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.

Old Glory DC returned in 2025 with a similar roster. The Flags alternated wins and losses for the first half of the 2025 season that included star Fly-half Jason Robertson suffering a season-ending injury early in the campaign. Luckily for DC, they had picked up Jason Emery from Rugby FC LA in the offseason and while Emery is primarily a fullback, he covered the Old Glory DC 10 jersey superbly. The Flags finished with an even 8-8 record in the 2025 regular season, with a franchise best 45pts securing them 3rd place in the Eastern Conference. This made them the road team in the Eastern Conference Semifinal against the 11-5 Chicago Hounds who were able to deliver a 27-16 victory, ending the Flags’ season 1 step earlier than the year before. Despite qualifying for the postseason for the 3rd season in a row, Old Glory DC have still never finished an MLR regular season with a positive record.

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Records & Record Holders

all time

Top Scorer: Jason Robertson (367pts)
Top Try Scorer: William Talataina (23)
Top Playoff Scorer: Tito Diaz Bonilla & Connor Buckley (17pts)
Top Tackler: Cory Daniel (888)
Top Meter Eater: Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (2,809m)
Most Capped Player: Jack Iscaro (76)
Most Starts: Tevite Naqali (64)

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)
2025: 8-0-8 (-40) – 45pts: 3rd in Eastern Conference (Eastern Conference Semifinalist)

Overall Regular Season Record: 35-4-46
Overall Championship Series Record: 1-3
Championship Series Appearances: 3 (2023, 2024, 2025)

The Old Mate

Total Possessions: 2
Longest Streak: 2 Games
First Possession: 2024 – Rd 2
Last Possession: 2024 – Rd 4
Successful Challenges: 1
Failed Challenges: 5
Challenge Success Rate: 16.67%
Successful Defences: 1
Failed Defences: 1
Defence Success Rate: 50.00%

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Head Coach & Captain

head coach

• Andrew Douglas (2019- March 2022)
• Nate Osborne (April – October 2022) (Interim)
• Josh Syms (October 2022 – 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 (2023-2024)
• Rob Harley (2025)

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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.

Old Glory DC spent two seasons at the Maryland Soccerplex between 2024-2025, before announcing that they were leaving Germantown on 7th October, 2025. After teasing an announcment on 14th October that strongly suggested that they would play out of George Mason University. The 4,500 capacity primarily soccer/lacrosse Bermuda grass field at GMU Stadium in Fairfax, VA is right on the outskirts of DC, and hosted Old Glory DC’s 27-14 win over the NOLA Gold in Round 14 of the 2025 season. On 10th November, 2025, Old Glory DC confirmed GMU as their home for the 2026 campaign.

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