The July sun was beating down on the turf field at Quincy Memorial Stadium when the New England Free Jacks took the field for a late-morning practice on Thursday. With temperatures hovering around 90 degrees under a mostly clear sky, the sweltering pitch felt more like a sauna than playing surface.
Despite the heat, spirits were high among members of the rugby club as they got ready to a soundtrack of tunes from dad rock bands like AC/DC, ZZ Top and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In just about 48 hours’ time, they’d be playing in the biggest game of the club’s history. The Free Jacks will face the San Diego Legion in Chicago in the team’s first-ever trip to the Major League Rugby Championship Final on Saturday.
Still, despite the high pressure, the players were cool as a February day.
Kyle Ciquera is probably one of the most easily recognizable members of the Free Jacks. Sporting a mullet that would make most hair metal bands jealous, he admitted that there were a lot of nerves heading into the big match.
“But I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “I think the other feeling is, like, it’s the last time we’re all gonna play together, so just go leave it all out on the field and just do everyone proud.”
Major League Rugby, which first played games in 2018, currently includes 12 active teams, including the Free Jacks, who have been playing in the league since 2020. For the team, making it to the championship has been top of mind since losing in the eastern conference final last season.
Head coach Scott Mathie said the squad had a fantastic 2022 season, but he always thought all of the winning happened too quickly for them.
“You know, we had a great season, but I think that’s why we didn’t kick on into the championship game is because we weren’t fully prepared for that,” he said.
Mathie said this year the team became more total, with more variety in how they play and growth in the leadership in the locker room, along with more cohesion and continuity.
“So, we were definitely aiming for where we are now,” he said. “We wanted to go one better than last year and we’ve done that. So, for me, it’s kind of where I wanted us to get to, you know, so I think we’re on track, man.”
For players like Mitch Wilson, getting to this point has been a long journey. This is Wilson’s fourth year with the Free Jacks and he said he’s seen huge growth in his time in New England.
“And it seems that every year’s just been a huge step upwards in a positive direction, from the festivities off the field to the crowds at our games that have continued to increase,” he said. “And then just the on-field product, the players that we’ve got in our environment, the coaching, the level of professionalism, everything’s kind of just gone up year after year.”
When the Free Jacks took down Old Glory DC 25-7 on July 1 to secure the team’s first-ever playoff win and punch their ticket to the championship, there was something of a sigh of relief across the organization.
But that alleviation quickly turned to focus on the daunting task of playing the San Diego Legion, who have lost just one game this season. In the two teams’ only meeting this season, the Legion took down the Free Jacks 29-12.
Wilson said the Legion have been the most consistent team all year.
“We have focused on ourselves quite a bit this week,” he said. “But then from there we can expect them to try and move the ball wide, to try and get the ball to their outside backs — who are quite evasive — and put them into some space, so we can expect that this weekend.”
Wilson wants to add to the winning tradition of New England sports and bring a trophy back to Quincy. For head coach Mathie, that desire came with a fair amount of nerves earlier on in the week as he balanced prep for the big game with trying to keep the routine relatively normal for his team.
But as the heat of a match years in the making for New England gets warmer, Mathie is surprisingly calm.
“As I sit right now, I’m really excited about it, eh? There’s not too much nervousness — that will probably happen on game day. But I’m just excited about it,” he said. “I think we’ve had a great week, the boys seem really relaxed, there’s a good energy in the team and that always bodes well.”
