MLR 2026 – California Legion vs Old Glory DC – ARN Guide

California will play their last home game of the regular season on Sunday, as they welcome DC to Sacramento on Sunday. Both sides have losing records but remain in playoff contention. The Legion have more bonus points, however, and a victory could see them in striking range of a home Semi Final. A loss for Old Glory puts them in jeopardy of falling out of the top four.

FORM GUIDE

3rd, 3-4-0, Lost 2
05/16 – Legion 26 vs 36 Hounds (Moraga)
05/09 – Free Jacks 26 vs 21 Legion (Quincy)
04/26 – Old Glory 23 vs 36 Legion (Fairfax)
04/19 – Legion 38 vs 31 Seawolves (Los Angeles)
04/12 – Hounds 48 vs 24 Legion (Bridgeview)
04/04 – Legion 43 vs 5 Free Jacks (San Diego)
03/28 – Legion 26 vs 39 Anthem (Irvine)

4th, 3-4-0, Won 1
05/17 – Old Glory 24 vs 23 Free Jacks (Fairfax)
05/10 – Old Glory 25 vs 30 Seawolves (Fairfax)
05/03 – Hounds 49 vs 31 Old Glory (Bridgeview)
04/26 – Old Glory 23 vs 36 Legion (Fairfax)
04/18 – Anthem 14 vs 31 Old Glory (Charlotte)
04/11 – Free Jacks 19 vs 21 Old Glory (Quincy)
04/03 – Seawolves 33 vs 16 Old Glory (Tukwila)

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

	IN	OUT
8	Ben Houston	Jurie van Vuuren
13	Cole Semu	Cassh Maluia

	IN	OUT
	none	none

NOTES

• Injured / unavailable – (Legion) Christian Poidevin, Ryan James; (Old Glory) Rob Harley, Jay Renton, Jason Emery
• the Legion are calling for a ‘black out’ on Sunday… that is they are asking fans to wear black, as the team will wear special kit featuring black jerseys with white lettering
• Steve Hoiles makes an unusual call in the forwards with Ronan Murphy starting at lock for the first time in his pro career… the taller Ben Houston instead gets the No8 role with Keni Nasoqeqe left on the bench
• the only other change to California’s lineup is a straight swap in the midfield with Cole Semu coming in at outside center in place of Cassh Maluia, who is not in the 23 this week
• it’s an unchanged Old Glory run-on side after their narrow win over New England last week… the only alterations are on the bench, where Bart Vermeulen and Tevita Naqali add some bulk
• Benja Bonasso captains DC again with Rob Harley serving the second of this three-game suspension

PREDICTION

Warn and sunny but slightly breezy conditions are expected at kickoff. Both sides prefer attacking rugby, so that shouldn’t have an impact. The travel is a challenge for DC, but the timely returns of Vermeulen and Naqali bolster their bench when legs get tired. On paper this looks a very close contest. The Legion were clearly the better side in their earlier match on the East Coast, however, so the home side gets the nod. California are slight favorites at home in Sacramento.

TEAMS

CALIFORNIA LEGION
1 Michael Scott, 2 Ben Sugars, 3 Tonga Kofe, 4 Ronan Murphy, 5 Jason Damm (capt.), 6 Lance Williams, 7 Ed Timpson, 8 Ben Houston, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Coby Miln, 11 Joe Mano, 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Cole Semu, 14 Corbin Smith, 15 Steffan Crimp

Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ma’ake Muti, 18 Justus Tavai, 19 Keni Nasoqeqe, 20 Cyrille Cama, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Matt Anticev, 23 Oscar Treacy

OLD GLORY DC
1 Cali Martinez, 2 Kirby Myhill, 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Rick Rose, 5 Collin Grosse, 6 Cory Daniel, 7 Aidan King, 8 Benjamín Bonasso (capt.), 9 John LeFevre, 10 Jason Robertson, 11 John Rizzo, 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 Ross Depperschmidt, 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Damien Hoyland

Replacements: 16 KoiKoi Nelligan, 17 Bart Vermeulen, 18 Connor Devos, 19 Tevita Naqali, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Aidan Ridgway, 22 Max Schumacher, 23 John Powers

MATCH INFO

Date: Sunday, May 24
Venue: Heart Health Park, Sacramento
Kickoff: 17:00 local (20:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 82°F (28°C), wind SW 13-21 mph (22-33 km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+ (USA), Premier Sports (International), Monumental Sports (Local), Game Plus (YouTube)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Shanda Assmus (Canada) & Chris Assmus (Canada)
TMO: n/a

HISTORY

HEAD-TO-HEAD (1) – Legion 1, Old Glory 0
2026-04-26 – Old Glory DC 23, California Legion 36 (Fairfax)