Major League Rugby: Five things we learnt including benefit from Louis Rees-Zammit and a new star

Joe Harvey
Split with E.Albert and E.Grayson. (Photo credits: Left/Nicolas Romero, Right/Adler Garfield)

Split with E.Albert and E.Grayson. (Photo credits: Left/Nicolas Romero, Right/Adler Garfield)

After another weekend of full-blooded Major League Rugby (MLR) action came to a close, five more storylines have emerged from the USA.

Here are the things we learnt in MLR as Week Five came and left:

MLR could benefit from Louis Rees-Zammit’s NFL adventure

Last Friday, it was confirmed that ex-Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit was signing for Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Trading Kingsholm for Arrowhead Stadium, the 23-year-old signed a three-year deal with the NFL giants after impressing on a visit to the team.

Whether or not the British & Irish Lion will make the 53-man roster for the 2024 season remains to be seen, however, there could still be benefits to rugby.

All major news outlets have been running the Rees-Zammit story, the word ‘rugby’ travelling across the lower thirds of the television screen, across push notifications and on social media.

Such exposure should only lead to more people finding rugby.

Whether that is a cursory glance at highlights on YouTube, watching a few games or finding their local MLR or club team, eyeballs can only be a bonus.

It is also notable that Kansas City is one of 25 in the USA bidding to host Rugby World Cup matches in 2031 and 2033, so they could well be getting to grips with lateral play more regularly.

Louis Rees-Zammit: From breakout teenage sensation to joining the Super Bowl champions

Albert the star as draft begins to bear fruit

Thanks to a 30-27 win over the Dallas Jackals on Friday night, the Houston SaberCats have a 5-0 record moving into their first bye week.

Not dropping a point in their opening handful of fixtures in 2024, the team will now look on with intrigue as the chasing pack battle it out in Week Six.

SaberCats back-row forward Emmanuel Albert was awarded Player of the Week for his workmanlike efforts on the Choctaw Stadium field.

Selected by Houston in the 2021 MLR Collegiate Draft after a successful period with Lindenwood University, Albert scored two tries and made a whopping 17 tackles to keep the Jackals at bay.

Now in his third season with the team, Albert has established himself as one of the stars of the league’s Draft system.

In a short time, there have been limited success stories from the Draft as the gap between college rugby and elite became apparent.

Dallas’ Sam Golla is undoubtedly the biggest success story to date, the back five forward already a capped USA international and Albert could be close behind.

Clearly benefitting from the coaching of South African duo Heyneke Meyer and Pote Human, it is not unlikely that with his recent form, Albert could find himself representing the Eagles in the future.

Seawolves stun with comeback win

It is not every week that you see a comeback from 26-0 down.

Over the weekend, the Chicago Hounds were left stunned as the Seattle Seawolves recovered from that scoreline to stay in the Western Conference chase.

With scarcely 30 minutes on the clock, Mason Felsch had Chicago’s fourth of the game before their visitors at SeatGeek Stadium rallied.

Jade Stighling and Mack Mason started the comeback before half-time, as JP Smith, Sam Windsor and Toni Pulu finished off the job.

While it is Houston that lead the way in the West, Seattle are building an impressive CV, with all the credentials to be serious title contenders.

Sons of past stars team up for Legion

Let’s be honest, we love a niche bit of referencing in rugby. Over the weekend, Americas Rugby News’ Bryan Ray offered just that when observing San Diego Legion’s visit to the Miami Sharks.

This particular reference relates to Ethan Grayson and Alex Horan.

Sons of England international, Paul Grayson, and Australia international, Tim Horan, the pair lined up alongside one another 17 years on from their fathers facing against one another in 1997.

That day England and the Wallabies shared the spoils of a 15-15 draw at Twickenham Stadium.

On Sunday the sons of the two ex-internationals helped their team to a narrow 22-21 win in Florida and third-place in the Western Conference.

Anthem continue to develop

It has been a curious past-time at the start of this MLR season to watch the development of Anthem Rugby Carolina.

A team that only came into being in January, Anthem have had one of the toughest starts to professional life in the league’s history.

Hitting the ground running was never on the agenda for Alama Ieremia’s team, although they have made great strides on a week to week basis.

Week Five’s outing was their finest to date, fighting tooth and nail with Old Glory DC before succumbing to a 46-32 loss.

On another day scoring four tries at home could have spelled victory and club captain Jake Turnbull found himself installed at loosehead prop in the RTIC First XV of the Week.

With a knack of finding the try line, it is only a little fine-tuning in defence that is Anthem’s final hurdle before getting that first-ever win.

READ MORE: Sam Warburton weighs in on Louis Rees-Zammit’s NFL move and what it means for Welsh rugby

Features Louis Rees-Zammit

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