Major League Rugby: Five takeaways as former NFL linebacker and Wallaby score in drought-ending Cali Cup win
San Diego Legion ended a losing streak in Major League Rugby over the weekend.
Soon we will be two thirds of the way through the 2025 Major League Rugby (MLR) season.
A competition that has developed into a truly one-of-a-kind fierce league, with games that are entirely impossible to call and intriguing from start to finish.
Here are five more takeaways from the 2025 MLR season.
Midweek mania across The Pond
It was a heavier than usual serving of MLR action this week as two midweek fixtures took place and some teams even doubled up to play again at the weekend.
When that scheduling quirk was announced ahead of the new season getting underway, no one was quite certain how exactly things were going to play out.
The New England Free Jacks played Rugby Football Club Los Angeles on Tuesday night, four days after their match the previous Friday and LA had their own four day break before hosting San Diego Legion on Saturday.
Anthem RC and the Seattle Seawolves had perhaps the most intriguing run of fixtures. They both played on Week 10’s Friday night, before playing one another in North Carolina on Wednesday evening and playing again on Sunday in a true test of squad depth and resolve.
Week 12 brings similar midweek action but the impact of playing so many fixtures in such a short space of time remains to be seen.
Former NFL linebacker scores try in Cali Cup win
After losing their past four games in a row the San Diego Legion finally got back to winning ways against local rivals, Rugby Football Club Los Angeles.
It is safe to say that the Shield hopefuls rode their luck in the 38-36 win, as a missed conversion from the hosts late on ultimately proved to be the difference between the two teams.
Ex-New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans linebacker Cassh Maluia was the first try scorer for San Diego in this highly competitive contest.
Last on an NFL training roster in 2021, the 26-year-old returned to rugby with the American Raptors before turning out for the Chicago Hounds in 2024 and joined San Diego last summer.
Legion captain Brad Wilkin and ex-Wallaby Jed Holloway both crossed the whitewash twice, while Tomas Aoake was also a try scorer for the visitors.
The two teams could have shared the spoils if Billy Meakes’ late try had been converted by Reece MacDonald, but painfully drifted wide from the New Zealander’s boot.
Anthem and LA lose two games in a week
The loss to San Diego was LA’s second in five days. On Tuesday evening the Californians had travelled to the New England Free Jacks and endured another two-point loss.
At Veterans Memorial Stadium second half tries from Wian Conradie and Kyle Steeves, along with the boot of Dan Hollinshead, helped the two-time champions to the victory.
Anthem RC endured the same Week 11 fate with losses to the Seattle Seawolves and Miami Sharks.
Across the two matches, the winless side conceded an eye watering 91 points and offered just 24 in response.
Warriors complete double over Chicago
Until only recently the Utah Warriors were the only team to have beaten the Chicago Hounds.
Heading into the weekend’s clash Chicago had recently been felled by the Seattle Seawolves at Starfire Stadium.
To prove that their Week 2 win was no fluke or freak occurrence, Greg Cooper’s team doubled down and won 41-31 on Saturday night and drove home their title credentials.
Utah had to dig deep to do so. At half-time it was the Hounds that had a 31-12 lead before they conceded 29 unanswered points.
Joey Mano scored a brace for the Warriors, while Tu Vugakoto and Nic Benn also crossed the whitewash at Zions Bank Stadium to whip the home support into a frenzy.
Now, despite having played a game less than their Western Conference rivals, Utah are up to second in their division and just one point behind leaders, Houston.
Movement across the Conferences
Along with Utah’s Western Conference prominence, there have been a heap of changes to the overall standings.
Elsewhere in the West, the Houston SaberCats have maintained top spot with their 48-27 win against the Old Glory DC in Texas.
With their midweek win, and the Chicago Hounds’ loss, the New England Free Jacks have taken top spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time in 2025.
The NOLA Gold’s 44-36 win over the Seawolves has them up to third and Old Glory have dropped to fifth following the Miami Sharks’ 31-5 success against Anthem.