When Major League Rugby added a ninth team after its inaugural season in 2018, it was easy to see more expansion was on the way.

With a big appetite for professional sports, a strong Irish heritage and dozens of college campuses, where many players get their first taste of union rugby, Boston was a natural destination for an expansion franchise. That team was announced last fall, and the New England Free Jacks will play their first season in the MLR in 2020.

“We had the option to start this year, but we really want to build this thing correctly,” said CEO Alex Magleby, a Dartmouth grad and former USA rugby national team player.

Part of that build-up includes roster tweaking, which Magleby said will continue into this summer, and an exhibition schedule featuring matches against other MLR teams, plus the Cara Cup, which begins Saturday at 3 p.m. when the Free Jacks take on Connacht at the Union Point Sports Complex in Weymouth.

With matches against Ulster, Munster and Leinster also set to take place throughout March and April, the Cara Cup will feature all four professional Irish teams in the Pro 14, one of three top union rugby leagues in Europe.

The goal of the tournament is to build momentum heading into the Free Jacks’ inaugural season and raise the profile of the club in the New England rugby community.

“It legitimizes this first season for us, for sure. Going through a schedule playing pro teams that are on bye weeks or pro team’s reserves, that doesn’t have the buzz of playing a Connacht, an Ulster, clubs that honestly as an American I’ve grown up following,” head coach Josh Smith said. “It’s very exciting, particularly for the Irish community in Boston. I think it’s going to help us get a ton of buy-in.”

For Haverhill native Anthony Purpura, a Maine grad who has appeared on the U.S. national team and played for the San Diego Legion in last year’s MLR season, Saturday’s match represents something of a homecoming.

“I’ve been looking forward to Saturday for not just the couple months we’ve been building this up, but for the last 15 years of my career,” Purpura said. “I’ve been looking forward to playing professional rugby here in front of my family and friends and all the people who have supported me and mentored me throughout my whole life in the game.”

For Free Jacks fly-half Tadhg Leader, who spent several years with Connacht in their academy, the match is a reunion.

“There’s massive bragging rights on the line. My family have actually come over for the games. It’s definitely going to be a huge occasion, and all that much sweeter playing against my old teammates,” Leader said.

His brother, Darragh, currently plays for Connacht, although he’s not a member of the squad the Irish side is sending to the United States this weekend.

“My parents landed (Wednesday). My dad was wearing a Connacht jacket, and I gave him a Free Jacks hat. So hopefully after the game Saturday, they’ll be wearing all Free Jacks if we have our way,” Leader said.

It’s also an opportunity for Magleby, Smith and the rest of the Free Jacks management to continue evaluating their roster in what is effectively an extended preseason for the team.

“It’s an extended tryout for 2020,” Smith said. “Is this guy going to be a Free Jack down the road, or is this probably just a guy we’re going to be using for the first year? So it’s a work in progress. It’s constantly working on assessment and development.”

The Free Jacks have identified some of their full-time professionals, but most of their roster currently consists of players who have to go to work during the day after 5 a.m. training sessions have wrapped up, largely drawn from local rugby clubs like Mystic River and the Boston Irish Wolfhounds.

Professions of team members range from software sales to roofing installer to senior financial analyst.

“It’s probably about 80 percent guys that are still working. Those guys, I don’t want to call them part time players, because they’re managing everything. That’s why we’re here at 5 a.m. We get in early. The rest of the day, they go to work,” Smith said.

That kind of workingman’s hours and attitude have helped set the development of the team on right course, according to Smith.

“It’s kind of built in to what we want the culture of the club to be – to be a bit humble, a bit selfless. There’s no divas at four in the morning. Not when it’s four degrees out.”