Canada contingent helps New England to its third straight Major League Rugby title
PAWTUCKET - Fijian winger Paula Balekana scored two tries and Dan Hollinshead kicked 13 points Saturday as the New England Free Jacks won their third straight Major League Rugby championship with a 28-22 win over the Houston SaberCats.
Canadians Andrew Quattrin, Piers von Dadelszen, Cam Nordli-Kelemeti, Ben LeSage and Brock Webster started for the Free Jacks.
Webster, who played a key role in two of the New England tries, was named player of the match. The elusive back from Uxbridge, Ont., has represented Canada in both 15s and sevens play.
Fellow Canadians Foster DeWitt, Josh Larsen and Ethan Fryer were among the New England replacements.
The Free Jacks, who have 16 Canadians in all on their roster, defeated the Seattle Seawolves 20-11 in last year's championship game and edged the San Diego Legion 25-24 for the title in 2023.
'It comes off an organization that just been built right,' Webster said of the Free Jacks. 'You've seen that over the last few seasons. 'I think we just stick to our game plan out there when the pressure's on us like in that the last 20 (minutes), we just stick to our game. We just back one another.'
Sam Caird also scored a try for New England, which led 13-10 at the half. Hollinshead kicked three penalties and two conversions. The Free Jacks survived 10 minutes a man down with von Dadelszen sent to the sin-bin in the 61st minute.
Max Schumacher scored two tries and Drake Davis added a single for Houston. A.J. Alatimu booted two conversions and a penalty.
Schumacher's second try came in the dying minutes with Alatimu missing the conversion from the sideline.
The game was held at Centreville Bank Stadium, a 10-500-seat venue that is the home of the USL's Rhode Island FC. Just 60 kilometres southwest of Quincy, Mass., the home of the Free Jacks, it was essentially a home game for New England.
New England (11-5-0, 55 points) topped the Eastern Conference while Houston (10-6-0, 54 points) was runner-up to Utah in the West.
After opening the season at 2-3-0, New England has gone 12-2-0. The Free Jacks downed the Miami Sharks 32-10 in their Eastern semifinal and rallied to edge the Chicago Hounds 21-10 in the Eastern final.
Houston downed RFC LA 27-21 and Utah 33-19 in the playoffs.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2025.
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