'The fire has been stoked': Free Jacks looking forward to 2025 home opener in Quincy
The back-to-back Major League Rugby champion New England Free Jacks are coming home for the first time this season.
New England will play the NOLA Gold this weekend on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy. And, there’s no better weekend to celebrate a home opener than with a St. Patrick’s Day festival. The festivities began Thursday morning with the team’s 2023 and 2024 championship banners being raised in Terminal C at Boston Logan Airport.
The team is looking forward to its first game at home this season after a 1-2 start in their quest for a three-peat.
”The fire has been stoked with a couple of early-season defeats,” Free Jacks general manager Tom Kinley said. “It’s actually quite a healthy thing for our group, we get to redeem ourselves, get an opportunity at least to redeem ourselves this weekend against NOLA.”
The St. Patrick’s Day Festival is one of eight festivals put on by the team during their home games. The rugby match is of course the main event, but the day also provides quite the fan experience prior to the match.
Gates open at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the Free Jacks club rugby Heritage Cup and Free Jacks Academy match. From there, it’s a day full of barbecue, drinks, and a live musical performance beginning at 12:30 p.m. before the game kicks off at 2.
After the match concludes, fans have the ability to meet with players on the field and enjoy more live music. For Free Jacks athletes and those attending, the atmosphere is seen as a merger of entertainment and sports atmospheres.
“You really don’t need to be a rugby fan necessarily, to enjoy one of our games. For us, as an up and coming budding professional sport in this country, it’s really important that’s the case," Kinley said.
For Kinley, there’s no better feeling than a home win to conclude a full day of food, beverages, and music.
“My favorite time of the year is when we get a win at Veterans Memorial Stadium and all the fans flood onto the field,” Kinley said.
The sport of rugby has continued to gain popularity in the states in recent years. Especially last year, when women’s rugby start Ilona Maher and the rest of the U.S women’s rugby team went viral during the 2024 summer Olympics.
Rugby figures to continue its rise in popularity with the Rugby Men’s World Cup coming to the United States in 2031.
The increased interest of the sport has also found its way onto the South Shore. Free Jacks team captain Joe Johnston said that he’s noticed an uptick in following of the team when he’s out in the area.
“I’ve noticed the growth every year. Just how many people turn up to the game and how many people love watching the game,” Johnston said. “It’s to the point now, walking around Quincy, we do get recognized if we’re wearing our kit. It’s really cool. I love seeing it.”
Johnston would also love nothing more than to give the home crowd a win in it's first game in Quincy this season, hoping to continue the success realized over the previous two seasons.
"We want to win all our home games. We want to win in front of our crowd," Johnston said. "That's what makes it big for us, is to put on a good performance that our fans are going to love and that we're going to be proud of."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: New England Free Jacks return to Quincy for 2025 home opener
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