Background & History
The New England Free Jacks on 21st September 2018 as part of the wave of Major League Rugby expansion ahead of the 2020 season, joining the league alongside Rugby ATL (now Rugby FC LA) and Old Glory DC. The team was founded by Errik Anderson and former USA Eagle Alex Magelby, and is owned by a consortium that includes former NFL-ers Nate Ebner and Patrick Chung.
The Free Jacks would play their first ever game against the Ontario Arrows (later the Toronto Arrows) on October 20, 2018 at the Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Through their first 4 seasons in Major League Rugby, the New England Free Jacks performance could be summarized as steadily increasing performance. With the exception of the 2020 season when they held a 1-4 record before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season, the Free Jacks have always finished with a positive record, improving every year (see below in ‘Historical Performance’ section) and recording a 13-0-3 record in 2022 which was the best regular season record in MLR history at the time, qualifying for the post-season but suffering a shock defeat to eventual Champions Rugby New York in the Eastern Conference Final.
The New England Free Jacks’ 2022 record was surpassed the following year by the San Diego Legion’s 15-0-1 season. The Free Jacks themselves recorded a 14-0-2 record in 2023, once again qualifying for the Championship Series as the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Free Jacks would not slip up as they did the year before, and easily saw off Old Glory DC in the Conference Final to advance to the Championship Final against the San Diego Legion in Chicago. Thanks to a 77th minute try by Le Roux Malan, the Free Jacks prevailed 24-25 victors in arguably the best MLR final to date to lift their first MLR Shield. The Free Jacks title defence in 2024 saw them finish the regular season with an 11-5 record at the top of the Eastern Conference once again, defeating local rivals Old Glory DC and the Chicago Hounds to claim the Eastern Conference Championship in back-to-back seasons. Standing between them and back-to-back Shields lay the only team in MLR history to have achieved back-to-back titles, the Seattle Seawolves playing in their 4th final. A back-and-forth final was defined by discipline and defence, and the Free Jacks put on a defensive masterclass in MLR’s lowest scoring final to date, emerging as 11-20 victors in San Diego and joined the Seawolves as Back-to-Back MLR Champions.
Records & Record Holders
2024 MLR Champions
2023 MLR Champions
alltime
Top Scorer: Jayson Potroz (327pts)
Top Try Scorer: Paula Balekana (25)
Top Playoff Scorer: Jayson Potroz (44)
Top Tackler: Wian Conradie (694)
Top Meter Eater: Wian Conradie (3,180m)
Most Capped Player: Mitch Wilson (57)
Most Starts: John Poland (52)
single season
Top Scorer: Jayson Potroz (181pts) – 2024
Top Try Scorer: Paula Balekana (15) – 2023
Top Tackler: Wian Conradie (234) – 2023
Top Meter Eater: Reece MacDonald (1,535m) – 2024
historical performance
2020: 1-4 (-19) – 9pts: 6th in Eastern Conference
2021: 10-0-6 (+28) – 48pts: 4th in Eastern Conference
2022: 13-0-3 (+126) – 62pts: 1st in Eastern Conference (Conference Finalist)
2023: 14-0-2 (+283) – 68pts: 1st in Eastern Conference (Champions x1)
2024: 11-0-5 (+119) – 55pts: 1st in Eastern Conference (Champions x2)
Overall Regular Season Record: 49-0-20
Overall Championship Series Record: 5-1
Championship Series Appearances: 3 (2022, 2023, 2024)
Head Coach & Captain
Head Coach
- Josh Smith (2018-2020)
- Ryan Martin (2021)
- Scott Mathie (2021-2024)
- Ryan Martin (2025)
Captain
- Josh Larsen (2020-Present)
Logo & Jersey
The New England Free Jacks’ logo and iconography are drawn from the American Revolution. Their primary logo is a hand holding a 18th century lantern in dark blue, with the light from the lantern coloured red, all with a white outline. The lantern is a nod to the famous ‘One if by land, two if by sea’ during Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, to warn the revolutionaries of the British Army’s approach during the Revolutionary War. Indeed, the Free Jacks have a variation of the logo showing Paul Revere atop a horse.
Throughout their time in Major League Rugby, the New England Free Jacks have had consistently highly-praised kits, often small variations on red, white, and blue hoops with a collar, typically a winning combination for rugby. For 2023 & 2024, the Free Jacks ran 3 kits, a primarily blue (home kit both years), a primarily red (2023 alternate, 2024 away), and a primarily white kits (2023 away, 2024 alternate), all of which sported hoops and a collar.
The Free Jacks have also sported a mainly dark green jersey for St. Patrick’s Day 2022, and green hooped jersey for St. Patrick’s Day 2023, as well as a baseball-themed red jersey for their city kit in 2023.
Venue
For their exhibition season 2018/19, the New England Free Jacks played their home games out of the Union Point Sports Complex, which hosted the Free Jacks and the ‘A’ sides of the 4 Irish Provinces for the Cara Cup in 2019. The Free Jacks had intended to play their 2020 season out of UPSC but the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic prior to the Free Jacks hosting a game. The Free Jacks did play a ‘home’ game in 2020, but this was at the Sam Boyd in Whitney, NV which hosted many teams as part of a ‘season kick off’ event. The Free Jacks played the majority of their 2021 home games at UPSC.
Since their final game of the 2021 season, the New England Free Jacks have called Veterans’ Memorial Stadium in Quincy, MA home. Nicknamed ‘Fort Quincy’, the 5,000-seater synthetic turf stadium is owned by the City of Quincy and operated by Heritage Sports Ventures, the company which also owns the Free Jacks.
