NEWS

Major League Rugby Week 15 Recap

Written by Joe Harvey

We all love a plot twist. And Week 15 was full of them.

Over the weekend, Old Glory DC and the Chicago Hounds have secured their place in the Playoffs, presented by Sportsbreaks, and there has never been more intrigue in the Western Conference.

The Seattle Seawolves and Rugby Football Club Los Angeles have made strides into the postseason places, with the San Diego Legion dropping out of the knockout spots as they watched on from afar during their bye week.

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES 14-9 HOUSTON SABERCATS

Thanks to their third win in a row, the Seattle Seawolves have moved to fourth place in the Western Conference.

The team’steam’s 14-9 victory over division leaders the Houston SaberCats was a functional outing from Allen Clarke’sClarke’s team, who did what they needed to do and leapfrog the San Diego Legion.

Houston took a first-half lead thanks to two AJ Alatimu penalties. However, Seattle did have a one-point advantage at the break when Rod Iona converted Nick Boyer’s 35th-minute try.

When the second half got underway, neither side was able to convert their various spells of possession into points on the scoreboard.

Eventually, Alatimu’s third penalty took the SaberCats ahead again, and Iona was unable to kick the penalty goal that resulted from Tautalatasi Tasi’s yellow card.

Seattle won the contest when Jesse Mackail splintered from the back of a driving maul to dot down, with Iona converting from close to the touchline.

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS 17-20 OLD GLORY DC

To secure Playoffs rugby for a third season in a row, Old Glory DC beat back-to-back champions, the New England Free Jacks, in Massachusetts.

In a combative second half, New England took the lead through a converted Wian Conradie score, and Dan Hollinshead could have extended the hosts’ lead further if he had not missed a penalty goal shortly afterward.

Axel Muller crossed the try line for DC, and the visitors’ Tex Naqali received a yellow card before half-time.

Coming out of the sheds after the break, Paula Balekana took advantage of his opponents, who were players down, to register his ninth score of the year.

Jason Emery’s penalty kept Old Glory in the match, and the New Zealander converted Connor Buckley’s try shortly after.

To draw the game level, Jed Melvin crossed the whitewash in the 54th minute.

Emery’sEmery’s penalty in the final quarter of the quarter of the match proved to be the difference between the teams as DC fronted up to secure a win and knockout rugby.

ANTHEM RC 19-33 CHICAGO HOUNDS 

A bonus point win over Eastern Conference rivals Anthem RC helped the Chicago Hounds clinch postseason rugby for consecutive seasons.

Mitch Wilson did give Anthem an early lead in North Carolina before scores for Chicago’s Bryce Campbell, Dylan Fawsitt, Noah Flesch, and Maclean Jones gave the Midwesterners a 28-5 lead at the break.

When the game resumed, Mikey Grandy got a second score on the board for Anthem. After holding their own as the match wore on, they were rewarded with a Makeen Alikhan try.

The hosts survived Grandy’s 10 minutes in the sin bin but could not do the same when Junior Gafa saw yellow with time almost up.

With the final play of the game Julian Dominguez dotted down for the Hounds and concluded an impressive win for Chicago.

NOLA GOLD 28-31 UTAH WARRIORS

The Utah Warriors have taken another step towards Playoffs rugby with Saturday’s 31-28 win over the NOLA Gold.

Greg Cooper’s Warriors had scored five tries in the opening 40 minutes in a dominant first half from the visitors.

Dylan Nel was the first try scorer for the visitors and was shortly followed by the efforts of Frank Lochore and Liam Coltman. 

Jonah Mau’uMau’u and Isaac Te Tamaki’s effort for NOLA, either side of a score for the Gold’sGold’s Nolan Tuamoheloa, provided a brief respite for the hosts.

Right ahead of the break, Joel Hodgson scored Utah’s fifth try of the game, giving the visitors a commanding lead.

Mau’u’s second try of the game was quickly followed by a yellow card for the back-row, although it was NOLA that enjoyed the best of being a player down and crossed the try line through Moni Tonga’uiha.

Even after the NOLA was restored to 15 players, neither side was able to land a punch before the final whistle, and the visitors were sent back home with a full five points.

RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB LOS ANGELES 26–20 MIAMI SHARKS

In their final home game of 2025, Rugby Football Club Los Angeles ran out 26-20 victors against the Miami Sharks in Orange County.

It took a late defensive set in the closing exchanges for the Californians to get the job done as the side continued their unbeaten May.

After a Shane O’Leary penalty gave Miami a lead in the opening exchanges, RFCLA crossed the whitewash twice through Andrew Coe and Tim Anstee’s efforts.

Ahead of half-time, Tomas Bekerman scored the Sharks’ first try of the contest.

When the game resumed, again, LA had the better of things and capitalized with a Rory van Vugt try.

Shortly after a Santiago Videla penalty, Miami’s Manuel Ardao was sent to the sin bin.

Ben Sugars’ score for RFCLA provided enough distance between the two teams entering the final quarter, with Tomas Cubilla’s late try only helping Miami register a losing bonus point.