The Reigning Champions kick off their 2nd title defence in a row on the road against Rugby FC LA at their new home at the Wallis Annenberg Stadium, within UCLA. With only 1 team in the Western Conference missing out on the post-season, LA will be looking to ensure they’re not the odd ones out.

A new-look, Giltinis tinted RFCLA team did their best to take it to the reigning champs, and had vastly more territory and possession than the Free Jacks, but didn’t account for New England’s defensive talent. The Free Jacks were the only team to complete over 120 tackles in Round 1 and in fact, completed almost double that, with 227. They had 5 players with more tackles than anyone else in Round 1, including the only 3 players with over 20 (see below). The reigning champs got their title defence off to a great start with 2024 Finals MVP Jed Melvin snagging an interception early on for his, and New England’s, first of 2025. 2024 Player of the Year Wayne van der Bank and Fijian flyer Paula Balekana would add scores for the Free Jacks, who claimed a try BP thanks to a penalty try. Melvin would make headlines again towards the end of the game, but for the wrong reasons. He was handed a red card in the closing minutes that might rule him out for their next game.

Rugby FC LA would strike back through their superstar half back combo, as Gonzalo Bertranou and Christian Leali’ifano would score tries, but the Free Jacks defence was too strong to mount a successful comeback. LA salvage a losing BP, and move on to next week.