Old Glory DC host rivals the New England Free Jacks at George Mason University during Round 8 of the 2026 MLR season. This match marks the 2nd leg of the 2026 Red, White, & Blue Bowl as a Sunday Night Rugby marquee matchup.

Both sides come into this game with 2-4 records through their first 6 games, with Old Glory DC in 5th place only ahead of the 6th placed New England Free Jacks by virtue of their better points difference. The Flags are looking to snap a 3 game skid, while the Free Jacks are still scrambling to get going. The defending champs are coming off a big win over the California Legion last week, but the Flags have had their number in the last 3 meetings.

Red, White & Blue bowl matches have a tendancy to produce nailbiters, and this one was no different! These teams were the lowest scoring clubs entering this game, but they both opened their accounts early in this one. The hosts got on the board first through a break out wide, finished by Ross Depperschmidt running a great support line. This was almost immediately cancelled out by an Oscar Lennon score from a slick set play off an attacking lineout. There wouldn’t be another score for roughly 20 minutes despite significant pressure from the Free Jacks, but the Old Glory DC defence held firm with some huge stands on their own line. Eventually however, the Free Jacks found a gap from well within their own end and some kicking over the top from the New England backs and Ben LeSage gathered it after a couple of fly-hack past defenders, and trundled over the line. Despite an initial call of held up, referee Robbie Jenkinson reviewed the play and found sufficient evidence to award the try, giving the defending champions a 7-14 lead after Hodgson added the extras. A penalty try for Old Glory DC roughly 10 minutes later evened things up at 14-14 however with Reuben Palmer shown a yellow card, but a last minute penalty kick by Joel Hodgson gave the visitors a 14-17 lead at the break.

Hodgson would also bank the first points of the 2nd half, slotting another penalty in the 49th minute to extend the Free Jacks lead to 6, before the Flags struck back with a beautiful crossfield kick from Jason Robertson right into the hands of Perry Humphreys, who fed it inside to Damien Hoyland for an easy, but very pretty, score. Robertson then added the extras to give DC a narrow 21-20 lead with about 23 minutes to play. The Free Jacks were clearly trying to take points whenever they could, as Hodgson added a 3rd penlaty kick just after the second hydration break to give the visitors back the lead, now up 21-23 with just under 20 to play. Advantage, New England. A few minutes later, DC were given a penalty of their own but Jason Robertson’s attempt at points rang off the upright. Thankfully for the hosts, he was given another chance a few minutes later, and made no mistakes. Old Glory DC take a 24-23 lead with 10 to play, and the Free Jacks were unable to shift the scoreboard any further.

Old Glory DC record their 4th straight victory over the New England Free Jacks, sweeping the regular season series for the second year in a row and jumping into a playoff spot, now sat 4th with 15pts and a 3-4 record. The Free Jacks’ playoff hopes take a knock, but a losing BP puts them ahead of Anthem RC on points difference, and their game next week against the Rising Stars is critical.

Old Glory DC host the Seattle Seawolves at George Mason University during Round 7 of the 2026 MLR season.

Old Glory DC enter the second half of the 2026 season with 4 home games in their remaining 5 fixtures. They sit 5th in the standings but right in the mix with a 2-3 record. The Flags are looking to bounce back after giving the Chicago Hounds their biggest test of the season last week. The Seattle Seawolves sit 1pt ahead of DC in the standings, also with a 2-3 record. The injury-striken Seawolves managed a convincing road win over the reeling Free Jacks last week to jump from 6th to 3rd.

Two of the more defence-minded teams in Major League Rugby spend the majority of the first have trying to figure each other out. The Seawolves, again without their regular kicker Davy Coetzer, relied on Divan Rossouw from the tee which worked well, and held a narrow 3-6 lead until just half time. It was very much ‘one for the purists’ through the first 35 minutes until John Rizzo struck twice in quick succession including a spectacular solo effort to deal a huge blow to the Seawolves morale just before the break, going from leading 3-6 to trailing 15-6 in the space of 3 minutes!

Whatever coach Allen Clarke said to the visitors at half time worked. In his first game of the season after picking up an injury in pre-season, Ina Futi got things rolling for Seattle early in the second half, and Andre Warner added a second a few minutes later to re-take the lead, and the guests would strike twice over the next 12 minutes to extend this lead to 15-30 and now it was Old Glory DC that were reeling. They would add a Damien Hoyland score and both a conversion and penalty from the boot of Jason Robertson to pull within 5, but couldn’t get that final try thanks in part to a red for Captain Rob Harley, and a yellow for Cali Martinez to put Old Glory at a disadvantage for the past quarter of the game. The Flags pick up a losing bonus point, but fall 25-30 to Seattle and sit with a 2-4 record in 5th place.

Old Glory DC will rally to face their rivals the New England Free Jacks next week, with the defending champions having closed the gap in the standings following their victory over the California Legion yesterday. The Seattle Seawolves improve to a 3-3 record through 6 games, and sit all the way up in 3rd on 16pts, strengthening their playoff push.

Old Glory DC finally celebrate their home opener at George Mason University, playing host to the California Legion during Round 5 of the 2026 MLR season. This match marks the first ‘Shield Showdown’ of the year as a Sunday Night Rugby marquee matchup.

The California Legion travel to DC off the back of a hard fought victory over the Seattle Seawolves in Los Angeles last week, and sit with a record of 2-2 through 4 games. DC share a 2-win record, but come in 2-1 having only played 3 games, all on the road. A very well executed victory over Anthem RC last week has them currently in 4th.

The visitors struck first through Ben Houston, and despite an early red card to Billy Meakes for a dangerous tackle, DC only managed 3pts during the 20min man advantage, with Ben Houston picking up his 2nd of the game with the clock in the red at the end of the first half to put a dagger into the hosts who trailed 6-17 at the break. The Flags would hit back early in the 2nd half with their first try of the game through Kirby Myhill to cut the score to 11-17, before Cassh Maluia went over about 7 minutes later to restore the Legion’s solid lead. DC pushed hard in the final quarter and added a second through Connor Robinson, his first try in an Old Glory jersey, which cut the deficit to 16-24, but a pair of interceptions from Joey Mano and Tas Smith in the final 10 minutes put the game to bed and secured the try BP for the visitors. Old Glory would get the last laugh with a try out wide from John Powers with the clock in the red, but it was nothing more than a consolation score.

The Legion now get a week off as one of just two teams that get a mid-season bye in 2026, while Old Glory DC look towards next week, where they face the unbeaten Chicago Hounds on the road.

Old Glory DC host the NOLA Gold on a Tuesday night at George Mason Stadium inside GMU for the first of two Eastern Conference games that the Flags play in Round 14.

They will travel to face Anthem RC in Charlotte at the weekend. These sides are separated by a single point in the Eastern Conference, and both will be looking to move closer to securing a playoff spot with a win in this one. Old Glory DC are coming off a great victory over the Utah Warriors at home, and are looking to build on that momentum. The NOLA Gold are on a short turnaround from a close defeat to the Miami Sharks just 4 days ago, and are desperate to get some points from ‘Storm Week’.

These Eastern Conference rivals have met 10 times in the past, with the Gold holding a dominant 8-1-2 lead in the head to head series. Old Glory DC clawed one back here, however, with a comfortable 27-14 victory in miserable conditions. The Flags jump closer to securing a playoff spot, while the NOLA Gold’s disappointing season continues. Having scored 0 table points in this game, the Gold can no longer finish 1st in the East and therefore the New England Free Jacks become the first team to clinch a playoff spot in 2025. The Gold are not out of the running, but they will need to string some solid results together in their remaining games.