MLR 2025: New England Free Jacks vs RFC Los Angeles

The first ‘storm week’ in Major League Rugby history begins on Tuesday when the Free Jacks welcome RFC Los Angeles to Fort Quincy. While the visitors enjoyed a bye week to prepare, only three days have passed since New England defeated Anthem in Charlotte on Friday.

CURRENT STANDINGS

6-3-0 (W4) East 2nd

4-4-0 (L1) West 4th

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

	IN	OUT
2	Connal McInerney	Andrew Quattrin
3	Kyle Steeves	Kaleb Geiger
4	Kyle Baillie	Piers von Dadelszen
5	Conor Keys	Sam Caird
6	Ethan Fryer	Jed Melvin
7	Kaipono Kayoshi	Joe Johnston
8	Wian Conradie	Jerónimo Gómez Vara
9	John Poland	Oscar Lennon
10	Dan Hollinshead	Harrison Boyle
12	Isaac Olson	Le Roux Malan
14	Oscar Lennon	Ben LeSage

	IN	OUT
1	Alessandro Heaney	Declan Leaney
3	Maliu Niuafe	Franco van den Berg
5	Lucas Bur	Jurie van Vuuren
8	Semi Kunatani	Ben Houston
9	Tas Smith	Gonzalo Bertranou
10	Sean Nolan	Christian Leali’ifano
11	Will Leonard	Andrew Coe
12	Nick Chan	Billy Meakes
15	Vaughen Isaacs	Reece MacDonald

CAPPED INTERNATIONALS

(12) – McInerney (Australia), Steeves, Baillie, Keys, Fryer, Olson, Webster, Stevens, Larsen (Canada), Conradie, Malan (Namibia), Geiger (USA)

(4) – Damm (USA), Kunatani (Fiji), Heaton (Canada), Bertranou (Argentina)

CLUB DEBUTS

(2) – Hollinshead, Stevens

(2) – Isaacs, Tavai*

* – MLR debut

NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Jerónimo Gómez Vara (FL/N8), Jayson Potroz (FH), Wayne van der Bank (CE)

– Ben Houston (N8), Billy Meakes (CE), Andrew Coe (WI)

PREDICTION

Both teams have made numerous changes as they adjust to the demands of three games in rapid succession. It’s the Free Jacks, however, who have a clear edge in experience and familiarity, particularly in the halfbacks. LA’s front row stocks have been decimated by injury though they do feature ex-Dallas playmaker Vaughen Isaacs for the first time. On paper this looks a very difficult road trip for the team from California. New England are favorites at home.

LINEUPS

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Malakai Hala-Ngatai, 2 Connal McInerney, 3 Kyle Steeves, 4 Kyle Baillie, 5 Conor Keys, 6 Ethan Fryer, 7 Kaipono Kayoshi, 8 Wian Conradie (capt.), 9 John Poland, 10 Dan Hollinshead, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Isaac Olson, 13 Jack Reeves, 14 Oscar Lennon, 15 Brock Webster

Replacements: 16 Lindsey Stevens, 17 Tevita Sole, 18 Kaleb Geiger, 19 Josh Larsen, 20 Joe Johnston, 21 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Le Roux Malan, 23 Jed Melvin

RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Alessandro Heaney, 2 Ben Sugars, 3 Maliu Niuafe, 4 Lucas Bur, 5 Jason Damm (capt.), 6 Tim Anstee, 7 Ed Timpson, 8 Semi Kunatani, 9 Tas Smith, 10 Sean Nolan, 11 Will Leonard, 12 Nick Chan, 13 Matias Jensen, 14 Rory van Vugt, 15 Vaughen Isaacs

Replacements: 16 Ben Strang, 17 Justus Tavai, 18 Franco van den Berg, 19 Mikaea Wynyard, 20 Matt Heaton, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Robert Mapa, 23 Reece MacDonald

MATCH INFO

Date: Tuesday, April 22
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy
Kickoff: 19:00 local (16:00 Pacific)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 66°F (19°C), W 12-21mph (19-34km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, FanDuel SoCal, NBC Sports Boston, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network