The New England Free Jacks host Old Glory DC at Fort Quincy for the Eastern Conference Championship and a spot in the 2023 MLR Championship Final.

Despite the bye from the Eliminator round, the Free Jacks showed no signs of rust, with Le Roux Malan dotting down under the posts just 4 minutes in from a turnover won by the combined efforts of Taniela Filimone & Reece MacDonald. Not long after, DC found themselves in their own end again, as Andrew Quattrin went over for a 2nd Free Jacks try following a lineout. Jayson Potroz pushed the conversion wide, but added a penalty just before the hydration break to give the Free Jacks a 15-0 lead.

Old Glory DC stemmed the tide in the next 20, only allowing New England another 3pts from the boot of Potroz right before the half-time whistle. The 18-0 deficit at Fort Quincy was a huge task for the visitors to overcome. The DC defence was under pressure almost relentlessly but held on until the 2nd half water break, scarecely having an opportunity to launch an attack themselves. Just after the hydration break, the hosts put the nail in the coffin. A Kurt Baker knock-on gave Ben LeSage the opportunity to send a grubber through which bounced in the end zone and Taniele Filimone pounced on it for another try. The Potroz conversion made the score 25-0 with just over 25 minutes to go.

DC were not playing for pride, and finally broke their goose egg with a try from Thretton Palamo from a great crossfield kick from Tito Diaz Bonilla, who added the extras but it was too little too late. This was the final score of the game which ended 25-7. Old Glory can hold their heads high about their first MLR post-season campaign, and the Free Jacks punch their ticket to Chicago, ad will be watching to see who will join them from San Diego & Seattle.

The Houston SaberCats travel to Boston to face the New England Free Jacks in Quincy for a cross-conference clash that will end the 2023 regular saeson for both sides.

Both sides are already locked into their playoff spots, with the Free Jacks knowing they have a bye to the Conference Finals, and the SaberCats knowing they will face the Seawolves in Seattle next weekend.

A club record crowd of 4766 watched the home side run riot against a SaberCats side that was a hybrid of starters and (mostly) depth players. Le Roux Malan had scored twice before the first water break, and Paula Balekana scored another just before half time, his league-tying 14th try of the season! Shortly after half time, Malan struck again for his 3rd of the afternoon and the first hat trick of his MLR career! This was the 2nd hat trick in Free Jacks club history, and the 32nd in MLR history. In total, he gained 234m with ball in hand, setting a new MLR record for metres gained in a single game!

The SaberCats had scored in the first half through Danny Barrett, as well as a conversion and penalty from Kian Meadon. They had to wait until late in the game to get on the board again though. Canadian Kainoa Lloyd (a late season signing from Houston) scored in the 68th minute, quickly followed by Nick Boyer in the 74th, but by then it was all academic. The Free Jacks had romped to a 47-24 victory, securing their 10th win in a row in back-to-back seasons and finishing the 2023 regular season with a club record 14-2 record. The 10-6 SaberCats also set a club record, with their 53pt season bettering their 48pt season in 2022, and enter the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row.

The Toronto Arrows travel to Quincy to face the New England Free Jacks in a top-versus-bottom Eastern Conference match up.

The last time these sides met, the visiting Free Jacks ran up the largest score by a team in league history, scoring 12 tries en-route to a 5-80 victory in Toronto. On this occasion, the Arrows performed better, but were still little competition for the Eastern Conference leaders.

With a 9-try, 57-20 victory, the Free Jacks secured the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference, guaranteeing them a bye to the Conference Finals. The Toronto Arrows, on the other hand, were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs following this loss. A playoff race which, unfortunately for Arrows fans, realistically ended many weeks ago.

Wet & Windy conditions defined this chapter of the ‘Chowder Cup’ between the New England Free Jacks & Rugby New York Ironworkers.

The Free Jacks prevailed by a final score of 8-0, setting a new MLR record for the lowest scoring game in league history! The points total of 8 surpasses the previous record of 7-8 when Rugby ATL defeated NOLA Gold in Louisiana, a total of 15pts.

This was the 2nd shutout victory in Free Jacks history, following a 32-0 win over the SaberCats in Week 2 of 2021. The Ironworkers scored no points, resulting in the 8th shutout in MLR history and the 2nd in club history following a 43-0 loss to LA in Week 10 of 2022.

With only 263m gained with ball in hand, the Dallas Jackals set a new all-time low in Metres Gained in a single game.

The New England Free Jacks host Rugby New York at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in the first Championship Series game in Free Jacks history.

Finishing as #1 in the Eastern Conference, New England had the luxury of a bye last week, where they would’ve watched Rugby New York comfortably dispatch 2021 Runners-Up Rugby ATL on the road in the Eastern Eliminator to earn their spot in the Conference Finals. The winner of this match would become the Eastern Conference Champion and move on to face the Seattle Seawolves for the MLR Shield.

New York were put on the back foot almost immediately thanks to a Free Jacks lineout steal that was sent out wide. Jesse Parete hit a great angle to break the New York line, and a lovely inside pass from Le Roux Malan put Beaudein Waaka through a gap to score. Waaka converted his own score to give the hosts an early lead. Waaka‘s boot would extend the lead to 10-0 just over 10 minutes later after the Free Jacks won a penalty in kick range following a number of New York forays into Free Jacks territory. New York got on the board shortly after, as Jack Heighton gathered a chip through and released Andrew Coe, who was stopped just short. After recycling the ball it was sent out wide to Benjamin Bonasso to finish in the corner. Jason Emery converted. Waaka & Emery slotted another penalty each before the half, taking the score to 13-10 to the hosts at the break after Wian Conradie held up a New York attack that made it across the line but not down.

The home side extended their least early in the 2nd half again through the boot of Waaka after New York were penalised for going offside. This would be the final Free Jacks score of the afternoon as the sides then went end-to-end with both sides winning breakdown turnovers to diffuse dangerous situations. Ellis popped a short ball to release Andrew Coe who managed to offload to Nehe Milner-Skudder to dart in for the try. Fresh on the field, Sam Windsor nailed the conversion to give the visitors their first lead of the game heading into the final 10 minutes. A few minutes later, Reegan O’Gorman was handed a yellow card for a shoulder charge following a New York break, and the guests took their chance. After a few phases a cut-out pass found Andrew Coe in space and this time the Canadian would finish himself. Windsor nailed the 2pts again to give New York a 16-24 lead, and the Free Jacks were unable to respond.

The Free Jacks, the #1 team in MLR this season, are left wondering about what could have been, and start planning for 2023. Rugby New York become the Eastern Conference Champions and move on to the Championship Final against the Seattle Seawolves to fight for the MLR Shield.