Major League Rugby: Five takeaways as Los Angeles secure first win while Free Jacks steal St Patrick’s Day show
Our five takeaways from the latest installment of the MLR
Week 5 of the 2025 Major League Rugby season brought some heat with it.
From first wins of the season to Antoine Dupont’s MLR fandom being exposed, there was quite a lot that happened in North American rugby at the weekend.
With Week 6 in the offing, take 10 minutes to catch up on all the action from across the North Atlantic…
RFCLA register first win of 2025
After losses to the New England Free Jacks, Houston SaberCats and San Diego Legion to start the season, Rugby Football Club Los Angeles finally got off the mark with a 35-29 win over the Seattle Seawolves.
Just a week ago Seattle had felled two-time champions, New England, but were soundly beaten by an LA team that showed much resolve to recover from a poor first half.
Tries for Duncan Matthews, Riekert Hattingh and Divan Rossouw gave Seattle a 24-14 lead with 30 minutes left to play.
But LA rallied to score tries through Andrew Coe, Declan Leaney and Ben Houston in a late display of strength that got the monkey off the Californians’ backs.
Still at the foot of the Western Conference, Stephen Hoiles’ team will face the NOLA Gold, Old Glory DC and Houston SaberCats in the coming weeks, newfound confidence could take LA up the standings sooner rather than later.
Antoine Dupont loves LA
If getting a first win of the season was not enough there was extra pop for LA in Paris as France wrapped up the Guinness Men’s Six Nations.
In the midst of France’s 36-26 win over Scotland at the Stade de France, the camera panned to the crowd where an injury-stricken Antoine Dupont sat watching on, a week on from suffering a season-ending ACL injury.
As the scrum-half received adulation from his supporters a quick look at 28-year-old’s headwear showed his support for the MLR side.
So, how did the superstar get his hands on that cap?
In truth, the answer is pretty simple. After helping France to an Olympic gold medal last summer, Dupont enjoyed extended time off and took a trip to America.
During his time there he met up with LeBron James and Lionel Messi but also took the time to play beach rugby in Los Angeles with USA Rugby international Christian Dyer and other local players.
Soon after the cap could be first spotted and has now been made world-famous as Super Saturday went the distance once again.
Hounds the team to beat in the east
Five weeks into the 2025 MLR season and the Chicago Hounds have cemented themselves in pole position in the Eastern Conference.
This time around Chris Latham’s team beat Old Glory DC 30-26 at SeatGeek Stadium to make their Week 2 loss to the Utah Warriors look like nothing but a bump in the road.
Maclean Jones scored a double for the hosts and the kicking of German international Chris Hilsenback did the rest for the Midwest club.
It was by no means a comfortable victory for Chicago. Over the course of 80 minutes, former Worcester Warriors back Perry Humphreys scored a hat-trick for the visitors and really put pressure on the home side.
Overcoming a stern challenge from an Eastern Conference rival is another feather in the Hounds’ cap and sees them well into their first bye week of the season.
Free Jacks centre of attention on St. Patrick’s weekend
The New England Free Jacks carved out a 35-31 win over the NOLA Gold on Saturday afternoon.
It took Jed Melvin’s try in the 82nd minute to secure the victory at the end of a blow-for-blow encounter at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
NOLA were on the hunt for just a second win of the season coming into Week 5 and scored tries through Ed Fidow, Ale Lopeti, Jonah Mau’u and Joe Taufetee’e to lead 31-28 as the clock ticked into the red.
New England had put in a good account of themselves but after Isaac Te Tamaki’s yellow card and power across the whitewash through their New Zealander back-row.
Celebrations were intensified thanks to it being St. Patrick’s weekend, the Free Jacks already wearing commemorative jerseys and a day later were at the centre of attention as part of Southie’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade.
Clad in green the back-to-back MLR champions were mobbed by those in attendance and certainly seemed to enjoy a Guinness or two along the way.
Warriors react to last week’s loss emphatically
A week ago the Utah Warriors were left humbled at home when the Houston SaberCats rolled in and won 37-17.
One week on, Utah went to the Miami Sharks and picked up a 36-19 win on the East Coast to get immediately back on track.
Zion Going and Jordan Trainor both scored a brace each for Greg Cooper’s team, while a late Nic Benn score added extra gloss to the scoreline.
It is a win that means the Warriors are second in the Western Conference, behind only the San Diego Legion, and sets them up well for clashes with the Seattle Seawolves and New England Free Jacks over the next two weekends.