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New England Free Jacks
The New England Free Jacks are an American professional rugby union team based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They competed in their first season in MLR in the 2020 season. The team has won three consecutive MLR shields, defeating the San Diego Legion in 2023, the Seattle Seawolves in 2024, and the Houston Sabercats in 2025.
On September 21, 2018, Major League Rugby announced that Boston would be one of the expansion teams joining the league for the 2020 season. That same day, the Boston club was announced as the New England Free Jacks through social media. The club was co-founded by Alex Magleby and Errik Anderson. Their first match was on October 20, 2018, against the Ontario Arrows at Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Early rosters from these matches included a mixture of veteran professional players from the disbanded PRO Rugby competition and top local talent from clubs such as the Boston Irish Wolfhounds and Mystic River.
Former NFL players Nate Ebner and Patrick Chung, who were teammates on the New England Patriots, are minority owners of the Free Jacks.
Josh Smith was hired as the team's first head coach in 2018. In 2019 the Free Jacks played a season full of exhibitions, going 1–7 in those games. In 2020, during their first official season, they went 1–4 before the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that year, Mitch Wilson scored the first trie in team history in a game vs New York.
Smith did not come back for the 2021 season and was replaced by Ryan Martin. Martin led the Free Jacks to their first winning season; they finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs. Martin left after that season, and was replaced by Scott Mathie.
Mathie coached the Free Jacks for the next three years and saw nothing but success. He led the team to a 13–3 record in his first year and secured the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. This led to the Free Jacks' first playoff appearance and first appearance in the Eastern Conference Championship. Their season came to an end here though, losing to Rugby New York 24–16. At the end of the season Mathie was named coach of the year in 2022 and Beaudein Waaka was the first Free Jacks player to be named MLR player of the year.
The following year, the Free Jacks set a team record, going 14–2 in the 2023 season. This again gave them home field advantage for the Eastern Conference championship. The Free Jacks won their first conference title, beating Old Glory DC 25-7 and leading to their first appearance in the MLR championship. They faced the San Diego Legion at SeatGeek Stadium for the 2023 MLR championship. The game was neck and neck throughout, but Le Roux Malan scored the game winning try in the 76th minute, giving the Free Jacks the 25–24 victory and securing the first MLR championship in team history. Jayson Potroz was subsequently named championship game MVP along with MLR player of the year after leading the league in points. Wian Conradie was named forward of the year, the first player in team history to receive the honor. This capped off a historic season for the Free Jacks.
During the 2023 season, John Poland became the first player in club history to reach his 50th cap.
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New England Free Jacks
The New England Free Jacks are an American professional rugby union team based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They competed in their first season in MLR in the 2020 season. The team has won three consecutive MLR shields, defeating the San Diego Legion in 2023, the Seattle Seawolves in 2024, and the Houston Sabercats in 2025.
On September 21, 2018, Major League Rugby announced that Boston would be one of the expansion teams joining the league for the 2020 season. That same day, the Boston club was announced as the New England Free Jacks through social media. The club was co-founded by Alex Magleby and Errik Anderson. Their first match was on October 20, 2018, against the Ontario Arrows at Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Early rosters from these matches included a mixture of veteran professional players from the disbanded PRO Rugby competition and top local talent from clubs such as the Boston Irish Wolfhounds and Mystic River.
Former NFL players Nate Ebner and Patrick Chung, who were teammates on the New England Patriots, are minority owners of the Free Jacks.
Josh Smith was hired as the team's first head coach in 2018. In 2019 the Free Jacks played a season full of exhibitions, going 1–7 in those games. In 2020, during their first official season, they went 1–4 before the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that year, Mitch Wilson scored the first trie in team history in a game vs New York.
Smith did not come back for the 2021 season and was replaced by Ryan Martin. Martin led the Free Jacks to their first winning season; they finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs. Martin left after that season, and was replaced by Scott Mathie.
Mathie coached the Free Jacks for the next three years and saw nothing but success. He led the team to a 13–3 record in his first year and secured the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. This led to the Free Jacks' first playoff appearance and first appearance in the Eastern Conference Championship. Their season came to an end here though, losing to Rugby New York 24–16. At the end of the season Mathie was named coach of the year in 2022 and Beaudein Waaka was the first Free Jacks player to be named MLR player of the year.
The following year, the Free Jacks set a team record, going 14–2 in the 2023 season. This again gave them home field advantage for the Eastern Conference championship. The Free Jacks won their first conference title, beating Old Glory DC 25-7 and leading to their first appearance in the MLR championship. They faced the San Diego Legion at SeatGeek Stadium for the 2023 MLR championship. The game was neck and neck throughout, but Le Roux Malan scored the game winning try in the 76th minute, giving the Free Jacks the 25–24 victory and securing the first MLR championship in team history. Jayson Potroz was subsequently named championship game MVP along with MLR player of the year after leading the league in points. Wian Conradie was named forward of the year, the first player in team history to receive the honor. This capped off a historic season for the Free Jacks.
During the 2023 season, John Poland became the first player in club history to reach his 50th cap.