Kick off Jan 18 at 3:30pm ET at Union Point Sports Complex

MATCH-DAY 23

Head Coach Josh Smith has announced his first roster in the New England Free Jacks’ Inaugural Season for the team’s pre-season match against the New England Independents, a select squad of All-Star talent representing players from eight clubs around the area.

Kensuke Hatakeyama and Tolu Fahamokioa will start at prop in this first of a two match series kicking off at 3:30pm on Saturday, January 18. Both props will look to showcase their experience at scrum-time and dynamic athleticism across the park in their first performances in New England. Sean McNulty, US-Irish hooker, joins the pair in the front row.

Workhorses, Conor Kindregan and Jackson Thiebes, start at Lock for the Free Jacks, both having played dominant matches for the New England team in the 2019 exhibition season. An exciting back-row completes the pack and is composed of youngest member of the team, Owen Hundt, MLR veteran, Zack Stryffeler, and dynamic international Fijian flanker, Naulia Dawai.

John Poland gets hit first opportunity to direct the fixture in the number 9 jersey, pairing with Tadhg Leader at Fly-half. Mitch Wilson and Poasa Waqanibau will combined for a balance of electric speed, physicality, and flair to the midfield. The back three will see Boston native, Danny Collins, emerging USA international Deion Mikesell and former New Zealand All Blacks 7s pivot, Beaudein Waaka, combine for what is expected to be an energetic display.

The match is set to be played at the Free Jacks home, Union Point Sports Complex, on the world class field outside should weather permit. Fans of the New England Free Jacks have shown their excitement for the Inaugural Season of the first professional rugby team in New England and an overwhelming number of attendees have indicated interest in attending this weekend’s free match. As a result, the match is set to be played on the outdoor home pitch to allow as many fans as feasible the ability to see the first display from the team set to take on Major League Rugby in less than 3-weeks time. In the event that the weather is deemed unplayable by match officials, the match will be played inside the all-weather bubble with limited viewing capacity. Changes will be communicated to all members via the team’s website and social media channels leading up to the match.

Unavailable for selection this weekend include: Sam Beard, Chris Frazier, Pago Haini, Brad Hemopo, Jon Kokinda, Josh Larsen, Diego Maquieira, Quentin Newcomer, Anthony Purpura, and Liam Steel.

The full match day 23 of the Free Jacks and New England Independents can be found below.

New England Free Jacks

  1. Tolu Fahamokioa
  2. Sean McNulty
  3. Kensuke Hatakeyama
  4. Jackson Thiebes
  5. Conor Kindregan
  6. Owen Hundt
  7. Zack Stryffeler
  8. Naulia Dawai
  9. John Poland
  10. Tadhg Leader
  11. Danny Collins
  12. Mitch Wilson
  13. Poasa Waqanibau
  14. Deion Mikesell
  15. Beaudein Waaka
  16. Steven Hinshaw
  17. Simon Courcoul
  18. Donald Brighouse
  19. Ronan McCusker
  20. Evan Geist
  21. Erik Thompson
  22. Tim Guillimin
  23. Christian Adams

STAFF

Head Coach | Josh Smith

Assistant Coach | Kareem Afifi

High Performance | Tom Kindley

Head Athletic Trainer and Medical Manager | Katherine Henry

Strength & Conditioning Coach | Jared Collinson

Technical Advisor  |  James Willocks

Team Manager | Ben Nathan

New England Independents Roster

  1. David McKenna
  2. Blades Shields
  3. Kyle Ciquera
  4. Timmy O’Connor
  5. Cody Davidowicz
  6. Cam Davidowicz
  7. Paul Taylor
  8. Devin Ibanez
  9. Ian Luciano
  10. Andrew Menton
  11. Brian Patterson
  12. Adnan Kawuma
  13. Jared Collinson
  14. Andrew Marshall
  15. David Buchannan
  16. Sean Moran
  17. Ryan Curtis
  18. TJ Downey
  19. Sean McElhinney
  20. Ryan Hargraves
  21. George Kokkalis
  22. John DeCoste
  23. Haishim Soufan

STAFF

Adam Zilcoski (Boston Irish Wolfhounds RFC)

Michael Bozza (Mystic River Rugby Club)

Thomas Clark (Tufts University)

Ryan Grant (Holy Cross)

Ken Esterhuizen (South Shore Anchors RFC)

Brennan Moore (Boston RFC)

Alex Miccio (Northeastern University)

Carrick Pell (Babson University)

Ed Turbidy (Northeastern University)

Joe Sanchez (Worcester RFC)