mlr2026
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On the tracking website, I normalized all team names to their final form, Austin Elite became Austin Gilgronis ↩︎
- Anthem Rugby Carolina @ California Legion (28% / 73%)
- 2 correct: 11
- 0 correct: 29
- Beaver Paw scored 0 (0 correct). (Former champ and post season runner up)
- Bozo6 scored 2 (1 correct + 1 bonus for a perfect week) and nailed Anthem Rugby Carolina
- Definitely Not a Ranger - Rugby Morning scored 0 (0 correct)
- Diamond Dave scored 0 (0 correct)
- freejack fitzy scored 0 (0 correct). (Reigning Champ)
- Ranger Bunny scored 2 (1 correct + 1 bonus for a perfect week) and nailed Anthem Rugby Carolina
- Ranger Frank scored 0 (0 correct). (Back to back post season champ)
- Ranger John scored 0 (0 correct)
- Ranger Payne scored 0 (0 correct)
- Uncle Phil scored 2 (1 correct + 1 bonus for a perfect week) and nailed Anthem Rugby Carolina
- Anthem Rugby Carolina @ California Legion (28% / 73%)
- Beaver Paw is riding with California Legion. (Former champ and post season runner up)
- Bozo6 is riding with Anthem Rugby Carolina
- Definitely Not a Ranger - Rugby Morning is riding with California Legion
- Diamond Dave is riding with California Legion
- freejack fitzy is riding with California Legion. (Reigning Champ)
- Ranger Bunny is riding with Anthem Rugby Carolina
- Ranger Frank is riding with California Legion. (Back to back post season champ)
- Ranger John is riding with California Legion
- Ranger Payne is riding with California Legion
- Uncle Phil is riding with Anthem Rugby Carolina
- Anthem Rugby Carolina @ California Legion: First-ever meeting
- Average prediction: 7.3-2.7
- Median wins: 7
- Most common prediction: 7-3 (11 Rangers)
- Best-case prediction: 10-0
- Most cautious prediction: 4-6
- Biggest believers: Ranger Muppet, Ranger Becca
- Most cautious: James Arthur Deeley
- Perfect season watch: Ranger Muppet, Ranger Becca predicted a 10-0 run
- Biggest confidence spot: Week 3 vs. Old Glory DC (96% picked a win)
- Biggest danger game: Week 4 at Chicago Hounds (67% predicted a loss)
- Toss-up games: Week 2 at California Legion, Week 10 at Seattle Seawolves
- Ranger John checks in at 7-3
- Ranger Payne checks in at 8-2
- freejack fitzy checks in at 8-2
- Uncle Phil checks in at 8-2
- Dave McVey sees more danger than most at 7-3, fading the crowd on Week 4 at Chicago Hounds and Week 8 at Old Glory DC
- Bozo6 is more cautious at 6-4, with concern centered on Week 2 at California Legion and Week 6 vs. Seattle Seawolves
- Ranger Bunny is more cautious at 6-4, with concern centered on Week 2 at California Legion and Week 3 vs. Old Glory DC
- Ranger Frank sees more danger than most at 7-3, fading the crowd on Week 4 at Chicago Hounds and Week 6 vs. Seattle Seawolves. Reigning Champ
- Houston — 17
- Miami — 3
- Utah — 3
- NOLA — 2
- San Diego — 2
Week 3 picks are open! Don’t wait, make them now
Reminder to make your week 2 picks. The form closes just before midnight **Thursday** night. Head over to https://rangerpicks.rugby now!
The MLR Supporters Challenge Cup: the hidden title that has been changing hands since the league's first weekend
There is the official league table, and then there is the title race hiding in plain sight.
Since the first weekend of Major League Rugby, a continuous cup has been quietly building an alternate history of the league. The rules are simple: if you hold the cup, every regular-season and postseason match you play becomes a title defense. Win, and you keep it. Lose, and the team that beat you takes the cup.
That simple rule produces a lineage that makes almost every era of MLR feel a little different.
NOLA Gold gets the honor of being the first-ever holder, claiming the cup in 2018 - Season 1, Week 1. But the early years did not stay still for long. Austin Elite1, Utah Warriors, and then Seattle Seawolves all took turns becoming first-time holders in the opening weeks of the competition. By the end of that first season, Seattle had already stamped itself on the history of the cup, finishing 2018 as champion and then doing it again in 2019.
If Seattle defined the beginning, San Diego Legion defined the long haul. No team in the completed data has spent more time with the cup. San Diego leads the all-time table with 30 cup matches as holder and 22 successful defenses, both the best marks in the dataset. The single greatest reign belongs to San Diego as well: an 11-match run stretching through the heart of 2023 and into the semifinal before losing it in the final.
Then there is New England Free Jacks, the team that has come to dominate the modern chapter of the cup. New England first entered the lineage in 2021, Week 8. Since then it has piled up 20 cup matches as holder, matched only by Seattle, and enters 2026 as the reigning champion. Even more impressively, New England finished 2023, 2024, and 2025 with the cup still in hand, giving this era of the Continuous Cup a clear modern standard-bearer.
The most fun part of a lineal title is how it changes what counts as a big match. Regular-season fixtures suddenly feel loaded with extra stakes. Playoff games feel even heavier. In fact, the cup changed hands in the postseason multiple times, including a pair of finals that produced a new champion. That is exactly what makes the concept so sticky: the title is always alive, always vulnerable, always one upset away from moving somewhere new.
MLR Season 9 (2026) brings formal league recognition and a physical trophy. Along with a name - the MLR Supporters Challenge Cup (or “The Old Mate").
Then there is the other side of the ledger: the teams still chasing their first piece of cup history. As of 2026, Anthem Rugby Carolina, California Legion, Dallas Jackals, RFC LA, and Miami Sharks have yet to hold the Old Mate. Of these teams, only Anthem and newcomer California are still in contention. That gives every future defense involving those clubs an extra bit of tension. They are not just trying to win a game. They are trying to write themselves into the lineage.
That is what makes this such a great supporters-created trophy. It turns the entire history of the league into one long title fight.
MLR Ranger Picks — Week 1 Results
Here’s how the weekend shook out — plus who won the week and where the season leaderboard stands.
Picks at a glance
| Match | Away picks | Home picks | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthem Rugby Carolina @ California Legion | Anthem Rugby Carolina (28%) | California Legion (73%) |
Highlights
Week 1 results
Week winners: Bozo6, Lucky, Ranger Abi, Ranger Bunny, Ranger Jules, Ranger Lil Payne, Ranger X, RuckNRoll, Rugby Nana, The Rucking Goat, Uncle Phil (2 points including perfect-week bonus)
Score distribution:
Featured Rangers
Want in next week? Get your picks in no later than the day before kickoff.
MLR Ranger Picks — Week 1 Picks
Before kickoff, here’s where everyone landed — consensus picks, tight splits, and the bold underdogs.
Picks at a glance
| Match | Away picks | Home picks | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthem Rugby Carolina @ California Legion | Anthem Rugby Carolina (28%) | California Legion (73%) |
Highlights
Featured Rangers
Matchup history
The Old Mate
The MLR Supporters Challenge Cup (The Old Mate) is not on the line this week. (See episode 2 of Inside MLR for a quick explanation)
Reminder to make your week 1 picks. The form closes just before midnight Friday night. Head over to https://rangerpicks.rugby now!
Way Too Early: Rangers Predict the Free Jacks 2026 Season
Rangers Predict the Free Jacks 2026 Season
Before the season gets underway, the Rangers are already setting expectations for the Free Jacks. The overall mood is confident, but not without a few warning signs on the schedule.
The big picture
Optimists vs. skeptics
Game-by-game confidence
| Matchup | Win | Lose |
|---|---|---|
| Week 2 at California Legion | 44% | 56% |
| Week 3 vs. Old Glory DC | 96% | 4% |
| Week 4 at Chicago Hounds | 33% | 67% |
| Week 5 vs. Anthem RC | 93% | 7% |
| Week 6 vs. Seattle Seawolves | 89% | 11% |
| Week 7 vs. California Legion | 96% | 4% |
| Week 8 at Old Glory DC | 74% | 26% |
| Week 9 at Anthem RC | 96% | 4% |
| Week 10 at Seattle Seawolves | 37% | 63% |
| Week 11 vs. Chicago Hounds | 74% | 26% |
What stands out
Featured Rangers
Bonus question: biggest offseason surprise
Now we wait to see whether the Rangers nailed it — or got way too early a little too wrong.
Want to play along week by week? Join us at rangerpicks.rugby
Ranger Picks 2026 Week 1
It is now one week and one day until #MLR2026 starts officially. While some of us will be at the Free Jacks Pre Season festival, Anthem Rugby Carolina will be traveling to California Legion to officially kick off the season.
It is time to get your prediction in for this single match week. Bonus points for the getting all the picks in a week correct still apply even this week, so it’s effectively a double point weekend! Head over to https://rangerpicks.rugby/week1 now - the form will automatically close Friday night, don’t be left out!
Just a reminder that the way too early form closes tonight at midnight EDT!
Discovered that two MLR matches have updated kickoff times. https://rangerpicks.rugby/calendars are already updated.
I have arbitrarily decided to close the way too early predictions on Friday March 20th at around 11:30PM EDT. Get your guesses in soon!
Ranger Picks 2026
Ranger Picks is coming back in 2026. The forms are already published, the spreadsheets templated, formula created. Our way too early predictions are coming in.
We will start with 1 match in week 1 between Anthem RC and California Legion.
A BIG difference for Ranger Picks in 2026 is that no longer will I have to remember to close out the forms! The forms will AUTOMATICALLY close at one minute before midnight (EDT) the night before the first match of the week (including the way too early form in week 1). If you snooze, you lose, so get those picks in as soon as the forms are published :)
MLR 2026 is coming, get your calendars in sync to block off those dates! https://rangerpicks.rugby/calendars/