time there as well as representing England Universities. Following his graduation, Timpson headed up to Scotland to play with Stirling in the Super 6 competition, before heading to Australia to join the Northern Suburbs in Sydney’s Shute Shield competition where he was named the team’s Player of the Season as they finished 2nd in the competition. After a season in Australia, Timpson returned to England after signing a short-term contract with the Bristol Bears until early 2025, whom he represented in the Premiership Rugby Cup before heading stateside to join Rugby FC LA for their 2025 MLR campaign, reuniting with his university teammate, Ben Sugars. The back rower enjoyed a solid debut season in MLR for RFCLA, scoring 7 tries in 15 appearances and helping the team to their first (and as it turns out, last) playoff appearance, the Western Conference Semifinal in which Timpson recorded a full 80 minute performance. Timpson scored his 7 tries on 379m gained, and recorded an impressive 164 tackles completed, earning the 2025 RFCLA Forward of the Year award. 24yo Ed Timpson now joins the likes of USA Eagles Christian Poidevin and RFCLA teammate Jason Damm in the California Legion back row, and like many former LA players, will already be very familiar with the coaching team for 2026.

Departures

Last week saw a pair of 2025 Major League Rugby Champions bid farewell to the club and explore other opportunities to play professional rugby overseas. On 26th January, Valley RFC in Hong Kong announced that they had signed former New England Free Jacks scrum-half Emanuel Lai for their 2026 season. The Hong-Kong qualified Connecticut native was drafted 36th overall out of Santa Clara University by the Free Jacks in the 2024 MLR Collegiate Draft, and was signed to a short-term MLR contract during their successful threepeat bid in 2025. Lai earned his pro debut off the bench in the Free Jacks’ Round 12 victory over the Houston SaberCats which was his only involvement at MLR level for New England during their threepeat season in 2025. He will likely enjoy more game time playing in the HKRU Premiership which will be crucial for the development of the 23yo. Lai is the 2nd player to leave MLR for Hong Kong this offseason, after San Diego Legion’s James Rivers signed with the Hong Kong Scottish back in December.

The second Free Jacks player heading overseas is Major League Rugby veteran and capped Canadian International, Cole Keith. His agency JP Sports Collective announced on 26th January that the prop had signed with the Doncaster Knights in the English Championship. The New Brunswick native entered MLR with the Toronto Arrows ahead of their inaugural season in 2019, also representing his country at the Rugby World Cup in Japan that same year. Keith represented the Arrows for 4 seasons from 2019-2022, starting 29 of his 46 appearances for the team and enjoying a superb 2022 season with over 400m gained and 142 tackles made in 16 games (13 starts), scoring all 3 of his career MLR tries. Following this career year, the Arrows traded Cole Keith to the New England Free Jacks in exchange for cap considerations. Cole Keith spent 3 seasons with the Free Jacks, starting 18 of his 33 games and helping the club to each of their 3 consecutive MLR Shields from 2023-2025. Across his 7 seasons in Major League Rugby, 3x Champion Cole Keith started 47 of his 79 appearances, recording over 1,100m gained and completing 517 tackles. Both relatively high for a prop forward. Keith continues to be a regular part of the Canadian national team lineup, helping the Maple Leafs qualify for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in 2025, and NARDB wishes him the very best of luck with the Doncaster Knights, currently sat 11th in the English Championship.

@doncasterknights via Instagram

These two former Free Jacks weren’t the only confirmed departures from MLR announced last week. Back in September of last year, Old Glory DC announced the departure of dual capped US/Italian centre Tommaso Boni from the club after 20 appearances (16 starts) over the last two seasons with the Flags. Last week, Boni’s next destination was revealed and it was not in Major League Rugby. On 28th January, Mogliano Veneto Rugby in the Italian Serie A Élite announced the return of Tommaso Boni on a short-term contract until the end of June. USA Eagle #557 Boni previously represented Mogliano during his developmental years, and played with the senior team for 3 seasons from 2012-2015 before joining Zebre in the Pro12 (now the URC). It is somewhat surprising that a domestic-qualified USA Eagle could not find a spot on a MLR roster for 2026, even with significantly fewer roster spots available around the league. It’s possible that the 33yo born and raised Italian simply wanted to return home. Regardless, NARDB wishes him the very best of luck back in Italy after 2 seasons in Major League Rugby with Old Glory DC.

Wrapping Up

We enter February on the back of another busy week of Player Moves around Major League Rugby, thanks in part to the 4 new additions announced by the California Legion including TWO MLR backs of the year, as well as two intra-league signings for Old Glory DC and a trio of re-signings including a pair of veterans returning for the Seattle Seawolves! Additionally, three MLR names are heading overseas including capped USA Eagle Tommaso Boni, and Capped Canadian and 3x MLR Champion Cole Keith!

Thank you, as always, for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! A full 1-page summary confirms that Player Moves are still going strong into February, with no doubt more on the way this week. Be sure to check back here next Monday (9th February) to find out more about all of this week’s news. If there are any Player Moves that you notice, or just to say what you think about these articles or the site in general,, 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 pick up some new rugby gear, visit rugbynow.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off of your order!

MLR Player Moves Summary: January 19th, 2026 – January 25th, 2026

NARDatabase

James Deeley

Already almost a month into the new year, and the build up to the 2026 Major league Rugby season is flying past thanks in part to plenty of activity from almost every team. We have 1 complete roster (Anthem RC), with the other 5 remaining MLR teams steadily announcing their squads for a critical 2026 season which kicks off in just over 2 months! A jersey reveal must be coming any day now but until that day comes, we have plenty of Player Moves to talk about following another busy week around the league.

Welcome back to NARDB’s Player Moves Summary series! 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. As always, let’s start with the summary graphic for Player Moves announced between January 19th and January 25th, 2026, followed by the re-signings section:

2-Page Summer Graphic of all Player Moves around MLR between January 19-15, 2026

Re-Signings

Old Glory DC kicked off the week’s Player Moves on 20th January when they confirmed the return of New York native Connor Buckley for his 3rd season with the team and 6th in Major League Rugby in 2026. The Iona College alum earned a Rudy Scholz nomination in 2020 but went undrafted that year, with the scrum-half instead signing with Rugby New York as a free agent for the 2021 MLR season. Buckley only earned 3 appearances off the bench in 2021, but became a regular option for the 9 jersey from 2022 onwards. He earned 8 starts and 13 appearances and completed over 50 tackles during New York’s Shield-winning 2022 season, and would improve across the board for the following season with 11 starts in 15 games in 2023, scoring his first 3 MLR tries with 188m gained and 66 tackles made which remain his career highs in both. After the Ironworkers withdrew from MLR in late 2023, Buckley signed with Old Glory DC for the 2024 season and has represented the Flags ever since. He has scored 8 of his 11 career tries in his 30 games for DC (21 starts), and has 61 Major League Rugby appearances in total, starting 40 times and gaining over 600m with 211 tackles completed in his career. With Ethan McVeigh now moving to the New England Free Jacks, Connor Buckley is almost definitely going to serve as Old Glory DC’s go-to scrum-half, backed up by John Lefevre.

Intra-league signings

Not content with the return of their regular scrum-half Connor Buckley, later that same day Old Glory DC announced that they had picked up former Miami Sharks hooker Kirby Myhill for his 3rd season in Major League Rugby in 2026. The capped Welsh international first signed with the Sharks ahead of their inaugural season in 2024, starting 6 of his 7 games in their debut year and scoring his first MLR try on 222m gained as the Sharks held their own. Myhill returned the following year and had a far better year almost across the board. He started 10 of his 15 appearances and scored 4 tries including 1 in the Miami Sharks’ first (and as it turned out, only) MLR playoff game in the Eastern Conference Semifinal against the New England Free Jacks. Although Myhill made less ground in 2025 than the previous season with 117m gained, he more than tripled his tackles completed total from 34 in 2024 to 114 in 2025. It’s a pleasant surprise to see Kirby Myhill remain in Major League Rugby after the Miami Sharks withdrew from the league earlier in the offseason. Old Glory DC will be hoping his leadership and experience is worth using a valuable foreign player spot, as the Welshman slots into the middle of the Flags front row as the first hooker announced by the team for 2026.

Old Glory DC were not the only MLR side to announce a new hooker for the 2026 season last week, however. Late on 20th January, the California Legion announced that they had added USA Eagle #466 Joe Taufete’e to their squad! The American Samoa-born forward has the distinction of being the only Men’s Player from a ‘Tier 2’ nation to ever be nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year while he was playing for the Worcester Warriors when the shortlist was announced for the 2019 award ultimately won by South Africa’s Pieter-Steph du Toit. Following his time in England and a stint in France, Joe Taufete’e entered Major League Rugby with the LA Giltinis in 2022, starting 7 of his 8 appearances and scoring 2 tries on just shy of 300m gained before the Giltinis were disqualified prior to the 2022 postseason. ‘Big Joe’ would sign on with the Houston SaberCats part-way through the following season, scoring double the number of tries as the previous season in fewer games (6 starts in 7 games), earning his first MLR postseason appearance as a replacement as the SaberCats fell to the Seattle Seawolves in the Western Conference Eliminator. During the 2023/24 offseason, the Houston SaberCats traded Joe Taufete’e to those Seattle Seawolves in a blockbuster deal that saw Seattle’s star fly-half AJ Alatimu head to Texas. Taufete’e would double his try total again, with a career high 8 tries scored in 14 games (12 starts) for the Seawolves including a try in the 2024 Championship Final as Seattle fell to the New England Free Jacks. The 2024 campaign was Taufete’e’s best in MLR to date, with over 400m gained and just shy of 100 tackles made, as well as 8 tries to take his career total to 14. He would increase this to 16 as a member of the NOLA Gold in 2025, mainly as the back-up hooker behind Ale Lopeti with 3 starts in 10 games. Across his MLR career so far, Joe Taufete’e has scored 16 tries in 39 MLR games (28 starts) acrodd 4 different teams with just under 1000m gained and just over 250 tackles completed. The USA Eagle was the 3rd player ever announced by the California Legion behind Christian Poidevin and Jason Damm, and marks his 5th Major League Rugby team in as many seasons.

@CalLegion via Twitter/X

Not done there, a couple of days later on the evening of 22nd January, the California Legion also announced that they had signed California native Ryan James for the 2026 MLR season. A native of San Diego, CA, James first entered Major League Rugby with the Colorado Raptors, earning his pro debut off the bench in a single appearance before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the league down after only 5 games rounds. He joined the LA Giltinis for their inaugural season in 2021, scoring 5 tries and starting 6 of his 15 appearances including coming off the bench in the 2021 Championship Final to help the Giltinis secure the Shield. James represented the Giltinis in 25 games over 2 seasons from 2021-22, gaining over 900m total and scoring 6 tries in 12 starts. Following their disqualification and subsequent folding, Ryan James returned to Colorado and spent 2023 representing the rebranded American Raptors in the Super Rugby Americas competition, before returning to California and signing with his hometown MLR team, the San Diego Legion. He started all 27 of his appearances with the San Diego Legion between 2024-25, recording over 800m gained and 80 tackles completed in each of his 2 seasons there and scoring 6 tries. To date in MLR, Ryan James has 12 tries on over 2,500m gained in 53 appearances (39 starts) over 5 seasons, with just shy of 250 tackles completed as a winger. With the California Legion, James joins fellow former San Diego and Giltinis player Christian Poidevin under a familiar ex-Giltinis/Legion coaching staff of Stephen Hoiles, Dave Dennis (both formerly Giltinis), and Dave Clancy (former SD Legion).

The Chicago Hounds began their Player Moves for the week on January 21st when they announced that they had signed Brazilian international front rower and Major League Rugby Champion Wilton Rebolo for their 2026 campaign. Rebolo earned his test debut for Brazil against Germany back in 2015, and was still a regular in the Brazilian pack for their autumn internationals in 2025. The São Jose dos Campos native entered Major League Rugby with the Austin Gilgronis in 2020, featuring for the AGs in the pre-season but suffering a knee injury that ruled him out of the COVID-shortened year. He returned the following year with Rugby New York, becoming the first Brazilian to play in the league and earning 12 appearances (2 starts) as well as scoring his first MLR try. Rebolo returned with the Ironworkers in 2022 and enjoyed his best season to date, starting 5 of his 15 appearances and adding a 2nd career try on over 150m gained with 89 tackles made (both career highs) to help the Ironworkers advance to the 2022 Championship Final and secure their first Shield over the Seattle Seawolves. Rebolo started all 3 of the Ironworkers’ playoff games en-route. Following the MLR season, Rebolo was picked up by the Western Force in Super Rugby, playing with Northland in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship (NPC) in the fall of 2022 before earning his Super Rugby Debut for the Force in Round 15 of the 2023 season, becoming the first Brazilian player to ever feature in Super Rugby. Rebolo would return to MLR mid-way through the 2024 season, signing with Rugby FC LA and starting 2 of his 7 appearances during their inaugural season and during the offseason, RFCLA traded Rebolo to the Houston SaberCats in exchange for the 8th overall Draft Pick in 2025 (used to select Ieremia Ieremia). Rebolo would score his 3rd MLR try for the SaberCats in one of his 10 appearances for Houston, also appearing off the bench in all 3 of their playoff games that season as they advanced to the 2025 Championship Final, where they fell to the New England Free Jacks. Through his 4-season MLR career so far, Wilton Rebolo has started 9 of his 44 appearances, scoring 3 tries and gaining exactly 350m gained, with over 200 tackles completed, and is both a MLR Champion (2022) and MLR Runner-Up (2025). Primarily a prop but also capable of playing hooker, the 30yo will be joining a highly experienced Chicago Hounds front row, with the likes of Charlie Abel, Oti Pifeleti, and Jake Turnbull all competing for gametime.

@chicagohoundsrugby via instagram

The very next day the Chicago Hounds announced that they had also signed a former Miami Sharks forward for their 2026 squad: Capped USA Eagle Tomas Casares! The Argentina-born back row attended Thomas More University and was drafted 17th overall in the 2022 MLR Draft by the New England Free Jacks. He never represented the Free Jacks at MLR level however, and was selected by the Miami Sharks during the 2023 expansion draft ahead of their debut 2024 season. Casares earned his pro debut for the Sharks in 2024, started 6 of his 8 appearances during their inaugural season and scoring 2 tries including a game-winning 7-pointer against his former side, the New England Free Jacks. Following an impressive season with the Sharks, Casares was included in the USA National Team squad for their 2024 Autumn tests, where he earned his international debut as Eagle #583 in a hard fought 21-17 victory over Portugal. Tomas Casares returned for a second MLR season with the Sharks in 2025, earning another 14 appearances and doubling his starts from 6 in 2024 to 12 in 2025, recording an impressive 139 tackles which very nearly doubled his total from 2024 as well, passing 200 tackles made in his career. Casares now heads to Chicago following the withdrawal of the Miami Sharks from MLR, and will likely serve as a depth role in a stacked Hounds back row, playing behind the likes of Maclean Jones, Lucas Rumball, and Mason Flesch.

Not wanting to miss out in the intra-league signing spree, the Seattle Seawolves announced the addition of test capped Canadian lock Callum Botchar for their 2026 campaign. Born in Ontario but raised in British Columbia, Botchar attended the University of British Columbia playing with the UBC Thunderbirds as well as the Pacific Pride and Canada U20 side. He also represented the Toronto Wolfpack Rugby League side in their 2021 Canada Cup exhibition game against the DC Cavalry. Botchar got a chance to represent his country at test level before even entering Major League Rugby when he was selected for the Canada squad for their 2022 November tests, earning a pair of caps against the Netherlands and Belgium. Botchar headed to New Zealand for 2023, playing with the New Plymouth Old Boys in the Taranaki Premier Division, and was signed by the Toronto Arrows for the 2024 season before their unfortunate withdrawal following the passing of their talismanic owner, Bill Webb. Botchar was selected by the NOLA Gold in the subsequent dispersal draft, and finally earned his Major League Rugby debut for the Gold in 2024. He started 9 of his 16 appearances for the Gold, featuring in all but 1 game including the first (and as it turned out, only) playoff game in franchise history against the Chicago Hounds. He scored 2 tries in his debut season, gaining 167m and completing over 100 tackles on defence, and was named as the 2024 NOLA Gold Shawn Riley Heart of Gold award recipient, honoring MLR and NOLA Gold alum, Shawn Riley. Botchar returned for a second season with the Gold in 2025, starting 6 of his 8 appearances and passing 200m gained in his 23 game (12 start) MLR career so far. He now heads back towards his home in Vancouver to join his (sort of) local MLR team, the Seattle Seawolves following the withdrawal of the NOLA Gold. Botchar will join Seawolves veteran Rhyno Herbst and fellow new acquisition Harrison Mataele in the middle of the Seattle pack.

@seawolvesrugby via Instagram

New Additions

On January 22nd, Old Glory DC announced that they had added the 2nd Round draft pick from 2024 to their squad for the 2026 Major League Rugby campaign, Aidan Ridgway! A native of Johannesburg, the South African scrum-half attended Arkansas State University from 2020-2024, representing the Red Wolves throughout. Following his graduation in 2024, Ridgway declared for the 2024 MLR Collegiate Draft and was chosen as one of the top 50 prospects to attend the MLR Rising combine to give MLR sides a better look at potential draftees. This clearly paid off for Ridgway as he was drafted in 15th overall in the 2024 Draft by Old Glory DC. Following his selection, he spent the fall of 2024 in the Old Glory DC pathway, playing with the Young Glory academy side as well as the Washington Irish club side, but did not feature at MLR level for the Flags in 2025. Instead, the not quite US-eligible Ridgway returned to Arkansas State University for another year with the Red Wolves. Now fully US-eligible on residency, Ridgway returns to the Flags and is hoping to make his pro debut in 2026. He will have to fight for that though, with Connor Buckley and John Lefevre likely both ahead of him for the 9 jersey.

Later that day, the Chicago Hounds added a new face of their own when they announced that they had promoted Academy product Mathis Demandolx to their MLR squad for the 2026 season. Also a scrum-half, Washington State native Demandolx played with the Rhino Rugby Academy in California, attending in 2021 and again in the World Tens Series in 2024, sandwiching a stint at Central Washington University during the 2022/23 season. After moving to Chicago and playing with the Lions in the Midwest Rugby Premiership, Demandolx headed to New Zealand and spent the summer of 2025 playing premier grade rugby with Whakarewarewa Rugby Community Sports Club in the Bay of Plenty, hleping them to the 2025 Bay Wide Championship title, the club’s first in 19 years. Following this time in New Zealand, Demandolx returned to the Chicago Lions with a taste for Championships, and helped the club to the 2025 Midwest Rugby Premiership title while also proving a standout with the Chicago Hounds Fall Performance squad. At just 22, Mathis Demandolx serves as proof that pathways and academy systems work, and now the young scrum-half will be playing behind regular USA National Team starter, Ruben de Haas.

@chicagohoundsrugby via Instagram

Also on a busy 23rd January, the California Legion announced that they had signed their first ever MLR Collegiate Draft pick to a Major League Rugby contract for the 2026 season! Selected in the first round using the 5th overall pick out of Central Washington University, US-eligible Australian winger Oscar Treacy joins the Legion after a stellar college career with the Wildcats. Born and raised in Melbourne, Treacy attended CWU from 2021-2025, during which time he was named a 2x CRAA All-American represented both the USA Falcons and USA U23s at Sevens levels. To cap off his college career, Treacy was named as the 2025 recipient of the prestigious Rudy Scholz award, recognising the top collegiate rugby player in the US each year. Oscar Treacy is the 5th player announced by the California Legion for their inaugural 2026 season and of those 5, he is already the 2nd winger after Ryan James, who is covered earlier in this article. There has already been a lot of buzz around Treacy as a player, so Legion fans should be excited about him representing the state of California in 2026.

Wrapping Up

It seems like Major League Rugby teams got last week’s Player Moves announced just before much of the USA and Canada was blanketed by a dump of snow, resulting in plenty of moves at the start of the week but a quiet weekend just gone. It was still a busy week for intra-league transfers, with the Chicago Hounds keeping busy and the California Legion really getting rolling on their Player Moves. A busy week for Draftees and academy standouts as well, earning their first pro rugby contracts and congratulations to them!

Thank you very much for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! Another 2-page summary last week shows that Player Moves are experiencing a bit of a second wind to start off 2026, with no doubt more on the way this week. Be sure to check back here next Monday (2nd February) to find out more about all of this week’s news. 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 rugbynow.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off of your order!

MLR Player Moves Summary: January 11th, 2026 – January 18th, 2026

NARDatabase

James Deeley

In previous years, by mid-January training camps would have opened and fans would be being bombarded with photos of players in camp as the hype would be really ramping up towards the season kicking off! However, 2026 is not a ‘normal’ season as fans of Major League Rugby have come to know it. we are still roughly two and a half months away from the season kicking off, but thankfully the California Legion have finally started to announce their Player Moves for the 2026 season, which should give NARDB plenty to talk about over the next few weeks!

There’s been an increase in Player Moves from around the league compared to the last few weeks which means there’s plenty of news to talk about: Welcome back to NARDB’s Player Moves Summary series! 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. As always, let’s start with the summary graphic for Player Moves announced between January 12th and January 18th, 2026, followed by the re-signings section:

2-Page Summary Graphic for all Player Moves around MLR between January 11-18, 2026!

Re-signings

The Seattle Seawolves got last week’s Player Moves started on January 12th, when they announced the return of South African prop Dewald Donald for his 5th season with the team in 2026. The former Springboks U19 man and Blue Bulls Currie Cup player first entered Major League Rugby with the Seawolves in 2022, representing Seattle in each of the 4 seasons since then. Donald has earned 22 appearances to date including a high of 8 in the 2024 season when the Seattle Seawolves finished as MLR Runners-Up, a year where Donald also earned a career high 4 starts that year. the 6’1, 270lbs front row has started 7 of his appearances for the Seawolves, gaining over 200m (not bad at all as a depth prop) and completing 86 tackles in his career so far. Donald will compete with fellow returning Seawolf Mason Pedersen and new signing Ezekiel Lindenmuth in the Seattle Seawolves front row, with no doubt more props to be announced by the team in the coming weeks.

@seawolvesrugby via Instagram

A few days after the re-signing of Dewald Donald, the Seattle Seawolves confirmed their 2nd returnee of the week for the 2026 campaign, MLR Draftee Calvin Liulamaga! the Rudy Scholz nominee and 2x All-American was selected 11th overall by the Seattle Seawolves, his local team, in the 2024 MLR Draft out of Central Washington University. He spent the 2025 season with the team and although he did not earn his pro debut, he was named the 2025 Seattle Seawolves Young Player of the Year. Calvin Liulamaga will be hoping to earn his pro debut during the 2026 season, joining the likes of Dan Kriel and Mark Bennett in the Seawolves midfield.

Joining Seattle with a re-signing last week were the Chicago Hounds, who coincidentally announced the return of a former Seattle Seawolf on 13th January 2026. 6’3, 275lbs tighthead prop Koby Baker will return for his 2nd season with the Hounds in 2026, and 3rd in Major League Rugby after representing the Seawolves in 2024. Baker represented the American Raptors during the 2024 Super Rugby Americas season before being brought in as injury cover by the Seawolves towards the end of their 2024 campaign. He earned 5 appearances off the bench for the Seattle Seawolves that year, 3 of which were playoff appearances including the 2024 Championship Final against the New England Free Jacks, finishing his debut MLR season as a runner-up. Following the season, Baker joined the Chicago Hounds academy team during the fall of 2024 and has remained with the team since, earning an MLR deal and 2 additional appearances for the Hounds in their 2025 campaign, before a stand-out fall with Chicago’s Autumn Performance Squad against the likes of the Midwest Thunderbirds and Canada’s Pacific Pride in 2025.

Intra-League Signings

In a busy week for the team, the Seattle Seawolves also announced the addition of former Brumbies U19 hooker Liki Chan-Tung to their 2026 roster on 13th January 2026 after the 24yo spent the 2025 season with the San Diego Legion. Prior to entering MLR, Chan-Tung was playing in the ACTRU Premier Division with the Gungahlin Eagles, winning the John I Dent cup with the team in 2023. Having been raised in Australia but born in Hawaii, he is US-eligible and therefore a valuable domestic player in Major League Rugby, found by the San Diego Legion who snapped him up for their 2025 campaign. Chan-Tung earned his pro debut and 3 appearances off the bench for the Legion during his first season in North America, gaining 29m and completing 14 tackles, and was an unused reserve in an additional two matches as the Legion would miss out on the post-season by a single point. With San Diego merging with RFCLA to create the California Legion, Liki Chan-Tung heads north and joins the Seattle Seawolves, where he will compete for the 2 jersey with Canadian international Dewald Kotze and recently capped USA Eagle Sean McNulty in 2026.

On January 15th, the Chicago Hounds announced their first intra-league signing of the week, adding 2022 Major League Rugby Draftee Jason Tidwell to their squad for the 2026 season! Selected late in the 2022 Draft at 36th overall by the Dallas Jackals out of Texas A&M University, Tidwell spent his first two years in the league with the Jackals, earning his pro debut and 3 appearances off the bench in his rookie season, before enjoying a breakout year in 2024. He started 7 of his 16 games for the Jackals that season, scoring 3 tries and gaining over 600m to help the Jackals qualify for the postseason for the first (and only) time in team history, advancing to the Western Conference Final where they took the Seattle Seawolves right to the edge. Following the withdrawal of the Dallas Jackals from MLR in the offseason, Tidwell moved to Charlotte and signed with Anthem RC for the 2025 season, representing the Rising Stars in 10 games that year, starting every time and scoring another 3 tries with 324m gained to take his career total to 6 tries and over 900m gained in 29 MLR games (17 starts)! Tidwell will have plenty of competition for game time in Chicago, joining USA Eagle Noah Brown and MLR Rookie of the Year Peyton Wall, as well as Canadian international Brock Webster and Chilean international Santiago Videla at the back. Tidwell will be hoping that Videla plays fly-half more often than not, and Webster fills the 15 shirt.

@chicagohoundsrugby via Instagram

To wrap up the intra-league moves from last week, on 18th January Old Glory DC announced the addition of NOLA Gold veteran Ross Depperschmidt for his 8th Major League Rugby season in 2026! Born and raised just outside of Dallas, TX, Depperschmidt grew up playing football and baseball, before picking up rugby at the University of Alabama, graduating in 2018. He signed with the NOLA Gold ahead of the 2019 MLR season following an open tryout, but would have to wait until 2020 to earn his pro debut. Depperschmidt earned 2 appearances (1 start) in 2020 before the COVID 19 pandemic shut the season down after 5 rounds. He returned in 2021 and earned 2 starts in 3 appearances before earning a regular roster spot the following year. In 2022, Depperschmidt started more games (6) than he had appeared in the previous 2 seasons combined (5). He earned 12 appearances during the 2022 season and scored his first 2 tries with 297m gained which remains his career high. Over the 3 seasons between 2022-2024, Depperschmidt scored 5 tries and earned 41 appearances (23 starts) for NOLA, recording over 200m gained each year and 164 tackles including a high of 68 in 2024. Over 7 seasons with the Gold, he has earned 49 MLR appearances asnd passed 200 tackles made in 2025, also sitting just under 1000m gained in his career (930m). Depperschmidt will represent a MLR team other than NOLA for the first time in his career in 2026, where he is almost guaranteed to earn his 50th MLR appearance. He joins a healthy NOLA Gold alumni contingent at Old Glory, comprised of Aidan King, Paul Mullen, Bart Vermeulen, and Harley Wheeler.

New Additions

This next Player Move created a bit of a headache. After months of silence, the California Legion finally started announcing their 2026 roster on 14th January, starting with a player from the San Diego Legion. Given that the California Legion is a new entity, is this an intra-league signing? Given that the branding, moniker, and likely fanbase is going to be largely the same as San Diego, is this a re-signing? Because NARDB is treating the California Legion as a new Major League Rugby franchise, and some elements will be new to Rugby FC LA and San Diego Legion players, any and all Legion signings for 2026 will fall into the ‘New Additions’ section. Moving to the player himself, the first player ever announced by the California Legion was USA Eagle #593, Christian Poidevin!

A 2021 Champion with the LA Giltinis, Australian back rower Poidevin (the son of Wallabies legend Simon Poidevin) has now represented 3 Californian Major League Rugby franchises across 6 seasons including 2026, and was even selected by the precursor team to Rugby FC LA, Rugby ATL in the Giltinis expansion draft. Poidevin has scored 18 tries in his 59 game MLR career so far, including 8 in 14 games (8 starts) during the 2025 campaign with the San Diego Legion, where he recorded his 4th 100+ tackle season and 3rd with 150+ tackles, recording 170 that year to take his career total to 695, which is an average of 11.8 per game. Not just a solid defender, Poidevin passed 1,500m gained in possession during the 2025 season, and recorded a career high of 513m gained in 2023, his first season in San Diego. Although born and raised in Australia, Poidevin qualifies for the USA thanks to his mother who was born in Chicago, and he earned his test debut for the USA as Eagle #593 against England in July 2025. With 6 weeks until the Legion kick off the 2026 MLR season against Anthem RC on 28th March, fans can expect roughly a player a day from the California Legion!

@legion.rugby on Instagram

Not finished there, on 16th January the California Legion also announced the addition of Major League Rugby veteran and USA Men’s National Team Captain Jason Damm for the 2026 season! Born in Georgia, Damm first entered MLR with the Glendale Raptors in the fall of 2018, earning his pro debut for the team during the 2019 campaign, with 3 appearances and 1 start. Following the 2019 season, Jason Damm returned home to Georgia and signed with the Rugby ATL expansion team, where he would spend 4 seasons. He earned 4 appearances for the RATLers before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the season down after 5 rounds, but the following year is when Damm really began to stand out. During the 2021 campaign, Jason Damm scored 5 tries on 865m gained in 15 games (12 starts), completing 165 tackles to earn a 2021 All-MLR 2nd XV selection and help Rugby ATL advance to the Championship Final, where they fell to the LA Giltinis. In total, Damm scored 8 tries in 30 games (21 starts) with Rugby ATL between 2020-2023, and moved with the team following their relocation to Los Angeles under new ownership. Damm captained the now-rebranded Rugby FC LA from 2024-2025, and proved a standout. He earned 31 appearances (29 starts) for the team, scoring 7 tries in each season and recording well over 150 tackles completed, including a career high of 199 tackles in 2025, helping RFCLA to earn their first (and only) MLR playoff appearance. For his efforts, Jason Damm was named to the All-MLR 2nd XV for the second time in 2025. He joins Christian Poidevin in an already formidable looking Legion pack.

The California Legion weren’t the only team to announce a new addition last week, however. On 15th January Old Glory DC announced that they had added their 1st Round pick from the 2025 Draft to their Major League Rugby roster for the 2026 campaign. Selected 4th overall in 2025, Texan Prop Connor Devos attended Lindenwood University from 2021-2025, where he was named a Collegiate All-American in 2024 and helped the Lions to finish in the NCR D1A Final Four 3 times during his time there. The promising 22yo front rower has already represented the USA at both U20 and U23 levels, touring South Africa with the latter in the summer of 2025. Following his successful draft, Devos spent the fall of 2025 with the St. Louis Bombers, earning his D1 Club debut in October. New to the professional game, Devos will likely serve as a depth tighthead option for Old Glory DC in 2026 behind MLR veteran Paul Mullen and Patrick Beattie, with Canadian international (and fellow draftee) Cali Martinez able to play both sides of the scrum. Devos is the 7th draftee from the 2025 MLR Draft Class confirmed for 2026.

Departures

Right at the start of the week there was news from Japan about the signing of a 2025 Major League Rugby standout, as Japan Rugby League One – Division 1 side the Yokohama Canon Eagles announced the addition of former Utah Warriors hooker Liam Coltman for their 2025/26 campaign. The soon-to-be 36yo capped All Black only spent 1 season in Major League Rugby, but made a huge impact representing the Utah Warriors, who finished as the top team during the regular season thanks in part to Coltman’s efforts. He started 14 of his 16 appearances for the Warriors including both of their playoff games during the 2025 postseason, completing 172 tackles in total, more than any other front row player during the 2025 season (next closest was Seattle Seawolves’ Cam Orr on 161). Although he did not score in the playoffs, Coltman recorded 10 tries in his 14 regular season games in 2025, and was one of four Utah Warriors named to the All-MLR First XV for his performance that year. Unfortunately, with the withdrawal of the Utah Warriors from Major League Rugby, and the league’s shift away from foreign players, fans will not see him back in MLR in 2026. NARDB wishes Liam Coltman the very best of luck playing in Japan!

On 15th January 2026, the reigning Super Rugby Americas Champions Peñarol announced their squad for the 2026 SRA season. On it was former Miami Sharks stand-out Manu Ardao, who previously represented Peñarol when they won the 2023 SRA title, before heading north to join the Sharks. Back rower Ardao joined the Sharks for their inaugural MLR season in 2024 having just represented Uruguay at the 2021 Rugby World Cup in France, and was a regular in the starting XV in Florida. He scored 10 tries in 26 games as a Shark (25 starts), recording over 1,100m gained in possession and 273 tackles completed including a high of 155 during in 14 games during the 2025 season, helping the Sharks qualify for their first (and only) MLR playoff appearance. That year, he was the only Miami Sharks player to earn All-MLR honours, earning a First XV selection for a superb season in which he led the entire league with a monstrous 27 turnovers won at the breakdown. Manu Ardao now returns to his native Uruguay and joins fellow MLR alumni and 2025 Peñarol Captain Manu Diana (TOR, 2020-21).

With Major League Rugby re-defining their definition of ‘Domestic Player’ to no longer include Canadians for the 2026 season and beyond, the 47 Canadians who contributed to the success of Major League Rugby teams in 2025 will fall dramatically, and the amount of Canadian players confirmed for 2026 is currently in single figures. As a result, many Canadian players are looking elsewhere to play in 2026. The Canadian Men’s Sevens team announced their roster for the HSBC SVNS D3 tournament in Dubai his month, which included a pair of 2025 MLR-ers that will not be returning to the league in 2026. Josiah Morra returns to the Sevens setup after last featuring at the Rugby Americas North (RAN) 7s in 2024, following a switch to the XVs game and signing with the New England Free Jacks for the 2025 season. Morra earned 1 appearance with New England before being loaned to the Miami Sharks to give him more game time, where he scored 2 tries and started 8 of his 9 games with Miami and gained over 300m in his 10 MLR appearances that season. Returning to the Sevens team alongside Morra for the first time since the 2024 RAN 7s is MLR Draftee Jack Shaw. The Bishop’s University graduate was selected 22nd Overall in the 2022 MLR Draft by Rugby ATL and spent 3 seasons in the league, representing the RATLers in 2023 before following the team to LA when they relocated under new ownership and became Rugby FC LA. Shaw scored 9 tries in 27 MLR games, starting 24 times and recording over 1,200m gained with 124 tackles completed in his MLR career. Morra and Shaw join fellow MLR alumni Lockie Kratz (NOLA, 2021) and Brenden Black (TOR, 2023) in the Canadian Sevens squad. While it is a shame that fans will not get the chance to see these players in Major League Rugby this season, it is great to see them still representing the Maple Leaf, and very best of luck to them and the entire Canada squad!

@rugbycanada via Instagram

Retirements

As well as the above moves, last week also saw the retirement of perhaps one of Major League Rugby’s most underrated players after 8 seasons in North America’s top flight and over 75 games played across 3 different teams. On 12th January, Seattle Seawolves flanker Devin Short announced his retirement on social media. The Nevada native was a Major League Rugby original, having featured in every season of the competition between 2018-2025. Short’s pro career began with the San Diego Legion in MLR’s inaugural 2018 season where he featured in all but 1 of the Legion’s games, starting all of his appearances and putting in a full 80 minutes during their semi-final defeat to the Seattle Seawolves. He would represent the Legion for 3 years between 2018-2020, scoring 3 tries and starting 19 of his 23 appearances for San Diego despite missing a chunk of the 2019 season with injury. He gained well over 500m in possession and averaging 8 tackles per game for 184 completed in total. Short was tipped for an Eagles cap in the near future but this was ruined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down play after only 5 rounds of the MLR season. When the league returned in 2021, Devin Short had moved on from the Legion and signed with the NOLA Gold where he played for another 3 seasons. For the Gold, Short started 24 of his 31 appearances between 2021-2023, gaining over 1,300m and completing 282 tackles. Most of this was achieved during a stand-out 2022 season, where Devin Short recorded career highs across the board as well as becoming the youngest player in MLR history at the time to reach 50 appearances, the 21st player to do so in league history. He started all 15 of his appearances for the Gold that season, completing 195 tackles and scoring 3 tries on 903m gained, almost tripling his previous career high of 325m set the previous year.

Just as it appeared that Devin Short had arrived on the scene, his 2023 season was hugely affected by injury, and he started 3 of his 4 appearances that year. Following the 2023 season, the NOLA Gold traded the flanker to the Seattle Seawolves in exchange for the 11th overall pick in the 2023 MLR Draft (used to select Gabriel Mahu’inga). Things would get worse for Short before they got better. An autoimmune disease ruled him out for roughly half of the 2024 season, but he made his Seawolves debut in Round 12 and started all 6 of his appearances in the back half of the season including twice in the playoffs, starting both the Western Conference Semifinal against the San Diego Legion, and the 2024 Championship Game against the New England Free Jacks. Despite health issues limiting his game time, Short still recorded 72 tackles and over 225m gained during the 2024 season, and returned to the Seawolves for 2025, where he enjoyed a resurgence. In what would prove to be his final season in Major League Rugby, Devin Short appeared in all 17 of the Seawolves’ games, setting a career high. He started 8 times and recorded just shy of 100 tackles, scoring 2 tries. Across his 8 seasons in MLR, Devin Short recorded 636 tackles completed and gained well over 2,000m in possession, scoring 8 tries and 44pts in in total in 77 games, starting 57 times. Devin Short is one of the great ‘what ifs’ of American rugby. He is a proven stand-out in the back row when healthy, but health issues and a pandemic prevented him from putting in consistent performances year-in, year-out. These factors meant that Short became one of the more underrated players in Major League Rugby, but when he was in the lineup you knew that he would perform. Devin Short is arguably one of the best players to never represent the USA at test level, and we wish him the very best in retirement.

@devinshort_ via Instagram

Wrapping Up

Following 2 weeks of relative calm regarding Player Moves around Major League Rugby, it seems that things have started to pick up again! Anthem RC announced their full roster and the Chicago Hounds and New England Free Jacks coming to an end of their announcements, while Old Glory DC and the Seattle Seawolves continue announcing at a steady pace, and the California Legion are getting started at long last! There should be plenty of Player Moves to discuss until training camps open in early February, and maybe even some more after that.

Thank you very much for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! As mentioned, it seems like things are picking up again on the Player Moves front so be sure to come back next Monday to find out more about all of this week’s news. 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/Thread, 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!

MLR Player Moves Summary: January 5th, 2026 – January 11th, 2026

NARDatabase

James Deeley

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:

Summary Graphic of Player Moves around Major League Rugby between January 5 – 11, 2026!

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.

@seawolvesrugby via Instagram

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!

MLR Player Moves Summary: December 29, 2025 – January 4th, 2026

NARDatabase

James Deeley

Happy New Year rugby fans, and welcome to 2026!! Here’s hoping that the tumult and uncertainty of the second half of 2025 will stay in 2025, and let’s look ahead to this upcoming season which by necessity is Major League Rugby’s most important season to date. Some MLR teams are starting to come to the end of their roster announcements for their 2026 squad and as usual, that gives NARDB plenty to talk about despite a much quieter 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. This series only covers the players announced by the teams themselves, but that doesn’t mean that NARDB isn’t listening to any rumours that are out there. As always, the summary graphic for Player Moves announced last week between December 29th, 2025 and January 4th, 2026, followed by the re-signings section:

Player Moves Summary Graphic for December 29th 2025, to January 4th, 2026

Re-Signings

Old Glory DC were the first team to announce a returning player last week, confirming the return of Major League Rugby draftee John Powers for his 3rd year with the team in 2026, and 6th in the competition. Powers was selected 7th overall out of Iona College by the Utah Warriors in MLR’s inaugural draft back in 2020, and is one of only two players to ever be drafted from Iona College along with Watson Filikitonga in the same draft (14th Overall). Powers was signed by the Warriors for the 2021 MLR season and made his debut from the bench in his sole Utah appearance before being traded to New York ahead of the 2022 season in exchange for a 2022 3rd Round Draft Pick that was eventually used by the Houston SaberCats to select Brandon Karnes after being traded through Rugby ATL. Powers earned 7 appearances from the bench with the Ironworkers from 2022-2023, helping the team to lift the 2022 MLR Shield before withdrawing from the competition in late 2023. Powers was selected by Old Glory DC in the subsequent dispersal draft and has represented the Flags ever since. He has carved out a solid career with Old Glory DC, earning his first 11 career MLR starts across 26 games since 2023, scoring 2 tries and 12 points while gaining 465m of his career total 626m, and completing 75 of his 82 career tackles. Powers has played at centre, fullback, and even fly-half for Old Glory DC and this flexibility will prove very useful when injuries inevitably take their toll on the roster.

@oldglorydc via instagram

Intra-League Signings

On December 29th, Anthem RC kicked off last week’s player announcements with the news that they had added 2023 MLR Draftee Marques Fuala’au to their squad for the 2026 MLR season. A Central Washington University product, Fuala’au was selected by the Dallas Jackals with the 3rd overall pick of the 2023 MLR Draft and signed with the team for his debut Major League Rugby season in 2024. He had a solid first year as a professional player, scoring a try and earning 3 starts in 16 appearances for the Jackals to help them earn their first postseason berth with over 80 tackles completed and 195m gained. Following the withdrawal of the Dallas Jackals from MLR, Fuala’au headed to Miami and signed with the Sharks for the 2025 season, where he enjoyed another solid year. He earned a career high 8 starts in 15 games for the Sharks to also qualify for the postseason for the first time in team history, recording remarkably similar numbers as his debut season. Fuala’au has averaged 6 starts in 16 games across each of his first two seasons, recording 80 tackles and 177m gained on average each year. Anthem RC will mark Fuala’au’s 3rd team in as many seasons due to team withdrawals, but that will likely change given teh stability of the MLR/USA Rugby/World Rugby owned franchise. He will have to really compete for game time in that stacked Anthem back row, however.

Not done there, the following day Anthem RC also announced the addition of former Utah Warriors fullback Jordan Trainor for his 4th MLR campaign in 2026. The New Zealander first entered Major League Rugby with the LA Giltinis in 2022, scoring 3 tries in 13 games and gaining over 800m to earn a pair of MLR Team of the Week selections before the Giltinis were disqualified prior to the playoffs, and ceased operations. Trainor then moved to the NOLA Gold and bettered his 2022 performance, scoring 2 tries and 14pts while recording over 1000m gained and earning three more Team of the Week selections. Trainor did not feature in MLR during the 2024 season, instead staying in New Zealand before returning to the states with the Utah Warriors for a career year in 2025. For the Warriors, Trainor set career highs across the board with 16 appearances (all starts) and scored 8 tries and finished 2nd league-wide with 1,117m gained while completing 55 tackles. With just shy of 3,000m gained in his 39 games in MLR, Trainor is averaging a remarkable 76m gained per game and is scoring at a 0.3 tries a game pace, 0.5 tries per game in 2025 alone. Trainor will almost certainly be Anthem’s go-to fullback in 2026.

Following a few days of New Years’ celebrations, the Chicago Hounds kicked off 2026 with the announcement that they had added South African utility back Reece Botha to their roster. Eligible for the US on residency and therefore a domestic player for the 2026 season, Botha is a product of Lindenwood University who joined the NOLA Gold academy system in the fall of 2022 before earning an MLR deal with the team ahead of the 2023 season. Botha spent 3 seasons with the NOLA Gold, contributing 4 tries and 82pts in his 32 MLR appearances, including appearing in all 17 NOLA Gold games during the 2024 season, the team’s lone playoff appearance. Along with tries, Botha has scored 6 penalties and 22 conversions from the tee, going 28/44 (63.64%) in his career including 19/25 (76%) when he scored a career high 53pts in 2024. In 2025, Botha started at both fly-half and centre for the Gold, scoring a try and 15pts in 9 games (3 starts) during a disappointing final season in Major League Rugby for the NOLA Gold. His ability to play almost anywhere across the back line will no doubt prove useful to the Chicago Hounds as the 2026 MLR season trundles on.

Later that same day, the Seattle Seawolves announced their first player of 2026, confirming that they had added former Houston SaberCats scrum-half André Warner to their roster for the upcoming season. The Cape Town native entered Major League Rugby in 2024 and spent two seasons playing with the SaberCats from 2024-2025. He enjoyed an excellent debut season with the SaberCats in 2024, scoring 8 tries in 15 games (all starts) and recording 118 tackles as a scrum-half to earn an All-MLR First XV Selection, the only Houston player to be included in the First XV that season. The following year, Warner delivered another solid season for the SaberCats, although unsurprisingly a step back from his superb 2024. He added another 4 tries in 12 games (11 starts) and recorded 68 tackles as the SaberCats claimed the Western Conference Title in 2025, advancing to the Championship Game which Warner started, a 28-22 defeat to the New England Free Jacks in Rhode Island. An All-MLR First XV selection followed by a MLR runner-up campaign and the best season in SaberCats history is far from a bad two seasons in MLR. André Warner now joins fellow former SaberCats Davy Coetzer, Ezekiel Lindenmuth, and Marno Redelinghuys in Seattle, where he will be jostling for the starting 9 jersey with another South African, JP Smith.

@seawolvesrugby via Instagram

Wrapping Up

It seems like Major League Rugby teams were also enjoying some time off during the ‘Chrimbo Limbo’ period, as last week was significantly quieter on the Player Moves front, with only 5 announcements across the league comprised of 1 re-signing for Old Glory DC, and 4 intra-league moves including a pair of new additions for Anthem RC. Due to the season kicking off later this year, NARDB estimates that training camps should open in early to mid February in 2026 and so we should hear more from the California Legion in the next few weeks, likely revealing their full roster in one big bang.

Thank you very much for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! As we all get back into the swing of daily life, team and player news around the 2026 Major League Rugby season will be coming thick and fast, so keep an eye on socials! 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 12th 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 offseason 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!

MLR Player Moves Summary: December 22 – December 28, 2025

NARDatabase

James Deeley

Happy Holidays! If you’re reading this article close to the time of publication, I can only assume you’re in a food/drink coma and cannot move, or you had to hurry to find something to read on your phone to avoid a conversation with a certain family member (you know who I mean). Regardless of the reason, NARDB welcomes you and hopes you’re enjoying the holidays. Last week got off to a busy start with teams trying to get announcements in right before the holidays, which means that even at this magical time of year, we have Player Moves to talk about!

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. Every officially announced Player Move is covered, providing additional information about each player along with context as to where they may fit in with current rosters. This series only covers the players announced by the teams themselves, but that doesn’t mean that NARDB isn’t listening to any rumours that are out there. As always, the summary graphic for Player Moves between December 22nd to 28th, 2025, followed by the re-signings section:

A 2-page Summary Graphic of all player moves around Major League Rugby from December 21-28, 2025

Re-Signings

Last week’s re-signings were kicked off by the Chicago Hounds on December 23rd, when they announced the return of 2023 MLR Draftee Jackson Zabierek for his 2nd season with the team, and 3rd in Major League Rugby in 2026. Zabierek was selected in the 2nd Round of the 2023 MLR Draft out of UC – Santa Cruz by Rugby FC LA, but instead played with the American Raptors during the 2024 Super Rugby Americas season before signing with the Seattle Seawolves for their playoff push, earning 6 appearances and his first MLR start. Following his debut season, Zabierek headed to Chicago and signed with the Hounds for the 2025 campaign where he tripled his career appearances from 6 to 18, and scored his first two MLR tries in the same game, a closely contested 15-12 home victory against eventual 2025 Runners-Up the Houston SaberCats. Zabierek was named to the MLR Team of the Week for this performance. The 25yo hooker will be joining Theo Fourie in the middle of the Chicago Hounds front row next season.

@chicagohoundsrugby via Instagram

Intra-League Signings

On 22nd December, Anthem RC announced that they had added veteran MLR centre Will Leonard to their 2026 roster. A native of County Limerick in Ireland, Will Leonard first entered Major League Rugby with the Rugby New York Ironworkers for their inaugural season back in 2019, representing them through 2021 and scoring 6 tries in 31 games (29 starts) in the Big Apple, recording a career high 198 tackles made in 2021 which was good enough for 6th league-wide that year. Leonard moved south to Atlanta for the 2022 season where he had a standout season for the RATLers, scoring 4 tries in 15 games (14 starts) and gaining over 1,250m in possession while recording another 150+ tackle season. In fact, Leonard had two excellent seasons with Rugby ATL, with over 2000m gained and 333 tackles completed in 30 games (29 starts), scoring 5 tries. He would follow the team to Los Angeles when they relocated, and spent another couple of years with Rugby FC LA, scoring a further 3 tries in 14 games between 2023-24. In total, Will Leonard has started 67 of his 75 MLR appearances across 7 seasons, scoring 14 tries. He is one of only 12 players in league history to pass 4000m gained (4100m), and sits on 794 tackles completed, 17th in MLR history. Will Leonard is bound to add experience to the young Anthem RC midfield, joining the likes of Junior Gafa, EJ Freeman, and maybe Erich Storti in the centre.

Later in the week, Anthem RC announced that they had also aquired US-eligible New Zealand scrumhalf Zion Going for the 2026 season after 4 years with the Utah Warriors. Going first entered MLR in 2022, and through his first two seasons at Zion’s Bank he played more of a reserve role, with 7 starts and 2 tries in 20 games. His last two seasons with the Warriors were a different story, however. In 2024 he earned more starts (9), and scored as many tries (2) than he did in his first two years combined, setting career highs for appearances (14), metres gained (175m) and tackles made (84). Going’s form continued to improve in the Utah Warriors’ best ever season in 2025, settting career highs across the board. He appeared in all 18 games for the Warriors, starting 15 times and doubling his career try total from 4 to 8. Going recorded over 100 tackles for the first time in his career (114) and recored 276m gained, cementing himself as the Utah Warriors’ go-to starting scrumhalf. Unfortunately for Zion Going, the Utah Warriors withdrew from Major League Rugby in November 2025 after failing to secure new funding, but his US-eligibility made him an attractive signing for Anthem RC, where he will likely continue as the go-to 9, supported by Ishma-eel Safodien and Karl Keane.

The Chicago Hounds announced that they had acquired another of the former Houston SaberCats for their 2026 squad on December 22nd. This time, 2021 Draftee Emmanuel Albert. A product of Lindenwood University, Albert was selected 2nd overall by the Houston SaberCats in the 2021 Draft, and represented Houston in every season from 2022-25. He was the first MLR Draftee to reach 50 appearances in Major League Rugby, and remains MLR’s most capped draftee with 62 appearances for the ‘Cats in total. Albert enjoyed a career year in 2025, setting career highs almost across the board. He earned 16 of his 25 career starts and appeared in 17 of Houston’s 19 games en route to the Championship Final. Albert recorded a career high of 311m gained to take his career total over 1000, and recorded his first 200+ tackle season with 206, finishing 10th league-wide. He now sits just shy of 500 tackles made in his career and has proven himself a starting-calibre forward. Unfortunately, his 2025 ended in defeat to the New England Free Jacks, but he joins a formidable looking Chicago Hounds squad that is also out for revenge, and includes Albert’s SaberCats Captain, Nathan den Hoedt.

@chicagohoundsrugby via Instagram

Moving to New England, where the reigning Champion Free Jacks announced the signing of capped USA Eagle and Major League Rugby veteran back row Bailey Wilson for their title defence on December 23rd, 2025. Born in Australia, High School All-American Wilson grew up in Utah and represented the USA age grade sides before joining his local MLR side, the Utah Warriors, ahead of the 2020 season. He represented the Warriors through 2025, scoring 7 tries in 80 appearances (67 starts) and captaining the side 47 times since 2021. Wilson has gained just shy of 2,200m in possession in his career, averaging 27.3mpg and 9.8 tackles per game. With 122 tackles in 14 games (9 starts) in Utah’s franchise-best 2025 season, Wilson recorded his fifth successive 100+ tackle season that includes a 150+ tackle season in 2021 and a career high 201 tackle season in 2022. With the Utah Warriors withdrawing from Major League Rugby. The (somewhat underrated) defensive workhorse Bailey Wilson will link up with his brother at the New England Free Jacks, with fan favourite Mitch returning to Quincy after a season with Anthem RC in 2024. Bailey Wilson will compete for gametime with a stacked Free Jacks back row that includes the likes of Piers von Dadelszen, Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (if he’s back from France!) and Joe Johnston, as well as new additions such as Jacob Norris and Alex Mackenzie.

The following day on Christmas Eve 2025, the Seattle Seawolves announced the return of recently capped USA Hooker Sean McNulty for the 2026 season. Born in England to Irish parents who moved to New York when Sean was only 1, he earned his test debut for the USA as Eagle #577 against Canada in August 2024. McNulty has started 33 of his 72 Major League Rugby appearances since 2019, scoring 6 trieson 1,100m gained in possession and completing over 400 tackles in his career. He lifted the 2021 MLR Shield with the LA Giltinis and has finished as a runner-up twice, with the Seattle Seawolves in 2022 and was a part of the San Diego Legion team that recorded MLR’s best ever regular season but fell to the Free Jacks in 2023. Across his 7 seasons in the competition, McNulty has represented 6 MLR teams, playing with Rugby New York (2019), the New England Free Jacks (2020), the LA Giltinis (2021), the Seattle Seawolves (2022), the San Diego Legion (2023), and the Miami Sharks (2024-2025), playing in the inaugural seasons of 4 of these teams (NY, NE, LA, Miami). While Jake Turnbull signed with his 6th different MLR team last week, Sean McNulty may be the only player in League history to have actually represented 6 different teams at MLR level right now. He re-joins the Seattle Seawolves having represented them in 2022, and will compete with Canadian international Dewald Kotze for the spot in the middle of their front row.

@seawolvesrugby via Instagram

Later in the week, the Seattle Seawolves also announced the addition of newly capped USA Rugby Eagle Rufus McLean. Born in Boston, the disgraged Scottish winger signed with the American Raptors in Super Rugby Americas after Edinburgh and the Scottish National Team terminated his contract. Following the Raptors ceasing operations, the Houston SaberCats signed him for their 2025 campaign. The signing of McLean divided the SaberCats fanbase and MLR fans in general, with many feeling that McLean does not deserve to play professional rugby and wouldn’t be if not for his US-birth. McLean scored 4 tries in 15 games (all starts) for the SaberCats, completing 79 tackles and gaining just shy of 700m, however his on-the-field play is not what fans have an issue with. McLean further divided US rugby fans when he earned his debut for the USA as Eagle #595 against England in July 2025. Many claimed that a convicted domestic abuser should not be representing the national team, with supporters saying that McLean deserves a second chance. McLean has yet again divided fans after signing with the Seattle Seawolves, with some wondering how he keeps managing to earn new contracts given the dark cloud over his head. Some claim that McLean is a changed man and NARDB’s standpoint is that everyone is capable of change, but for the privilege of playing professional rugby and representing the USA Eagles, proof of that change is needed. So far, proof is nowhere to be found.

Back to Rugby. Old Glory DC became the 5th team to announce an Intra-league signing last week when they announced (also on Christmas Eve) the addition of 2016 Olympic Gold Medallist Semi Kunatani for their 2026 Campaign. Having won a Gold Medal with the Fiji 7s team, and represented the Fiji 15s side at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, Kunatani entered MLR with Rugby FC LA in 2024 having played for some of the RFCLA Ownership at the Tel Aviv Heat. He exploded in his debut season with 10 tries and over 1,100m gained in 15 games (11 starts) during the 2024 season, earning an All-MLR First XV Selection for his efforts. Unsurprisingly, last season he took a step back, with 1 try and 4 starts in 11 games, although he still recorded over 300m gained and 70 tackles completed in considerably less game time. Kunatani, who is classified as an international player for 2026, will compete with the likes of Ben Bonasso, Cory Daniel, and Collin Grosse in the DC back row.

New Faces

On December 22nd, the New England Free Jacks announced the addition of a pair of new faces to Major League Rugby, starting with US-born rugby league winger Max Lehmann. The New England Free Jacks have done an excellent job in recent years to find players with sneaky US eligibilty through birth, heritage, etc., and Lehmann is no exception. Although the 25yo was raised on rugby league in Australia, he was born in San Francisco and so will count as a domestic player for the 2026 season. Lehmann has spent much of his pro career playing in the development leagues of the NRL. He represented the Parramatta Eels in the NSW Cup in 2022 before moving to the Easts Tigers and playing in the Queensland Cup. After a stint in England with the Bradford Bulls of the Championship in 2024, he returned to Australia and the NSW Cup with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, although most recently he has been trialling with the Easts Tigers NRL side, from which he heads to New England to join the Free Jacks. Lehmann has played rugby union at a decent level for the junior Waratahs, although the 2026 MLR season will be his first time playing rugby union professionally. A winger arguably has the easiest transition from league to union, and Lehmann will be competing with the likes of Nathan Salmon, Killian Coghlan, and Free Jacks veteran Mitch Wilson for game time out wide.

Alongside Max Lehmann, the New England Free Jacks announced the addition of New Zealand centre/fullback Kienan Higgins for their 2026 title defence. The Upper Hutt native attended St. Patrick’s College in Silverstream, representing the 1st XV before moving up to Waikato and playing with Nothern United where he scored 18 tries in 32 games and bagged a Jubilee Cup title in 2019. Following this, Higgins joined the Hawke’s Bay Magpies and has represented them in the National Provincial Championship since 2021. He has started 13 of his 21 NPC appearances for the Magpies, scoring 4 tries and recording over 400 minutes of game time in each of his last two seasons. Although capable of playing fullback, Higgins has been primarily a centre for Hawke’s Bay, so will be linking up with the likes of Ben LeSage and Wayne van der Bank in the Free Jacks midfield.

@nefreejacks via Instagram

The following day, Anthem RC also announced the addition of a pair of players new to Major League Rugby, starting with a name that may ring a few bells to die-hard fans: Jeron Pantor. Born and raised in a rugby family in Trinidad, Jeron Pantor was introduced to rugby at the age of 4, and played primarily 7s growing up. He played for Mystic River before enrolling at Life University, representing the Running Eagles from 2020-2024, when he declared for the 2024 MLR Draft. He was selected in the 1st Rd, 5th overall by Anthem RC that year but did not feature at MLR level, instead finishing his Masters degree. With his education now complete, utility back Pantor re-joins the team that drafted him for their 2026 Major League Rugby campaign, Anthem RC. Jeron Pantor can play almost anywhere across the back line so provides Anthem with some flexibility and depth should the MLR season start to take it’s toll on the roster.

Announced alongside Jeron Pantor was Australian back row Baden Godfrey. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) native developed in the Brumbies system, representing both the U19 and ‘A’ sides, as well as played Premier Grade rugby for the Tuggaranong Vikings between 2022-2024. In November of 2024, Godfrey was named to the Australia Development Sevens team and in March 2025, he signed with the Northern Suburbs in Sydney’s Shute Shield competition. Godfrey may have his work cut out for him in the Anthem RC back line in 2026, as he will be competing for gametime against the likes of MLR veterans Johan Momsen and Moni Tonga’uiha, as well as USA Eagles Makeen Alikhan and Sam Golla.

Departures

On Christmas Eve, a number of Super Rugby Americas sides unveiled their full rosters ahead of the 2026 season and unsurprisingly given Major League Rugby’s shift to a larger focus on domestic talent, a number of South American players have returned home and will be playing in SRA next season.

Included in the first ever squad for Argentinian expansion side Capibaras XV were a trio of familiar faces: Lucas Bur, Martin Vaca, and Jero Gomez Vara. Both Bur and Gomez Vara represented the Dallas Jackals from 2023-2024, with Bur starting all 18 of his appearances and recording over 300m gained and 150+ tackles in each of his two seasons with Dallas, and Jero Gomez Vara scored 10 tries in 30 games (29 starts), recording over 500m gained and 120+ tackles in each season. Gomez Vara was also named as MLR Forward of the Year for the 2024 season, where the Dallas Jackals qualified for the post-season and advanced to the Western Conference Final, taking the Seattle Seawolves right to the edge. Following the withdrawal of the Dallas Jackals from Major League Rugby in the 2023/24 offseason Lucas Bur and Jero Gomez Vara went their separate ways. Bur signed with Rugby FC LA and completed over 50 tackles in 5 appearances (3 starts) in 2025, while Gomez Vara joined the New England Free Jacks, scoing 2 tries in 11 games (9 starts) and recording 84 tackles and 155m gained on the way to the team’s 3rd successive MLR Shield, the first of his career. Unlike Bur and Gomez Vara, Martin Vaca did not represent the Dallas Jackals during his time in MLR. Instead, he spent his 2 seasons with Old Glory DC, scoring 7 tries in 14 games (10 starts). Most of this came in his stellar 2024 season, with 5 tries and 9 starts in 11 games and over 300m gained in possession, with 114 tackles completed. Vaca’s gametime would be dramatically reduced in 2025, with 2 tries in 3 games (1 start), however.

Staying in Argentina but moving from the Capibaras in Rosario to the Tarucas in Tucumán, who also announced their squad on December 24th. The squad included capped Puma and former Miami Sharks centre Matías Orlando, who returns to Argentina after entering MLR in the latter half of the 2024 campaign. Orlando earned 17 appearances for the Sharks (all starts) including 14 in the 2025 season, where he Captained the team 7 times and gained over 330m in possession with 103 tackles completed on defence to help the Sharks to their first and only MLR Postseason appearance. Orlando earned a pair of MLR Team of the Week selections for his performances in 2025, but returns to his native Argentina following the withdrawal of the Miami Sharks from Major League Rugby.

@capibaras_xv via Instagram

Wrapping Up

A full 2-page summary graphic and over 3,000 words to cover a busy holiday week aroung Major League Rugby. As usual, 5 of the 6 remaining teams were active last week (not helping your already flimsy fanbase much, California Legion!) in addition to all 4 of the Argentinian Super Rugby Americas franchises announcing their complete rosters on Christmas Eve. Finally, it’s a little bittersweet for Utah Warriors fans, who finally saw a few of their players signing with other teams.

Thank you very much for reading this week’s Player Moves Article! It turns out that the Christmas Break didn’t really slow things down on the Player Moves front, so chances are the New Year’s celebrations may not, either! 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 and the first Player Moves summary of 2026 on 5th 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 offseason sales or pick up some discounted merch, visit shopmlr.com and use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off of your order!