The New England Free Jacks faced off against the Houston SaberCats on Saturday for the MLR (Major League Rugby) championship at the Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, RI, and were able to clinch the three-peat to win their third straight MLR Shield. There were 5,702, mostly Free Jack fans, in attendance for this record breaking first final match in New England. 

New England made the short trip from Quincy with the chance to make league history, and followed through. The Free Jacks are the first ever MLR team to win three championship titles and the first to ever go back-to-back-to-back. The feat was quickly christened as the “Three-Jack”.

One of the most unique elements of the 2025 MLR Final was that the Free Jacks only had to travel 45 minutes south, so the team was able to make that smooth transition from Quincy to game time in Pawtucket. Because of this, New England was the favorite coming in but the SaberCats battled for the entire 80 plus minutes of play.

Seven minutes into the match, the Free Jacks put the first points on the board, which resulted from a penalty kick from Dan Hollishead. Just four minutes later, the SaberCats followed suit and AJ Alatimu converted a penalty kick of his own, which tied the score at 3-3. 

In the 14th minute, New England scored their first try of the match, which resulted from a scrum at midfield. The Free Jacks efficiently moved the ball from the right touch line all the way to Paula Balekena on the left side, who crossed the line with an impressive assist from Brock Webster. After the successful conversion from Hollinshead, the score sat at 10-3.

Just four minutes later, the Free Jacks opted to go for another penalty kick. This was successful, from Hollinshead, and the score was brought to 13-3.

In the 22nd minute, Houston scored their first try of the match, Max Schumacher touching it down, which brought the score to 13-10 and put the SaberCats right back in the match. 

Houston had an opportunity to put more points on the board with a penalty kick in the 28th minute, but Alatimu was not able to slot the ball between the posts. 

Houston’s defense came into full force at the end of the first half, holding the Free Jacks off from potentially scoring two tries within the last two minutes. The score at halftime sat at 13-10 with the Free Jacks leading. 

Just five minutes later, Houston followed in New England’s footsteps and scored their second try of the match, Drake Davis putting it down. After the conversion, the score sat at 20-17, with the Free Jacks holding a slim three point lead. 

Nearly 60 minutes into the match, New England opted for a kick to try and increase their lead, which was successful and brought the score to 23-17.

In the 61st minute, the Free Jacks were given a yellow card, and had to battle through a minus one man disadvantage for the next ten minutes of the match. 

Eight minutes later, Balekana capped it for the Free Jacks when he scored his second try of the match off a Webster assist, raising New England’s lead to 28-17.

With just two minutes left in the championship match, Houston was able to sneak in one more try from Schumacher, bringing the score to 28-22 for the final play of the game. 

After a hard fought season, the Free Jacks were finally able to clinch the championship title for the third year in a row, and secure the three-peat they had been hunting for all season. 

Head Coach Ryan Martin reflected on the major win for both the team as well as the league, saying how everything the team has done all year has been for the three-peat. 

“We addressed the three-peat on the very first day of winter camp because it would be easy to hide from it, so we had to have an attitude of doing things no one’s ever done before,” said Martin. “It’s cool to get to the point and actually achieve what we instilled a long time ago.”

Brock Webster was named Player of the Match, for his speedy plays and impressive efforts up and down the pitch all match. He spoke to the grit of winning a championship, and what comes with that feeling. 

“It’s a long season, every team faces the challenges of the physicality of the league. As the year goes on, you have to rely on your depth and I think that’s something our organization does so well,” said Webster. 

Regarding the three-peat and what may be next for the team, the Free Jacks co-founder, Alex Magleby, said the team will definitely be embracing the feeling.

“This is our history now, and that is awesome. The history of this community, of New England, goes into the sporting lore that helps us narrate to the future why you want to be a part of this experience,” Magleby said. 

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