The Miami Sharks squandered a 19-point second half lead to drop the Major League Rugby 2025 season opener 31-29 to Old Glory DC in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. A dominant scrum kept the visitors in the game while a calamity of errors from the home side in the final minutes led to a stunning result.
An early runaway score for Axel Müller on the end of an overlap put DC in the lead, and on the restart Alec McDonnell saw red for a head-high challenge on Facundo Gattas. Old Glory took control of the scrum and it led to a second try for Müller after a line break from Damien Hoyland.
Once back at full strength Miami roared back with a series of penalties leading to Ma’ake Muti crashing over from short range. Mauro Rebussone was next to barge in under the posts, and then a turnover allowed Tomás Cubelli to pop off the deck to an onrushing Tomás Cubilla to make it 21-10 at halftime.
Just three minutes into the second half Rebussone had a double, the big lock again too much to handle from in close. After a stalemate Santiago Videla knocked over a penalty goal to stretch the lead to 29-10 for the home side with 14 minutes left on the clock.
Replacements came in for the Sharks and things immediately went sour, with KoiKoi Nelligan getting one back for DC on a set penalty play. Miami was then reduced to just 13 men when Cubilla was binned for killing a line break, followed immediately by a yellow to Manuel Ardao for collapsing a maul.
Jason Robertson sliced through for a solo effort to close the gap to just 5 with as many minutes to play. The Sharks had possession with time up on the clock but Damian Morley’s clearance attempt was somehow charged down and Robertson’s cross-kick eluded Martín Elías directly into the hands of Müller for his hat trick. Robertson tacked on the extras to seal the unlikely win for Old Glory.
It’s a week off for DC, who return to action on March 1st for their home opener against the San Diego Legion. Miami will have a chance to redeem themselves when they host NOLA Gold for a southern derby next Sunday.
SCORING
MIAMI 29
Tries (4) – M. Muti (28′), M. Rebussone 2 (34′, 43′), T. Cubilla (37′)
Cons (3) – M. Elías 2/3 (29′, 38′), No kick (34′)
Pens (1) – S. Videla 1/1 (66′)
YC (2) – T. Cubilla (73′), M. Ardao (74′)
RC (1) – A. McDonnell (4′)
DC 31
Tries (5) – A. Müller 3 (3′, 20′, 80’+1′), K. Nelligan (69′), J. Robertson (75′)
Cons (3) – J. Robertson 3/5 (70′, 76′, 80’+2′)
LINEUPS
MIAMI SHARKS
1 Ma’ake Muti (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 61′), 2 Sean McNulty (16 Kirby Myhill 44′), 3 Alec McDonnell (18 Alex Tucci 24′), 4 Mauro Rebussone (19 Tomás Casares 53′), 5 Federico Gutiérrez, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Benjamín Bonasso (20 Tomás Bekerman 70′), 8 Marques Fuala’au, 9 Tomás Cubelli (capt.) (21 Damian Morley 68′), 10 Martín Elías, 11 Connor Burns (18 Alex Tucci 5′-24′) (23 Marcos Young 57′), 12 Tomás Cubilla (22 Guiseppe du Toit 18′-26′), 13 Matías Orlando (22 Guiseppe du Toit 53′), 14 Tomás Malanos, 15 Santiago Videla
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Joe Wrafter 66′), 2 Facundo Gattas (16 KoiKoi Nelligan 60′), 3 Cali Martinez (18 Sam Davies 53′), 4 Rob Harley (capt.) (19 Bill Whiteside 76′), 5 Tevita Naqali, 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (20 Collin Grosse 71′), 7 Cory Daniel (20 Collin Grosse 2′-12′, 38′-41′), 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley (21 Ethan McVeigh 53′), 10 Jason Robertson, 11 Axel Müller, 12 Jason Emery (22 John Powers 66′), 13 Steff Hughes, 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Damien Hoyland (23 Owen Sheehy 66′)
MATCH INFO
Date: Saturday, February 15
Venue: Baptist Health Community Field, Fort Lauderdale
Kickoff: 17:00 local
Weather sunny, 77°F (25°C), wind SE 12-17mph (19-27km/h)
OFFICIALS
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Federico Anselmi (Argentina) & Tom Ciampa (USA)
TMO: Mike Kelly (USA)
