Rugby union in the United States is played at youth, high school, college, amateur, professional, and international levels and governed by USA Rugby. There were over 125,000 players registered with USA Rugby as of 2016. Over 2,500 rugby union clubs exist around the country, including those who are part of college rugby. Professional club competition has existed as Major League Rugby (MLR) since 2017.
The Utah Warriors are a professional rugby union team that competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018. The team is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was founded in 2010 as Utah Warriors and re-refounded in 2017 by Rugby Utah Ventures.
Olive Onelani Kilifi is an American rugby union player, who plays prop for the United States national rugby union team and for the Seattle Seawolves of Major League Rugby (MLR).
Major League Rugby is a professional rugby union competition for clubs in North America. In the 2023 season it was contested by twelve teams: eleven from the United States and one from Canada. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned by USA Rugby—a member union of Rugby Americas North (RAN)—and is consequently part of World Rugby. The league was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
The Houston SaberCats are an American professional rugby union team based in Houston, Texas. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018. The SaberCats organization was born from one of the founding amateur rugby clubs that pooled resources to emerge professionally, and were the first in MLR membership to build a rugby-specific stadium intended for MLR competition.
The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play in 2018. The Seawolves won two MLR championships in 2018 and 2019, and lost in the 2022 final. They play at Starfire Sports, a 4,500-seat stadium in Tukwila that primarily serves soccer teams.
The New Orleans Gold, stylized as NOLA Gold, is a professional rugby union team based in New Orleans. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Since January 2020, French rugby power ASM Clermont Auvergne has owned a minority stake in the team.
The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby.
Isaac Arapata Salmon is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a prop for Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship. He also plays for New Orleans Gold in Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States. Salmon was educated at Nelson College from 2011 to 2014.
The American Raptors are a professional rugby union team based in the municipality of Glendale in Colorado. The team plays in the transcontinental Super Rugby Americas competition. Established as the amateur "Glendale Raptors" in 2006, the team became a professional club upon joining Major League Rugby as a founding member in 2017, but they played there only three years, competing as the "Colorado Raptors" in their final shortened season of 2020 before withdrawing from the league.
The San Diego Legion are a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR), based in San Diego, California. The Legion began play in the league's inaugural 2018 season. The team plays their home games at Snapdragon Stadium.
The New England Free Jacks are a professional rugby 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. 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.
Old Glory DC RFC is a professional rugby union team based in the Washington, D.C., area that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR). Old Glory was founded in 2018, played some exhibition games in 2019, and began regular-season MLR play in 2020.
Rugby FC Los Angeles (RFCLA) is a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) from Los Angeles. The team began play in 2020 as Rugby ATL, based in Atlanta, Georgia but announced they would relocate to Los Angeles for the 2024 season, under new ownership.
Declan Moore is a New Zealand-born, Australian rugby union player who plays for Anthem Rugby Carolina in Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays as a hooker.
The Dallas Jackals are a Major League Rugby team that began play in the 2022 season as an expansion franchise. They were originally going to join the MLR for the 2021 season, but on January 19, 2021, the Jackals delayed their inaugural season to 2022. The team is owned by an investment group including Neil Leibman of the Texas Rangers and Top Tier Sports. The team is based in Arlington, Texas, playing at Choctaw Stadium.
Te Rangatira W. Waitokia is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays for Manawatu in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition and Anthem Rugby Carolina in Major League Rugby (MLR). His position is wing or fullback.
Sosefo Losino 'Apikotoa is a rugby union player, who currently plays as a prop for Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition and for Anthem Rugby Carolina in Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby. He was born and raised in New Zealand, but represents Tonga internationally, for which he is eligible due to his Tongan descent.
The Chicago Hounds are a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) based in Chicagoland. The team was founded in 2022 and is co-owned by a small group of investors including majority owner Peter Bernick and part-owners Matt Satchwell and Phil Groves. Their home stadium is SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. Games are broadcast on Marquee Sports Network.
Jake Turnbull, is an Australian-born American international rugby union player who currently captains Anthem Rugby Carolina in the MLR.
