Ben LeSage normally looks forward to running into fellow Canadian Lucas Rumball.
But not Saturday when LeSage's New England Free Jacks host Rumball's Chicago Hounds in Major League Rugby's Eastern Conference final.
Both teams finished the regular season with an 11-5-0 record, with New England topping the conference thanks to two more bonus points.
Rumball, a backrower who captains Canada, is a force at the breakdown, hard to dislodge as he looks to steal the ball off a tackled opponent.
"A great buddy off the field but he's very frustrating to play against," said LeSage, a veteran Canadian international back. "As soon as he gets close to a breakdown, it's right near impossible to get him off of it. So that's something we've talked about this week, for sure."
LeSage and the Free Jacks are looking to three-peat after defeating the Seattle Seawolves 20-11 in last year's championship game and edging the San Diego Legion 25-24 in 2023.
Chicago lost 23-17 to New England in last year's Eastern final.
Also Saturday, it's the Houston SaberCats (10-6-0) at the Utah Warriors (11-5-0) in the Western Conference final.
"It's a pretty short season so it flies by and this is what you work all year for," said LeSage. "To have a chance to win important rugby games at the end of the year."
Saturday's East showdown features two teams with plenty of other Canadian ties.
In addition to LeSage, the Free Jacks squad features Canadians Cole Keith, Kyle Steeves, Foster DeWitt, Andrew Quattrin, Lindsey Stevens, Kyle Baillie, Conor Keys, Josh Larsen, Piers Von Dadelszen, Ethan Fryer, Cam Nordli-Kelemeti, Jack Reeves, Isaac Olson, Josiah Morra and Brock Webster.
"A lot of people I know, a lot of people I've played with and against before," said Rumball, who was teammates with more than a few including LeSage at the now-defunct Toronto Arrows. "So a lot of familiar faces.
"I look forward to it," he added. "I think it's great Canadians have kind of found a home there and are really able to express themselves and put their stamp on Boston and show their trade there. Chicago has done well (too), has developed more Canadians this year than last."
Other Canadians on the Chicago roster are brothers Mason and Noah Flesch, Matt Owuru and Jason Higgins.
The Hounds went 7-1-0 in the first half of the season, finishing at 4-4-0. But, including the playoff semifinal they have won four straight.
Rumball points to injuries and some squad rotation for the fallow spell.
"I think we hit our stride again at the right time, towards the end of the year and we're rolling and, I think, pretty confident with the way we've been playing lately," he said.
In contrast, the Free Jacks have been winning since recovering from a bumpy start
After opening the season at 2-3-0, including the loss to Chicago the second week of the season, New England has gone 10-2-0. But the Free Jacks lost star fly half Jayson Potroz to a season-ending knee injury in a June 1 win over Seattle.
New Zealand's Dan Hollinshead, who has played in France and Japan as well as previous MLR stints with New York (2021) and L.A. (2024), has taken over at fly half.
Chicago split its regular-season meetings with the Free Jacks, winning 36-17 at home on March 2 and losing 27-17 at New England on May 10.
"We're both quality teams," said Rumball. "I think we met each other at different times in our season. New England, obviously, struggled a little bit at the start of the year where we seemed to find some form early on. And then towards that middle bit of the season, they were finally starting to click and we ran into a little bit of stutter at times.
"So I think it's probably a wash when it comes to the regular season … So I would say it's pretty much going to come down to the day on the weekend. I wouldn't put too much stock into the regular-season matchups."
Houston advanced by beating RFCLA 27-21 while Utah edged Seattle 23-21. In the East semifinals, it was New England 32 Miami Sharks 10 and Chicago 27 Old Glory DC 16.
The championship game is set for June 28 in Pawtucket, R.I., at Centreville Bank Stadium, the 10,500-seat home of the United Soccer League’s (USL) Rhode Island FC.
LeSage and Rumball are among 12 players from New England and Chicago on new Canada coach Steve Meehan's extended 59-man roster ahead of July tests against Belgium and Spain in Edmonton.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
