There are now just six weeks left for Major League Rugby (MLR) teams to firm up their postseason credentials.
Two thirds of the way into the 2025 campaign, the New England Free Jacks are top of the Eastern Conference and the Utah Warriors top the west.
While there will be more twists and turns ahead, here is a latest look across the pond.
Week of highs and lows for Warriors and Legion
In the space of four days the Utah Warriors and San Diego Legion experienced both loss and defeat.
On Wednesday night a converted Logan Crowley score proved to be the difference as the Warriors picked up a 38-31 victory over the California club.
Then on Sunday night the two teams were back on the pitch again.
First up was Utah who had a tricky visit to Old Glory DC. It was the hosts that raced into an unassailable four-try lead with less than 50 minutes on the clock.
Late tries for Reid Davis and Fred Apulu meant that the final scoreline read 28-12.
On the other side of the coin was a 45-36 win for San Diego over the NOLA Gold to close out Week 12.
To describe Legion’s victory as comprehensive would be putting things mildly, with Hugh Roach, Christian Poidevin and Shilo Klein all grabbing a brace in the win.
Utah have maintained top spot in the Western Conference and the San Diego Legion have maintained third-place.
Free Jacks title hopes on course after rocky start
In spite of a slow start to the 2025 season the New England Free Jacks have a firm grip on top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Over the weekend the back-to-back champions registered a 36-17 win over Western Conference powerhouses, the Houston SaberCats.
Sam Caird, Paula Balekana, Jack Reeves and Cam Nordli-Kelemeti were all try-scorers for the Free Jacks in the victory and really underlined that their early season worries were nothing short of a flash in the pan.
In the Western Conference the Seattle Seawolves and Rugby Football Club Los Angeles shared the points with a 26-26 draw at Starfire Stadium.
Is MLR the best career option for USA rugby players?
When World Rugby confirmed more wholesale changes to the HSBC SVNS for a second year in a row, it set off the first domino in a chain of events.
Four teams have been cut entirely from the men’s and women’s competition and dropped down to a new second tier.
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Ahead of the leg of the competition in Los Angeles, USA men’s captain Stephen Tomasin discussed what this may mean for his team, who will now drop to Division 2.
More than anything else uncertainty means that the USA men’s programme will be in a state of flux for some time as the dust settles.
Funded by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, not competing at the highest level of competition between Olympic Games could impact the rate of investment into the side.
As a result MLR could become a more viable and less turbulent career course for young players wanting to compete at the top level in the USA.
Hounds bring Stokes out of retirement
Former London Irish back James Stokes has come out of retirement to sign for the Chicago Hounds.
The 33-year-old enjoyed a meteoric rise from the doldrums of English club rugby to the Champions Cup and spent the 2024 MLR season with Rugby Football Club Los Angeles.
After making 11 appearances in Southern California last season, he called time of his career in the new year.
As the Hounds looked to bolster their backline options at SeatGeek Stadium, Chris Latham has added Stokes to his roster to add competition and quality to squad.
Stokes was in attendance on Sunday night as Chicago ground out a 14-7 win over the Miami Sharks thanks to Luke White and Dylan Fawsitt tries.
MLR now broadcast in over 100 countries
Last Thursday the league announced that the competition is now broadcast in over 100 countries.
This comes off the back of MLR’s multi-year agreement with ESPN, which began at the start of this season.
Whether it is Premier Sports in the United Kingdom & Ireland, Disney+ in Latin America or Stan Sports in Australia, wherever you are in the world MLR is at your fingertips.
For a competition that has never been more popular, this feels like another significant step forward and could lead to a host of new support.
“Given the depth of talent across the league, we are in the midst of our most exciting season yet. These strategic agreements with our broadcast partners will enable more of our fans world-wide to tune in for some best-in-class rugby action,” Nic Benson, MLR Commissioner, said.