The New England Free Jacks are a professionalrugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) based in the Greater Boston area. They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018.[1] They competed in their first season in MLR in the 2020 season. On July 8, 2023, they became the MLR Champions for the 2023 season, after defeating San Diego Legion in a closely fought match.
On September 21, 2018, Major League Rugby announced that Boston would be one of the expansion teams joining the league for the 2020 season.[2] That same day, the Boston club was announced as the New England Free Jacks through social media. 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.
All games in the 2019 season were exhibition games and did not count in the league standings; the team played to a record of 1–7, losing their first seven games and winning their final match of the season.
On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] Seven days later, MLR announced that the season was officially cancelled.[11] The Free Jacks finished the short season 9th in the MLR, 6th in the Eastern Conference.[12]
On May 7, 2021, the Free Jacks announced a mascot, Woodgy, a furry blue creature with rugby headband tape who wears Free Jacks rugby kit.[16]
Academyedit
New England Independentsedit
On January 8, 2020, the Free Jacks announced that they would compete in two preseason matches against the New England Independents, a brand new select team of local All-Star talent representing eight clubs throughout New England.[17] Adam Zilcoski, of the Boston Irish Wolfhounds, was selected as the head coach.
Rosteredit
Squad for 2020 Major League Rugby Preseason:[18][19]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
The Junior Jacks are the youth academy level for the Free Jacks.
Referencesedit
^"New England Free Jacks Roster Announced". The Runner Sports. 2018-10-19. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
^"Major League Rugby confirms Boston and Atlanta for 2020 - Americas Rugby News". Americasrugbynews.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
^"Patriots Patrick Chung, Nate Ebner embracing roles as Major League Rugby minority owners".
^"New England Free Jacks Expand Ownership, Introduce Nate Ebner & Patrick Chung - The Runner Sports".
^"New England Free Jacks". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
^"Free Jacks Appoint Scott Mathie Head Coach and Mike Rogers Senior Assistant". Major League Rugby. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
^"Staff". New England Free Jacks. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^"Leadership". New England Free Jacks. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ abcd"Free Jacks To Host Irish Provincial 'A' Sides". Thisisamericanrugby.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
^Anonymous, "MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY SUSPENDS 2020 SEASON FOR 30 DAYS," www.majorleague.rugby, March 12, 2020 Retrieved March 14, 2020
^"Major League Rugby cancels remainder of 2020 campaign". Yahoo! Sports. AFP. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
^"Standings". Major League Rugby. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
^Banks, Doug (March 20, 2021). "Professional rugby team New England Free Jacks to debut in Massachusetts". masslive.com. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
^"2021 Scheduled". freejacks.com. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
^"2022 Scheduled". freejacks.com. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
^"𝙒𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙜𝙮 – 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚍 | New England Free Jacks". Retrieved 2021-05-10.
^"The New England Free Jacks, Boston's First Professional Rugby Team, Announce Two Free Preseason Matches In The Month Of January At Union Point Sports Complex | New England Free Jacks". Retrieved 2021-06-21.