Photos By Greg Sabin
After sharing the field with Free Jacks legends who helped him develop into the center he is today, the 29-year-old now dons a captain’s band and is leading this year’s roster as the team seeks its fourth Major League Rugby Shield in as many seasons.
New England recorded its win of the season last weekend, a 12-point victory over Anthem Rugby Carolina. The result came after a less-than-ideal start to the season: a two-point defeat at home to East Coast rival Old Glory DC sandwiched between blowout losses to the California Legion and Chicago Hounds.
Those losses became lessons for van der Bank and New England.
“I think the thing that we value most is how the team responded compared to the first three weeks,” van der Bank said. “You have a choice to either be negative about the result, or you can fix it. I think the response from the boys was awesome, and it's awesome to be a part of a team that will not stop fighting.”
That response to adversity parallels earlier iterations of New England’s championship-winning teams. Last year, the Free Jacks had lost three of their first five matches to start the season, but won 12 of the last 14 to ultimately hoist the MLR shield at the championship game in Pawtucket, R.I.
Triumph and togetherness have a direct relationship in New England, and van der Bank, a South African native, has grown as a professional and team player from his experience in the Free Jack culture.
“In the Free Jacks organization, everything is about connections,” van der Bank said. “Everything is about the culture of the Free Jacks and how the team connects with one another. I think a big thing I learned is to have a successful team, you need to have players that enjoy each other's company, players that want to be around each other.”
This year’s side looks vastly different from the Free Jack rosters that have come before it. Nearly 70% of the team is new, and alongside returning impact players Ben LeSage, Joe Johnston and Kaleb Geiger, van der Bank is helping instill the “Free Jack Way” and blue-collar mentality to a 2026 crew with high aspirations.
“I think if you set a standard, people have to follow that standard,” van der Bank said. “Coming into the season, everyone had a huge expectation of the team that the management put together. I think this is one of the Free Jack sides that probably has the most potential. We know we had a lot of potential, but we’ve had to rise to the occasion.”
Sunday’s match against the Seattle Seawolves is a key test for the Free Jacks. The Coffee Cup has become one of the league’s most heated rivalries that has produced a number of memorable moments, from a thrilling 2024 MLR Championship to last year’s comeback victory by the Seawolves in Week One. Though van der Bank prefers a Starbucks cortado, he’s switched to a black coffee from Dunkin ahead of this weekend’s matchup of teams with java giants in their area.
“It’s an exciting game,” van der Bank said. “It’s a game where you know it’s going to be a dogfight until the end. Seattle's a big, physical team, and the Free Jacks pride themselves in being a very physical team as well. What excites me is that you're faced with this big, massive, physical team, and you have to try to go show them what you got.”
A return to the basics will be the key to finding success this week and sustaining it for the duration of the season, van der Bank said. It’s winning those personal battles that will lead to victories. Winning matchups, crossing the gainline, and fighting on the tackles are part of the “yak fight” that the Free Jacks have been focused on in team meetings and on the training field.
“We have to do the dirty work before we can do the fun things,” said van der Bank. “I think the big, big job is going to be fronting up physically, and then I think the rest will follow.”