Old Glory DC

Old Glory DC RFC is an American professional rugby union team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). Old Glory was founded in 2018, played some exhibition games in 2019, and began regular-season MLR play in 2020.

Old Glory DC

Full name	Old Glory DC Rugby Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Flags
Founded	2018; 6 years ago (2018)
Location	Washington, D.C.
Ground(s)	Maryland SoccerPlex (Capacity: 5,000)
Chairman	Paul Sheehy Chris Dunlavey Scottish Rugby Union
Coach(es)	Simon Cross
Captain(s)	Jamason Faʻanana-Schultz
Most caps	Jack Iscaro (60)
Top scorer	Jason Robertson (313)
Most tries	William Talataina (23)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2023	Conference finalist 3rd (Eastern Conference)
Team kit
Official website
oldglorydc.com

The organization is led by two local business leaders, former USA Eagles' Paul Sheehy, and local club rugby player Chris Dunlavey.^[1] The Scottish Rugby Union has a part ownership of the team. The team has been coached by Simon Cross since July 2023.

History

Major League Rugby announced on May 15, 2018, that an expansion team would begin play in Washington, D.C., by the 2020 season^[2] and confirmed the team in November 2018.^[3] On February 6, 2019, the team name was announced as Old Glory DC. On March 28, 2019, the Scottish Rugby Union announced that it had purchased a minority interest in the team.^[4]

After losing seven matches in a row to start the 2022 season, Old Glory DC announced the immediate departure of head coach Andrew Douglas on March 29, 2022. At the time of his departure, Douglas was the longest-tenured head coach in MLR, having joined for the 2019 exhibition season before the first MLR season in 2020. He left with a 10-17-1 overall MLR record and a 37.5% winning percentage.^[5][6] Three days later, on April 1, Old Glory DC announced that former NOLA Gold head coach Nate Osborne would serve as an interim head coach for the remainder of the season while the team conducted a search for a permanent replacement.^[7]

On October 31, 2022, Josh Syms was announced as the new head coach.^[8] On May 15, 2023, it was announced that Syms would leave at the end of the season to coach forwards for the Italian team Zebre Parma.^[9] Several weeks later, Old Glory made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.^[10] On July 7, 2023, the team announced the hiring of Simon Cross as head coach to replace Syms.^[11]

In June 2023, the team announced Earth, Wind & Fire bassist Verdine White and businessman Paxton Baker had become minority owners.^[12]

In the 2024 season, Old Glory began play at the Maryland SoccerPlex, a sports complex in Germantown, Maryland. That season, Old Glory made the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.

Stadium

The team played their exhibition and inaugural campaigns at Cardinal Stadium on the campus of Catholic University of America.^[13] In 2021 they moved to Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia.^[14] The team played three seasons at Segra Field and on September 6, 2023, it was announced that the team would move to the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Maryland the following season.^[15]

Sponsorship

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor	Other Shirt sponsor(s)
2019	Adidas	Cuisine Solutions	None
2020–2022	Paladin Sports		Leidos Iron Vine Security
2023			Leidos ECS Tech
2024	Kappa		Events DC ECS Tech Gringo Gordo Empanadas

Roster

For player movements before and during the 2024 season, see List of 2023–24 Major League Rugby transfers § Old Glory DC.

The Old Glory DC squad for the 2024 Major League Rugby season is:^[16]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Tristan Cole Hooker United States Facundo Gattas Hooker Uruguay KoiKoi Nelligan Hooker United States Martin Vaca Hooker Argentina Kevin Brou Prop Ivory Coast Jack Iscaro Prop United States Steven Longwell Prop Scotland Cali Martinez Prop Canada Quentin Newcomer Prop United States Tyler Rowland Prop Canada Joe Wrafter* Prop England Ignacio Dotti Lock Uruguay Rob Harley Lock Scotland Tevita Naqali Lock Fiji Charlie Overton Lock United States Bill Whiteside Lock United States Lautaro Bavaro Back row Argentina Brady Daniel Back row United States Cory Daniel Back row United States Jamason Faʻanana-Schultz (c) Back row United States Collin Grosse Back row United States Niko Jones* Back row New Zealand Dacoda Worth Back row United States

Player Position Union Conor Buckley Scrum-half United States Ethan McVeigh Scrum-half United States Danny Tusitala Scrum-half Samoa Gradyn Bowd Fly-half Canada Jason Robertson Fly-half New Zealand Mike Weir Fly-half United States Tommaso Boni Centre United States Palema Roberts Centre United States Ishmail Shabazz Centre United States William Talataina Centre Samoa Perry Humphreys Wing England Axel Müller Wing Argentina John Powers Wing United States John Rizzo Wing United States Mike Dabulas Fullback United States Damien Hoyland Fullback Scotland

• Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold.
• * denotes players qualified to play for the United States on dual nationality or residency grounds.
• MLR teams are allowed to field up to ten overseas players per match.

Head coaches

• Andrew Douglas (2019–March 2022)
• Nate Osborne (April 2022–October 2022) interim
• Josh Syms (October 2022–May 2023)
• Simon Cross (July 2023–present)

Captains

• Josh Brown (2019) (Captain)
• Mungo Mason (2020–2021) (Co-captain)
• Thretton Palamo (2020–2021) (Co-captain)
• Danny Tusitala (2022) (Captain)
• Jamason Faʻanana-Schultz (2023–present) (Captain)
• Stan South (2023) (Vice Captain)

Records

Season standings

Season	Conference	Regular season										Postseason
Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/−	BP	Pts	Pld	W	L	F	A	+/−	Result
2020[a]	Eastern	2nd	5	4	0	1	122	129	-7	1	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	Cancelled
2021	Eastern	5th	16	6	1	9	409	490	-81	13	39	-	-	-	-	-	-	Did not qualify
2022	Eastern	6th	16	3	0	13	423	591	-168	11	23	-	-	-	-	-	-	Did not qualify
2023	Eastern	3rd	16	7	1	8	408	443	-35	13	43	2	1	1	44	58	-14	Won Eliminator Game (Rugby New York) 37-33 Lost Conference Final (New England Free Jacks) 25-7
Totals			53	20	2	31	1,362	1,653	-291	38	122	2	1	1	44	58	-14	1 postseason appearance

2019 season

All games in the 2019 season were exhibition games and did not count in the MLR standings.

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
May 19	Shannon RFC	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Lost, 22-26
May 27	Scotland U-20	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Lost, 7-70
June 1	USA Rugby South Panthers	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Won, 28-7
June 9	Ontario Blues	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Won, 29-15

2020 season

On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.^[17] It was cancelled the following week.^[18]

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
February 8	New Orleans Gold	Away	Gold Mine	Lost, 13-46
February 16	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Won, 28-22
February 22	Houston SaberCats	Away	Aveva Stadium	Won, 22-13
February 29	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Toyota Stadium	Won, 28-19
March 8	Rugby ATL	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Won, 31-29
March 15	Colorado Raptors	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Cancelled
March 22	San Diego Legion	Away	Torero Stadium	Cancelled
March 29	Rugby United New York	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Cancelled
April 11	New Orleans Gold	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Cancelled
April 18	New England Free Jacks	Away	Union Point Sports Complex	Cancelled
April 26	Toronto Arrows	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Cancelled
May 3	Utah Warriors	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Cancelled
May 9	Rugby United New York	Away	MCU Park	Cancelled
May 17	Rugby ATL	Away	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Cancelled
May 24	New England Free Jacks	Home	Cardinal Stadium	Cancelled
May 31	Toronto Arrows	Away	Lamport Stadium	Cancelled

2021 season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
March 21	NOLA Gold	Away	Gold Mine	Draw, 26-26
March 27	Rugby ATL	Home	Segra Field	Won, 30-23
April 3	Toronto Arrows	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 19-40
April 18	RUNY	Away	MCU Park	Lost, 34-38
April 25	New England Free Jacks	Home	Segra Field	Won, 35-22
May 1	LA Giltinis	Away	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Lost, 17-47
May 8	Utah Warriors	Away	Zions Bank Stadium	Lost, 33-34
May 16	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Segra Field	Won, 22-18
May 22	Houston SaberCats	Away	Aveva Stadium	Won, 21-13
May 30	RUNY	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 10-46
June 6	New England Free Jacks	Away	Union Point Sports Complex	Lost, 34-38
June 12	NOLA Gold	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 21-25
June 26	Rugby ATL	Away	Lupo Family Field	Lost, 12-32
July 4	Toronto Arrows	Away	Lupo Family Field[b]	Lost, 28-34
July 10	San Diego Legion	Home	Segra Field	Won, 38-29
July 17	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Segra Field	Won, 29-25

2022 season

Exhibition

Old Glory played two preseason matches in January 2022. Both matches were held at the St. James Sports Complex, a series of indoor fields in Springfield, Virginia.^[19]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
January 21	Toronto Arrows	Home	St. James Sports Complex	Lost, 47-17
January 28	New England Free Jacks	Home	St. James Sports Complex	Won, 27-22

Regular season

Old Glory played eighteen matches in the regular season with two bye weeks. Their home matches were played at Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia.^[20] Because the MLR's Eastern Conference had one team fewer than the Western Conference, Old Glory played the Toronto Arrows three times in the regular season, once at home and twice in Toronto.

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
February 5	Rugby ATL	Away	Atlanta Silverbacks Park	Lost, 22-55
February 12	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Bold Stadium	Lost, 12-57
February 18	New England Free Jacks	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 25-41
February 26	Toronto Arrows	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 5-29
March 6	San Diego Legion	Away	SDSU Sports Deck	Lost, 12-24
March 20	Rugby ATL	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 13-27
March 26	New Orleans Gold	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 22-31
April 3	Rugby New York	Away	JFK Stadium	Lost, 31-35
April 9	Toronto Arrows	Away	York Lions Stadium	Lost, 27-32
April 15	Utah Warriors	Home	Segra Field	Won, 22-21
April 23	Dallas Jackals	Home	Segra Field	Won, 50-10
May 7	New England Free Jacks	Away	Veterans Memorial Stadium	Lost, 26-20
May 14	New Orleans Gold	Away	Gold Mine on Airline	Lost, 50-21
May 21	Houston Sabercats	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 42-59
May 29	Rugby New York	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 49-59
June 5	Toronto Arrows	Away	York Lions Stadium	Won, 50-35

2023 season

Old Glory played 16 games in the 2023 regular season. All eight home games were played at Segra Field. They advanced to the playoffs, defeating the Rugby New York Ironworkers to advance to the conference final, which they lost to the New England Free Jacks.

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
February 18	Chicago Hounds	Home	Segra Field	Won, 42-27
March 5	Rugby New York Ironworkers	Away	Memorial Field	Lost, 34-8
March 11	New England Free Jacks	Away	Veterans Memorial Stadium	Lost, 34-31
March 18	Toronto Arrows	Home	Segra Field	Won, 29-3
March 25	NOLA Gold	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 17-20
April 2	San Diego Legion	Away	Snapdragon Stadium	Lost, 48-26
April 8	Rugby ATL	Away	Atlanta Silverbacks Park	Lost, 35-27
April 16	Rugby New York Ironworkers	Home	Segra Field	Won, 42-31
April 22	Utah Warriors	Home	Segra Field	Won, 36-22
May 6	Dallas Jackals	Away	Choctaw Stadium	Won, 7-3[c]
May 14	New England Free Jacks	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 24-42
May 18	Toronto Arrows	Away	York Lions Stadium	Draw, 29-29
May 27	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Segra Field	Lost, 41-19
June 3	NOLA Gold	Away	Gold Mine	Won, 28-15
June 9	Houston SaberCats	Away	SaberCats Stadium	Lost, 31-7
June 17	Rugby ATL	Home	Segra Field	Won, 36-28

Postseason

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
East Eliminator	June 25	Rugby New York Ironworkers	Away	Memorial Field	Won, 37-33
East Conference Finals	July 1	New England Free Jacks	Away	Veterans Memorial Stadium	Lost, 7-25

2024 season

Old Glory played 16 games in the 2024 regular season. All eight home games were played at the Maryland SoccerPlex. The team made it to the playoffs for the second time in its history, securing a place by taking a losing bonus point in their loss to the Miami Sharks on June 22. They made the playoffs for the second time in team history and were defeated by the New England Free Jacks in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final.

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
March 2	NOLA Gold	Away	Gold Mine	Lost, 18-6
March 9	New England Free Jacks	Away	Veterans Memorial Stadium	Won, 35-34
March 16	Chicago Hounds	Home	Maryland SoccerPlex	Draw, 22-22
March 23	San Diego Legion	Home	Maryland SoccerPlex	Lost, 27-11
March 30	Anthem RC	Away	American Legion Memorial Stadium	Won, 46-32
April 6	RFC Los Angeles	Home	Maryland SoccerPlex	Draw, 22-22
April 20	Houston SaberCats	Home	Maryland SoccerPlex	Lost, 38-17
April 26	Utah Warriors	Away	Zions Bank Stadium	Lost, 31-24
May 4	Miami Sharks	Home	Maryland SoccerPlex	Won, 13-10
May 11	Chicago Hounds	Away	SeatGeek Stadium	Won, 22-21
May 24	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Starfire Sports Complex	Lost, 26-24
June 1	Anthem RC	Home	Maryland SoccerPlex	Won, 47-29
June 8	New England Free Jacks	Home	Maryland SoccerPlex	Lost, 31-30
June 14	Dallas Jackals	Away	Choctaw Stadium	Won, 36-34
June 22	Miami Sharks	Away	Chase Stadium	Lost, 17-12
June 29	NOLA Gold	Home	Maryland SoccerPlex	Won, 27-24

Postseason

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
Eastern Semi-Final	July 20	New England Free Jacks	Away	Veterans Memorial Stadium	Lost, 33-29

Notes

1. 2020 regular season shortened and playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. The Arrows temporarily relocated for the 2021 season due to COVID-19 border crossing concerns.
3. Match abandoned at halftime due to hazardous weather conditions.

References

1. Neibauer, Michael (May 17, 2018). "Two local business leaders may field professional D.C. rugby team". Washington Business Journal.
2. Pengelly, Martin (May 15, 2018). "Washington DC team to enter Major League Rugby 'no later' than 2020". The Guardian.
3. Rowe, James (November 3, 2018). "Toronto Officially Joins Major League Rugby For 2019; Washington, DC In 2020". The Runner Sports.
4. "Scottish Rugby take minority stake in new U.S. team". ESPN. Reuters. March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
5. McCay, Chris (29 March 2022). "Head Coach Andrew Douglas to Depart Old Glory DC". Old Glory DC. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
6. "Old Glory parts ways with Head Coach Andrew Douglas". Americas Rugby News. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
7. Allen, Hope (April 2022). "Old Glory DC Names Nate Osborne Interim Head Coach". Old Glory DC. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
8. "Old Glory DC Announces Joshua "Josh" Syms as Head Coach". Old Glory DC. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
9. "Josh Syms to depart DC for Italy". Americas Rugby News. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
10. "Old Glory slides past Gold to book first ever playoff spot". Americas Rugby News. 3 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
11. "Simon Cross Named Head Coach of Old Glory DC". Old Glory DC. July 7, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
12. Mosley, Kyle T. (13 June 2023). "Earth, Wind, and Fire's Verdine White Ventures Into Sports Ownership". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
13. "New home field for Old Glory DC in MLR 2024". Americas Rugby News. September 6, 2023.
14. Augenstein, Neal (October 22, 2020). "Pro rugby team Old Glory DC moving to Loudoun County". WTOP-FM. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
15. "Old Glory DC Announces the Maryland Soccerplex as Our Home Venue for the 2024 Major League Rugby Season". Old Glory DC. September 6, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
16. "Old Glory DC". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
17. "MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY SUSPENDS 2020 SEASON FOR 30 DAYS". Major League Rugby. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
18. "Major League Rugby cancels remainder of 2020 campaign". Yahoo! Sports. Agence France-Presse. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
19. "2022 Old Glory Preseason Schedule". Retrieved 4 January 2022.
20. "2022 Match Schedule". Retrieved 4 January 2022.

External links

• Official website