Hey there, Rugby Rioter!
It’s quiet this time of year, but we’ve got some fun stories for you nonetheless.
Don’t forget, you can submit rugby news here.
And yes, we actually read all submissions and publish a bunch!
Packed with rugby. Let’s go 👇
In This Issue
Women’s RWC (round 1): 23 days (August 22nd) - USA vs England
Pacific Nations Cup (round 1): 38 days (September 6th) - USA vs Japan
West Coast Sevens (round 1): 59 days (September 27th)
🏟️ NAI Sevens wrap up
U18 Open Champs: EPA Razorhawks
U18 Elite Champs: SacAir
U23 Champs: Belmont Shore
The Razorhawks were a scoring machine, dropping 30+ points on nearly every opponent, SacAir could not be slowed in the U18 Elite division, and Belmont Shore took the U23s crown with a narrow win over the PNW Selects.
That’s three trophies for California. Boom.
🌀 We’re waiting on a highlight reel to share with you. As soon as it lands, we’ll share it on our instagram and in the next email.
🛩️ Free Jacks Academy squad abroad
The Junior Jacks are touring Wales!
Today they played Christ College Brecon, winning 42-19. Well done boys!
The roster features many familiar names from the Northeast high school scene, including players from:
BC High (MA)
Belmont HS (MA)
Xaverian Bros (MA)
Fairfield Prep (CT)
Trumbull (CT)
Next Up: The Free Jacks Academy takes on a select side this Friday to finish up their Wales tour.
👀Unsettling MLR news
Over the past few days, there have been rumblings, rumors, and speculation about two MLR teams: The NOLA Gold and SD Legion. And now, it seems like the rumors are leaning towards fact.
We have a ton of questions, and not many answers.
NOLA Gold is taking the 2026 season off.
Why take the season off? Is the team folding? What about the academy teams?SD Legion is apparently merging with RFCLA and will be based in LA.
It’s a head-scratcher. San Diego has great infrastructure with Proteus academy and clubs like the Mustangs to pull from for their academy teams. What’s going on?
Is the MLR in free fall?
They put a positive spin on the viewership numbers this season, but it’s not a good look to have two teams in trouble.
The Legion news is puzzling. The NOLA news is disheartening.
We’ll circle back next week to see if there’s a silver lining to this mess.
🗒️ Job Posting
Where: Rye Rugby Program (NY)
What: Head Coach (High School)
The deets👇
The Rye Rugby Program is seeking a head coach for the upcoming 2026 season. Interested applicants, please email a cover letter & resume to the Director of Health, Physical Education, and Athletics, Susan Reid Dullea.
The 10-year-old Rye Rugby program is a single school HS team with approximately 50 returning players competing in the Met-NY League within RugbyNY. While usually supporting both an A and B side, we recently fielded a C-side Freshmen for the first time this past season. Scheduling and support for the upcoming season are already underway.
Susan Reid Dullea
Director of Health, Physical Education, and Athletics
914-967-6100 Ext 2070
[email protected]
If you’re interested, reach out 👆
Felipe Savino (Barbarians) makes a flying tackle at NAI Sevens in Salt Lake City, UT
Note: The Barbarians were the lone boys team from Texas at NAI Sevens.
👊Report: The Barbarians HS Boys from the Katy, Texas area proudly competed in the club's first-ever NAI 7s tournament this weekend. Lucas Martineli earned team MVP honors for his outstanding play, while seniors Felipe Savino and Eze Diaz delivered strong, consistent performances throughout the weekend. The team finished with a solid 3-3 record, showing grit and growth in every match. Among the highlights were being one of only two teams to hold the eventual champions, the EPA Razorhawks, to under 30 points (28–7), and a tightly contested, hard-fought battle against a tough Tribe side, narrowly falling 19–10.
Thank you to Michelle Cordle for submitting this report!
🐮 Wanna hear a funny story?
We already covered the U23s tour in South Africa—but when we caught up with Spencer Huntley recently, he shared a gem we had to pass along.
Turns out the squad was staying at an agricultural facility (fancy for “farm”). So, naturally, one of their team-building exercises involved… herding cattle.
“It was kinda like a defensive line. We were all spread out, trying to get these cows into a specific spot.
Then one of our guys, Ollie Kirk, had this cow 1v1—and it pulled a fast move on him. Fell on his face. The cow was gone.
We were all like, ‘Are we getting stepped by cows out here?!’”
Adding to the chaos, one of the ranchers accidentally left a gate open and a rogue squad of bovines galloped through the countryside.
The quick 90-minute activity turned into a three-hour cattle chase. And yeah, the coaches scrapped cardio the next day.
😂 Thanks for the story, Spencer!
Side Note: Spencer heads to Hartpury University in England soon to begin training for the fall season. We’ll be keeping up with his journey. Good luck!
Think you know rugby? Prove it!
When a player calls "mark" and cleanly catches the ball inside their own 22, who gets to take the free kick?
That’s a wrap, gang!
Next time we’ll have more dope rugby stuff to share with you; scores, highlights, stories… all the goods.
If you like this stuff, share it with your friends!
Be well, ruck with gusto, and may your compression shorts always stay in place.
-The Rugby Riot Team