The Old Mate travels to Nashville this weekend! Can Chicago hold it or will New England force it to change hands for the 3rd time this season in only week 4?
#mlr2026 #rugby
Not without some hiccups but Sunday Night Rugby on ESPN was awesome. Technical difficulties handled with some seasoned announcers coming off the bench. #mlr2026 usmlr
And the Hounds take the Old Mate from California Legion on Legion’s first ever defense. This cup likes to move around! #mlr2026 #rugby
This post has a limited audience. Possibly only me. I created a TRMNL plugin for tracking the Old Mate. Get it here: trmnl.com/recipes/2…
You can now trace the MLR Supporters Challenge Cup history directly on the MLR website! #MLR2026 is shaping up awesome
Chicago Hounds have only won The Old Mate once when they took it from New England Free Jacks in week 3 of the 2025 season after 5 failed challenges across 2023 and 2024. They held it until Seattle took it from them in week 10. Will they get it back on #MLR2026 Sunday Night Rugby this week? #rugby
The Old Mate is a hot potato.
36% of holders lose it immediately, and most teams don’t survive more than a couple of defenses.
If you’ve got it, it probably won’t be yours for long. We’ll be watching California Legion! #MLR2026
Congrats to Legion for winning the Old Mate from the Free Jacks. The Old Mate is next up for challenge by Chicago Hounds next week! The Hounds previously held it for a streak of 5 matches in 2025 winning in week 3 from the Free Jacks https://oldmate.rugby
Eight clubs claimed the Old Mate on their very 1st challenge, and 3 more got there on their 2nd try.
But not everyone had an easy path: Old Glory needed four shots, Chicago needed 6, and Houston had to wait 7 challenge matches before finally getting their hands on it. California Legion has an opportunity to join the 1st attempt club.
The MLR Supporters Challenge Cup has already produced:
- 124 completed title matches
- 14 teams to win it at least once
- 47 separate reigns
- 2 current teams still waiting for their first hold
San Diego, Seattle, and New England are the big three of this hidden history. Match number 125 coming up!
In addition to Ranger Picks I also play @TheFantasyRuckers and their Weekly Challenge. Here’s my lineup for MLR Week 2:
Why the MLR Supporters Challenge Cup?
Read more about the Old Mate here - this post itself is about the why.
As MLR grew, several rivalry trophies quickly established themselves. Wikipedia lists: Texas Cup, Lone Star Champs, Cali Cup (original), Champagne Cup, Cuisine Solutions Cup, Gillys Cup, Fire and Ice Cup, Chowdah Cup, I-45 Feud, Dog Bowl, Hargest Bowl, Cali Cup, Coffee Cup, and Freedom Cup. Of these, only the Coffee and Freedom cups remain contestable due to the departure of so many teams. At the same time, Alex Magleby has consistently spoken about the importance of storytelling as part of the way to draw in new audiences to MLR and keep them. A rivalry cup isn’t the only story worth telling, but it is a natural one.
With a new Sunday Night Rugby show uniquely positioned to recap the weekend, the thought occurred that a rivalry (or challenge) cup that could be contested almost every single week could be a compelling story, especially if it could be traced back to the original MLR match.
The obvious inspirations behind the MLR Supporters Challenge Cup are the existing lineal trophies - Ranfurly, Raeburn and Utrecht shields. These are inspirations but different - Ranfurly is only required to be contested at home, where as our cup is contested at every match - regular and post season. Raeburn and Utrecht are contested home and away, but World Rugby has yet to recognize them - our cup is officially recognized, and Mags not only named the cup but purchased it as well, making sure that it is a cup that is large enough to have a handover ceremony but small enough to travel with the teams to away matches. The reveal of the cup happened in Ep 3 of Inside MLR. Make sure you watch the full episode, not just the clip I shared.
Credit to the TJRS Discord crew (especially Chris Lind, Phil Harris, Dave McVey, Chris Cotter, and James Horkan) where we hashed out some of the details to overcome one skeptic (and gain an unofficial nickname). TK for validating the idea and providing some potential names, James Deeley for verifying the statistics, Mags for recognizing the concept and immediate action, and the MLR socials crew for the announcement series!
🏉 1 day until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
🏉 2 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
🏉 3 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
After a couple of teaser videos, Mags mentions a little more about the MLR Supporters Challenge Cup in this episode of Inside MLR.
🏉 4 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
🏉 5 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
🏉 6 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
🏉 7 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
🏉 8 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
🏉 9 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr
🏉 10 days until Major League Rugby returns! Calendar links at rangerpicks.rugby/calendars #mlr2026 #mlr