The Year in Review
After going 13-3 in 2021 with a heartbreaking 24-16 loss in the East Conference Finals, the New England Free Jacks came back motivated and ready for blood in 2022, storming through the regular season with a 14-2 record, winning their last 10 regular season games on the way to a championship finish in the Major League Rugby Final, defeating the San Diego Legion 25-24 in a nail-biting finish.
One of the Free Jacks’ two regular season losses in 2023 came at the hands of the Legion, who beat them down 29-12 in the second week of the season in San Diego.
That made the championship rematch look daunting, but New England was more than ready for the task, having had the better part of five months to get used to playing with one another, maximizing each other’s strengths while covering up for any weaknesses.
What’s Next?
A little more than a month has passed since the stunning championship win, giving Free Jacks’ supporters a chance to bask in the glow of victory. For players and management staff, though, the quest is just beginning, with a busy offseason ahead for them to balance recovering from the grind of the season while managing to stay in shape: The Free Jacks’ brain trust, on the other hand, will have to prepare to maximize the talent on their roster. Championship-winning teams always get picked over by the rest of the league, trying to find a hidden gem that could put them over the top, so the Free Jacks will need to make smart moves about who to retain and let go in order to maximize their championship window.
For New England fans, the good news is that the Free Jacks have already shown their ability to do so, preparing for the future even as they commit to winning now through shrewd business moves.
Transitioning from glory to strategy, the New England Free Jacks have embarked on a transformative journey after their league title win, shaping the team’s trajectory for years to come. In a dynamic partnership, their forward-thinking approach also extends to the realm of online sports betting, with Fanduel Massachusetts offering an exclusive promo code that echoes the team’s pursuit of greatness. Just as the Free Jacks masterfully execute their plays on the pitch, fans can tactically enhance their winning prowess as there are many opportunities to wager on rugby.
Beyond their business dealings with gambling sites, the Free Jacks are embarking on several other initiatives to reach out to the Boston community.
As any rugby fan here in the United States knows, the sport’s popularity has long lagged behind what it holds in the British Commonwealth nations and the South Pacific islands.
Part of that comes from simple market forces like supply and demand (with American football occupying the niche that rugby holds elsewhere), but that doesn’t mean that the phenomenon is set in stone. As such, the Free Jacks are doing what they can to increase the popularity of the sport they love here in the States, creating a youth academy called the Junior Jacks to teach the next generation of rugby fans and stars how to perfect their understanding of the game.
The developmental academy serves as a feeder program for both the United States men’s and women’s national teams (in addition to the Free Jacks, of course), helping them to grow the game on a national level while giving top young players from all over the country an incentive to stay on board with them in New England… a recruiting strategy that helps them build up vast talent reserves early.
The national teams are a fertile ground to bring in new top players (as one might expect, given they’re already in the upper echelon of players around the world if they’re good enough to play as one of a select few in their home country).
Building off of that strategy, the Free Jacks signed Canadian native Isaac Olson, who scored two tries for the Canadian National Team in a match against Tonga earlier this week: It’ll be fascinating to see how the 23-year-old’s career continues to grow in the next few seasons, especially if he’s shown an ability to hold his own against one of the best national teams in the business.
These Things Don’t Happen Overnight
As someone who’s made a career of paying attention to sports, I’m always going to preach patience. While it’s tempting to look at the home run moves that can help put a team over the top, signing a highly sought-after free agent or swinging a blockbuster trade, the supplemental moves that add up as a team fleshes out the rest of a roster matter just as much.
Take a look at the offseason between 2019 and 2020, for instance, when the Free Jacks went out and picked up lock Josh Larsen from the now-folded Austin Gilgronis (then called the Austin Elite).
While a player playing in the second row tasked with driving the scrum might not play a position as exciting as one of the halves does, they’re called the engine room for good reason.
Larsen’s ability to leverage the scrum on both offense and defense is part of what helped put the Free Jacks over the top the past two seasons, and it’s no surprise that the club ended up naming him captain ahead of his first season with the team.
Similarly, it might not be the sexy thing to talk about, but coaching matters quite a bit. The Free Jacks picked up Scott Mathie following the conclusion of the 2021 season, and it’s no mistake that they’ve reeled off 27 wins in 32 regular season games since they made the hire.
Whether it’s the commitment to building a better future for rugby using the Junior Jacks academy or the moves they make to shore up their current roster, one can’t say enough about the team-building philosophy the Free Jacks have, preparing for success years down the line even as they fortify the team as it exists now.
