When Major League Rugby set the 2025 schedule, the Free Jacks knew they would be tested early with three straight road matches. This stretch included rematches with the Chicago Hounds, whom they bested in the 2024 MLR Eastern Conference Finals, and with the Seattle Seawolves, who fell to New England in the MLR Championship.
The Hounds proved worthy in Sunday’s Round 3 matchup, besting the Free Jacks 36-7 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Ill.
New England closes out its early season three-game road slate on Saturday with a rematch against the Seattle Seawolves in the first of two “Coffee Cup” battles between the rival caffeine-loving cities. The pair last met for last year’s MLR Shield, and the Seawolves will be seeking revenge for their 20-11 championship game loss.
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“We are going into the hardest trip in the MLR. Thirty of us versus 5,000 of them. We are going to find out a lot about our team and that’s what I am really excited about,” said coach Ryan Martin.
After a Round 2 bye week, the Free Jacks returned to action to face Chicago. The highly anticipated matchup was their first since the Free Jacks beat the Hounds 23-17 in the 2024 Eastern Conference Championship.
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Missed opportunities were the theme of the match as the Free Jacks had three tries overturned, and rust from the early season two-week break was clear from the kickoff.
The Hounds came out as the aggressor in the first half with a clear strategy to challenge the defending champions. In building a 15-0 first half lead, the Hounds converted a penalty kick, earned a penalty try and saw wing Michael Hand score his first try as a Hound.
Trailing by two-plus scores and with a few minutes left until halftime, New England had the chance to put points on the board. Killian Coghlan’s try attempt was punched out by a Hounds’ defender as he switched the ball to his right arm at the last second causing it to come loose before dotting it down.
In the second half, the Free Jacks looked to have caught a break following a Hounds yellow card at the 49th minute-mark. Free Jacks captain Joe Johnston appeared to capitalize on the man advantage with a diving try down the left sideline at 54 minutes. The score was reversed on review as Johnston’s left hand scraped the touch line of the try zone before he set the ball to negate the score.
As they did in the first, the Hounds responded with more pressure to score 21 points. Two Chicago scores came with the Free Jacks down to 13 men following back-to-back yellow cards.
In a testament to the Free Jacks' reputation for toughness, Chicago’s Noah Brown said, "We know New England is such a physical team. You can’t beat a bully by running away from it.”
At 1-0-1, the Free Jacks sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with 5 points. The Free Jacks look to regroup with Saturday’s rematch against the Seawolves in Seattle at 10 p.m.
“It’s early in the season and we’ve got a lot to improve on. Fuel for the fire,” said captain Joe Johnston.
“We could use a lot of excuses about why we weren’t great today, but it is important that we watch the video and analyze our individual game and ask if we gave ourselves the best opp to play our best today. The best thing we can do is learn and grow as a group,” said Jayson Potroz.