Over the weekend, Major League Rugby expansion teams New England Free Jacks and Ontario Arrows will take to the pitch for some exhibition rugby in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While the Arrows have been an announced expansion side for some time, the Free Jacks have just been publicly advertised within the last month. Much of the New England teams remains shrouded in mystery, despite some official releases finally hitting the presses this week.

The Arrows, who are expected to be a part of the 2019 MLR season, are the more established side from the roster to the coaching staff. A full roster ahead of the match has been released. This match is truly a work up towards the pending professional season, which could begin as early as January –as the details of season two have yet to officially emerge. They boast three Rugby Canada 15s players, another three Rugby Canada 7s players, and eight Canadian U20s members.

The Free Jacks have their fresh fanbase, among eager scribes, awaiting any indication of the 23 that hopped on the plane to Nova Scotia for this weekend’s friendly. Not anticipated to participate until 2020, there’s still plenty of change any early iteration of a roster will undergo. That said, there is still much to monitor in regards to what foundation of talent the team would build upon over the next year and change.

Early leaks of talent have emerged this week, which included Matt Hughston leaving NOLA Gold and Diego Maquierira departing Houston SabreCats. Two players won’t do much among a 15-strong team though. The team certainly exists, they boarded a plane and headed to Nova Scotia early on Friday ahead of the match, as seen in the Free Jacks’ Instagram story.

But we’re all still in the dark here. Surely a bulk of the team will be comprised of any of the three rugby clubs in the Boston area, with the most anticipated volume coming from USA Club Rugby top-tier Mystic River Rugby.

Thankfully, Mystic helped relieve some of the pre-game mystique. On Friday, via their Facebook page, they congratulated a number of current and alumnus Mystic players that were a part of the Free Jacks team that will take on the Arrows on Saturday.

Mystic’s list includes 19 names, including the rumored Maquieira. Which means there are likely four outside candidates that will fill the remainder of the depths. If the Matt Hughston rumblings are true, and he’s set to play in this match, that’d leave just three more players. Who those names will be… well we will just have to eagerly keep to our social feeds and wait to hear what the team says.

There’s some excitement here in the Mystic 19, however. Despite posting an unusually subpar 1-5 record in the fall season of the American Rugby Premiership, Mystic has long been revered as one of club rugby’s top outfits.

Christian Adams is an American International College (AIC) standout and USA All American selection. The blazing quick winger will provide any unit shiftiness and speed to the backs.

Spike Armstrong will bring a respectable kicking pedigree to the table. Don’t write him off, even though he’s spent plenty of this season with Mystic’s D2 side.

Christopher Frazier is another USA Rugby All American. A Northeastern grad, Frazier has been on the USA 7s’ radar for much of the year, including working with the unit among the preseason tour.

Steven Hinshaw is fresh off leading Dartmouth to a DIA National Championship.

Owen Hundt, who was part of the Mystic team to win the DI club championship earlier this year, has also spent time with the Glendale Merlins, the club branch for MLR’s Glendale Raptors.

Harley Davidson screeched off with the best name in MLR season one, but Thor LaFromboise is coming for that title.

Connor Robinson is another All American selection.

Erik Thompson is a USA Rugby U20s face.

A late break to the story, confirmed by sources close to the matter, is that free agent to be Tadhg Leader, who plyed his traits with San Diego Legion a season ago, has signed with the Free Jacks. Announced via an Instagram post earlier in the week, Tadhg thanked the Legion and fans for his time in San Diego but left what his next step would be as a bit of mystery to his many followers.

Leader, a former Connacht academy player, has long been fighting for his place within the US Club Rugby system. He’s spent time as a player/adviser with local Boston Irish Wolfhounds, where he has returned the previous four summers as a men’s and youth coach, which included a camp covered on this platform last summer with the Hounds. He spent his initial club time as a player with the Saint Louis Royals, where he claimed a D3 National Championship in 2017. Initially hoping to play for Lindenwood University, he was ultimately deemed ineligible. He’s worked towards his eligibility for USA Rugby and was a part of the initial USA Selects roster for the Americas Pacific Challenge but ultimately did not partake. Leader was also announced as the Digidust Sport’s US Branch chief operation officer earlier this year. His current position is listed as skills assessment officer on their website. A premier management and sports agency within rugby, it’ll be interesting to see what that business relationship will ultimately mean for the Free Jacks over time.

Update: The Free Jacks have officially announced the 23 headed to Halifax and the foundational roster the expansion team will build on. Matt Hughston has been named captain, while Leader has been dubbed the vice-captain.

🔔 The Free Jacks announce their roster for tomorrow’s match against the Ontario Arrows in Halifax, Canada

📺 Stream match at 2pm ET: https://t.co/3o76kd4e5C

📄 Roster announcement: https://t.co/vdY0fIcXW8 👊 #ReadyToRide

🔥 pic.twitter.com/T6S2KbKdwW — FreeJacks (@RCNewEngland) October 19, 2018

Adding to the already surprising lineup, Ben Cima, who has worked his way up the USA Rugby’s ladder over the last year —a late replacement for kicking duties for the Eagles’ Americas Rugby Championship title defense– and spent last season with SD Legion as well, finds himself casually tossed into the roster lineup. Joining him and completing the mysterious final names on the roster will be Anthony Perry, who originally made noise with the upstart Ohio Aviators in the now-defunct PRO, and spent last season with NOLA Gold. Another Gold poach, Myle McQuone will also join the team. Rounding out the roster was Sean Moran, Peter Lupton, and Danny Collins who are the lone representative for the Boston Irish Wolfhounds.

The Free Jacks have named Josh Smith the head coach for the tussle over the weekend.

For a fresh look team, this team commands respect. They’ve, in the shadows of the offseason, assembled quite the solid looking team that will surely be intriguing to see round out by 2020. Whether we see the team opt to loan any of their top performers out to get regular playing time next season will be left to be seen; it was a move we saw Rugby United New York pull off. With more than a year together ahead of their entrance into the league, they’ll also no doubt enter looking quite polished. We’ll just how connected this unit is this weekend in their first test as a team. Make no mistake though, right out of the gates, this team means business.

The Free Jacks take on the Arrows a 2 pm ADT/ 1 pm ET at Wanderers Grounds in Halifax. A stream of the game can be found on the Arrows’ Facebook page.