background & History

On May 15^th 2018, Major League Rugby announced that a Washington, D.C. based team would enter the league by the 2020 season. The team was confirmed in November 2018 and the name of Old Glory DC was announced in February 2019. The team is owned by Chris Dunlavey and former USA Eagle Paul Sheehy and in March 2019, the Scottish Rugby Union announced that it had purchased a minority stake in the team.

Old Glory DC got off to a strong start in MLR, winning 4 of their first 5 games before the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Flags struggled following the league’s return in 2021, winning a combined 9 of the 32 games played between 2021-2022. In 2023 DC appeared to be starting to turn things around and although finishing with a mediocre 7-1-8 record, qualified for the Championship Series for the first time in club history and defeated the reigning Rugby New York Ironworkers in the Eastern Eliminator to advance to the Eastern Conference Final where they fell to eventual champions, the New England Free Jacks. The following year, thanks to an expanded playoff format Old Glory DC qualified for the post-season for the second year running, with a record of 7-2-7. They faced their rivals the New England Free Jacks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and although they defeated them in Quincy during the regular season, it was not to be, falling 29-33 on the road. The Flags will look to improve their regular season for 2025 and secure home field advantage in the playoffs for the first time.

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Records & Record Holders

all time

Top Scorer: Jason Robertson (313pts)
Top Try Scorer: William Talataina (23)
Top Playoff Scorer: Tito Diaz Bonilla & Connor Buckley (17pts)
Top Tackler: Cory Daniel (651)
Top Meter Eater: Renata Roberts-Te Nana (2,677m)
Most Capped Player: Jack Iscaro (60)
Most Starts: Danny Tusitala (54)

single season

Top Scorer: Jason Robertson (138pts) – 2024
Top Try Scorer: William Talataina (10) – 2023
Top Tackler: Cory Daniel (276) – 2024
Top Meter Eater: Renata Roberts-Te Nana (1,351m)

historical performance

2020: 4-0-1 (-7) – 17pts: 2^nd in Eastern Conference
2021: 6-1-9 (-81) – 39pts: 5^th in Eastern Conference
2022: 3-0-13 (-168) – 23pts: 6^th in Eastern Conference
2023: 7-1-8 (-35) – 43pts: 3^rd in Eastern Conference (Eastern Conference Finalists)
2024: 7-2-7 (-22) – 42pts: 4th in Eastern Conference (Eastern Conference Semifinalist)

Overall Regular Season Record: 27-4-38
Overall Championship Series Record: 1-2
Championship Series Appearances: 2 (2023, 2024)

Head Coach & Captain

head coach

• Andrew Douglas (2019- March 2022)
• Nate Osborne (April – October 2022) (Interim)
• Josh Syms (October 2022 – May 2023)
• Simon Cross (Jul 2023 – Present)

captain

• Josh Brown (2019)
• Mungo Mason (2020-2021) (Co-Captain)
• Thretton Palamo (2020-2021) (Co-Captain)
• Danny Tusitala (2022)
• Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (2023-Present)

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logo & Jersey

Old Glory DC is another of the MLR teams with a shield logo. Made up of red, white, and blue, the shield contains the name of the club ‘Old Glory DC’ within the shield and ‘Rugby Football Club’ written atop it. The logo also features the dome of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. at the point.

Named after the US flag, Old Glory DC embraced their namesake in their early seasons, with kits featuring the US flag emblazoned across the breast on a background of blue or white depending on if they were at home or away, respectively. As time went on, the symbolism of the US capitol and flag became more subtle. In 2024, the home kit was entirely a dark blue with subtle imagery of the inside of the capitol rotunda, while the away kit was entirely red with subtle patterns nodding to the columns of the Lincoln Memorial.

DC have also worn city edition jerseys featuring Japanese ‘Sakura’ (cherry blossom), a nod to the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., which were a gift from Japan

Venue

Like most Major League Rugby teams, Old Glory DC have moved home venues several times in their short history. For their inaugural season in 2020, the Flags played at Cardinal Stadium, a 3,500 seater artificial turf field at the Catholic University of America that only saw 2 MLR games before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season after only 5 rounds. Between 2021-2023, Old Glory DC played their home games at the 5,000 capacity Segra Field in Leesburg, VA, a soccer-specific stadium with an artificial turf pitch. In early September following the 2023 MLR season, Old Glory DC announced that they were moving to the Maryland Soccerplex in Germantown, MD on a 1yr deal. The 5,000 capacity stadium features seating for 3,200 plus general admission areas and sports a Bermuda grass pitch.

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