Jack Iscaro never really expected to make it to France.

For much of his rugby career, the idea of playing in Europe felt more like a distant ambition than a realistic goal. He was happy playing in Major League Rugby, building his career with Old Glory DC and chasing his ultimate dream of representing the USA Eagles.

Now, the Maryland native lives in Paris’s 16th arrondissement and plays loosehead prop for one of France’s most historic clubs, Stade Français, in the unforgiving world of the Top 14.

“It’s been a bit of a crazy change,” Iscaro tells me from his apartment in Paris. “I feel like I’ve found myself and really enjoying it all more and more. It’s been a whirlwind.”

It is a journey that began in the American rugby pathway, took him through Gonzaga College High School and the University of California, Berkeley, and saw him emerge as one of Old Glory DC’s most trusted forwards before earning his first USA cap in 2022.

Yet even then, Europe wasn't necessarily part of the plan.

“I had kind of maybe started to pivot away from the goal of ever going to Europe,” Iscaro admits. “I was just kinda like, you know what, I have a good thing going here. Maybe I’ll just stay put and get the most out of my career here in the US.”

Then came games against Tonga, Samoa and a phone call from his agent that changed everything.

Within days, Iscaro had left his apartment, boarded a plane to Paris and found himself sitting across the breakfast table from the Stade Français head coach, who was already telling him he planned to start him the following week.

For a player who never thought Europe was realistic, the dream arrived quickly.

And perhaps the most important part of the story is where that dream began.

As we talk, it is impossible to ignore the relevance of Major League Rugby to Iscaro’s rise. His performance off the bench against Lyon last week may have grabbed the headlines in France, with Midi Olympique dubbing the former Cal Bear “Ginger Power,” but the foundations for that performance were laid thousands of miles away in America.

For me, Iscaro’s success in France is not simply the story of an American player making it in Europe. It is a success story that MLR and USA Rugby can proudly shout about.

“I don't think it's a stretch at all to say that the experience and doing that week in, week out in the MLR 100% prepared me to make a jump to the Top 14,” admits Iscaro.

“I played a lot of minutes early in my career in the MLR and I owe that to the coaches at the time that pushed me into those positions when maybe I didn't feel ready all the time early on.

“The battles I faced in the front row across the league, whether that was against domestic or international props, shaped my scrummaging, which has been what has allowed me to have a job over here. I do owe a lot of that to being challenged at a young age in the MLR.”

Iscaro was close to a textbook example of success through the American rugby pathway.

A high school captain and national champion with Gonzaga College, he then headed to the University of California, Berkeley, where he won two national titles, became an All-American and played across various USA age grades.

He signed for Old Glory DC in 2020, and while his first year was plagued by injury and the COVID-19 pandemic cutting the season short, from 2021 onward Iscaro became one of DC’s go-to players. He started 56 of his 76 appearances for the franchise.

It was in November 2022 that he earned his first cap for the USA Eagles. He has since gone on to add 21 more caps to his name.

One of those caps in November 2024, against Tonga in Chambéry, was the moment the idea of making the move to Europe started to become a potential reality.

Scrummaging against one of the world’s best in Ben Tameifuna, Iscaro produced one of his best performances in a USA jersey, and suddenly, agents were knocking at his door.

He began working with an agent, but for months there was little to show for it.

“After that game against Tonga I signed up with an agent who said that he would do all he could to get me a potential gig in Europe, and for a while I heard nothing,” laughs Iscaro.

“He just kept saying, ‘I'm trying, I'm pushing you, I'm pushing you.’ It was then, after the game against Samoa, where we qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, that he called me to say, ‘I have Stade Français who are interested in you.’

“When I got on the Zoom call, the tone was like, ‘So when you get here...’ and I was like, my God, so I'm going. Within days I moved out of his apartment and was on a plane to Paris. Next thing I’m having breakfast with the head coach and he tells me he plans to start me the following week against Castres away!”

The move was so sudden that Iscaro barely had time to process what was happening.

“I never really thought it would happen or even be a realistic goal,” he admits.

His first season with the club was a baptism of fire. Not knowing how long his stay would be, the Maryland native found the transition off the field particularly challenging.

“Last year I felt pretty isolated at times,” says Iscaro. “The difference from MLR was stark. In the MLR, for example, it was like people come to the city for six months and they're there for six months. You finish training and you're gonna go play golf or go to somebody's house and watch a movie.

“It’s almost, you know, I was around my teammates all the time and I absolutely loved that at Old Glory.

“In France, my teammates were great but they had families, their own lives and routines away from the club. I came here and I kind of realized that actually my DC experience was not the norm.

“The culture was different, the language was different and I was located nearer the training ground about 30 minutes outside the city.”

The move from D.C. to Paris wasn't simply a change of rugby environment. It was a change of life.

Now, in his second year, Iscaro has settled into Paris, embraced the culture and pushed himself to learn French. He is even living with USA Eagle teammate Rufus McLean, who recently joined Stade Français from the Seattle Seawolves.

“I’m really enjoying myself now, both on and off the field. I took up French lessons. I think some people shy away from it but I’ve tried to lean into it. If you make an attempt, if you show that you're trying, I think it goes a long way towards even just respect.”

The rugby, meanwhile, has also been an education.

While being a star in MLR and for the USA Eagles, Iscaro was fully aware that the level of the Top 14 represented another step up.

“You never feel prepared when you jump a level, but you maybe surprise yourself with your ability to adapt,” says Iscaro.

“The biggest difference that I noticed from the start is just the quality of the players. But it goes both ways, like the quality of your teammates as well.

“I'll never kind of get used to the fact that something like the scrum is so celebrated in this country. It's amazing to me because you talk to a random fan after the game and they're giving insight into scrums and everything and you're like, wow, they actually love it.”

For a front row forward, it is perhaps the perfect place to learn.

“I've never been a part of a team that wants to push me forward as much in a scrum. I'm getting pushed through by guys that are just unbelievable at what they do. When you're on a good team, it makes you look good. You rise to the level of your teammates.”

The standard is apparent every day in training, as Iscaro regularly has to pinch himself at the stars around him and the quality he sees on a daily basis.

“You see things on a daily basis in training that you're like, ‘That’s insane!’” he says.

But Iscaro has also learned that adapting to the Top 14 is about changing his mindset as much as his rugby.

“Early on, the objective was simply to survive. You jump a level and you're just trying to survive.

“Then over time it starts turning into like, okay, well now I actually want to try to impact the game and help my team.”

That shift in mindset perhaps explains why Iscaro no longer sounds like a player simply grateful to have made it to France.

He sounds like someone who believes he belongs.

Iscaro’s achievement of earning a place at Stade Français is significant. Not too many American-born players have successfully made the move overseas, although Iscaro and I were quick to mention some of the greats, including Samu Manoa, Blaine Scully and, more recently, Toulouse star prop Davey Ainu’u.

Iscaro would gain further recognition when he was selected for the famous Barbarians F.C. against Wales before joining up with the Eagles last summer.

But amid all the achievements, headlines and success, Iscaro made one thing very clear to me: his goal remains the same.

“Playing for the US was always my first and only goal in rugby,” he says. “I had no aspirations of playing in Europe. All I wanted to do was to play for the Eagles.

“I want the US to continue to grow in rugby. I want us to win and I want us to be good and I want us to break boundaries.

“I've been a part of the team long enough now so  I'm trying to push standards and to reach new heights with that team.

“Qualifying for the World Cup is an achievement, but I don't want to show up and get a participation trophy. I want to show up and I want people to say that team at least plays hard and they play for their jersey.”

There is a long way between Old Glory DC and Stade Français, but for Iscaro, the two chapters are inseparable.

MLR gave him the minutes, the competition and the scrum education. The Eagles gave him the international stage that eventually opened the door to France. Stade Français gave him the chance to prove he belonged.

“Ginger Power” is now known in the Top 14. A pipe dream for Iscaro that never felt realistic but has now become his new norm. All whilst keeping an eye on the biggest goal of them all: the USA Eagles at the Rugby World Cup next year.

Stade Français photos - 2026 Icon Sport