Written by Joe Harvey | Photos by Davey Wilson
It has been a few weeks since the New England Free Jacks won the Major League Rugby Championship Final.
Leaving it late to beat the San Diego Legion 25-24 at SeatGeek Stadium, a Sports Center Top 10 try for Namibia international Le Roux Malan proved the difference as Scott Mathie’s team got their hands on the Shield for the first time in franchise history.
Just a year after experiencing heartbreak in an Eastern Conference Final defeat at the hands of eventual champions, the New York Ironworkers, the team from Quincy, Massachusetts, set out to prove they were best in class again in 2023, having learned their lessons from a year prior.
A tense, nerve-wracking clash, the relief in Chicago was apparent for all to see as Jayson Potroz kicked the ball into touch to end the game.
Players, coaches, and part-owners could be seen leaping over the advertising hoardings and onto the field, their joy unbridled as half a year’s graft was vindicated.
Canada international Ben LeSage enjoyed a hugely successful debut season with New England, a title-winning season preceding his selection in the All-MLR First XV alongside teammates Le Roux Malan, Jayson Potroz, and Wian Conradie.
“I don’t think I breathed a sigh of relief or felt like it was secured until after that kick from Potty (Potroz),” LeSage said.
“I was able to breathe a sigh of relief, and everything started to feel real. I have won championships and been part of winning teams at the university level, but not at the international or professional level.
“There were many times in the year when I would stop and pause and ask, is this what a championship-winning club trains like on a Thursday? Is this how they travel? Is this how they respond to a loss?
“In a lot of cases, my answer was that I didn’t know because I hadn’t been a part of that before.
“At half-time, we were down, we hadn’t played our best rugby, but we were still in the game.
“It was quiet at half-time; everyone was pretty focused, switched onto their jobs. At the time, I didn’t know if we were too flat or had the right amount of focus.
“There was a lot of uncertainty in my mind, because it wasn’t something I had experienced before.
“So it wasn’t until that final whistle that all my questions throughout the season were answered with an enthusiastic ‘yes’; that everything I had been a part of and what I had experienced for the past six months was what the makings of a Championship team were.”
Mitch Jacobson also arrived at the Free Jacks this campaign. An experienced athlete with years of experience in his native New Zealand, the back-row forward was thrust into the spotlight when taking on the captaincy from the injured Josh Larsen.
No stranger to lifting hardware, Jacobson was part of the Waikato squad that lifted the National Provincial Championship in 2021. He certainly had his say on the Championship Final, scoring the opening try when pouncing on a loose San Diego pass.
“I look back on it fondly,” Jacobson said, “thinking back to the group of players and staff that assembled at the start of January and the improvements we have made throughout the year.
“To get the job done on the big stage shows how much the team had grown throughout the year. I think if we played that game a couple of months earlier, I don’t think we would get the same result.”
In week two, the team faced an early speedbump when they lost to the Legion in San Diego. In the same season, they secured an 80-5 win over the Toronto Arrows north of the border.
Final score in Toronto sees the @NEFreeJacks win 80-5!
Second half highlights here:
@therugbynetwork | #TORvNE | #MLR2023 pic.twitter.com/MBysCxZFgx
— Major League Rugby (@usmlr) April 16, 2023
While performances on the field tell one side of the story, all of the work helped to create unity among the group as the season got underway.
Unity was formed through competition within the squad throughout the season and developing a deep link to the community, which has taken them to heart.
“The buy-in from all the players and staff into the culture,” Jacobson said. “Things weren’t super serious for a lot of the time, but when we needed to dial it in and get something out of a session, I thought we did that.
“I think we really grew throughout the season, and the boys really seemed to enjoy each other’s company off the field, which is always key.”
Now in his preparation for Canada’s summer tour of Tonga, LeSage has nothing but fond memories of the 2023 MLR season.
Into his fourth season of professional rugby in North America, it is the center’s first title. An integral part of the effort, like Jacobson, the 27-year-old believed the bond created in Massachusetts sent the team to new heights.
“I think we are all competitive individuals, and that is part of why we play the sport,” LeSage said, “it is not game in, game out. It is to be a part of successful teams, successful seasons, and successful organizations.
“Winning is what makes rugby fun. Maybe as good or bad as that is to say. Being part of a winning culture this year, it is the most fun I have had playing rugby, ever.
“I learned a lot being in that type of environment. It was really rewarding, really special, and a good way to put a cap on what was an amazing group of human beings.
“The players, the staff, and the coaches know it won’t be 100 percent the same next year. It was an amazing way to put a cap on the season and remember everything in a fond way.”
Watch the New England Free Jacks’ historic season unfold in the five episode docuseries “Proven” on The Rugby Network.
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