You can almost taste the Major League Rugby Championship Final. 

Alas, however, we have two more scores to settle before we get to that point next weekend.

Eight teams were still playing in the United States’ top professional rugby league last weekend, but after the playoff quarterfinal matches concluded, only four remained. Those four have earned the right to play for the two available spots for the MLR Championship Final, scheduled to be held in San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium on Aug. 4.

What’s there left to say that hasn’t been said already about the stakes? Well, not a lot, so let’s get right into what’s at stake and who will need to find a new edge this weekend.

Here’s a look ahead at the penultimate week of the Major League Rugby season, the conference final round: 

NOTE: Match kickoff times are listed in Eastern Time.

Eastern Conference: No. 3 Chicago Hounds at No. 1 New England Free Jacks, 1 p.m. Saturday

Prior meetings: New England 22-17 (Week 4), Chicago 26-20 (Week 10)

Chicago Hounds

Internal chaos? What internal chaos? 

Despite playing for their second head coach of the year (who is also leaving the club at the end of the season, by the way) and only being in their second season of play and first playoff appearance, the Hounds — who somewhat quietly have been one of the MLR’s hottest teams as of late — look like legitimate contenders for what would be the Eastern Conference’s third consecutive league title if they can pull it off. 

Having to play another playoff debutant in the NOLA Gold last week, Chicago outlasted the Gold in the roasting Deep South by way of scoring the most points of any team in the quarterfinal rounds with a 45-21 drubbing. 

Former England international and current Chicago coach Rob Webber, who took over for Sam Harris in June after he left the club by mutual consent, has led the Hounds to four consecutive victories since taking over with the club’s gallop over the Gold looking like its finest performance yet under its Saracens-bound boss. 

Webber and Co. will get their stiffest test yet in his tenure against New England this weekend, but the Hounds shouldn’t be intimidated by the top seed after beating it once already this season — and maybe Webber’s recent rejuvenation of the squad will give it that little extra push to do it again.

New England Free Jacks

Being the reigning and defending league champion has both its perks and challenges, but no matter what has been thrown the Free Jacks’ way this season, they’ve responded with champion-like force. 

Rebounding from a midseason stretch of three defeats in five matches (in addition to plenty of injuries to important squad members in the meantime) to take the East’s No. 1 seed, New England can be tripped up, but the team’s ability to recover whenever it’s been knocked down has been a crucial reason why it’s still playing. 

Case in point: Old Glory DC, the Free Jacks’ quarterfinal opponent last weekend, was the squad which ended New England’s then 14-match winning streak back in Week 2 dating back to the 2023 season. But when elimination was on the line in the first round of the playoffs, New England found a new edge and looked at its best, winning 33-29 to keep its dream of being the first team to repeat MLR titles since Seattle in 2018 and 2019 alive. 

Next on the docket is taking care of a rejuvenated Chicago side it split the regular-season series with, but also a Chicago side New England has been yet to play since the appointment of Webber; handling pressure in all types of situations is what champions do, however, and if New England wants to stay a champion, it must be in control and calling the shots this weekend.

Key man: Luke Carty, fly-half, Chicago Hounds

The 26-year-old USA Eagle and younger brother of Ireland international Jack Carty had his role in the Hounds’ squad changed significantly once Webber took over, and so far, it’s produced roaring results. Starting as a fullback under Harris, Webber immediately switched Carty to the No. 10 role upon his appointment and Chicago has been unbeaten since, with Carty booting through 15 points against the Gold to help the Hounds create enough distance to win comfortably. How he kicks compared to his Free Jacks fly-half counterpart, former MLR Player of the Year Jayson Potroz, will be crucial for Chicago’s chances.

Western Conference: No. 4 Dallas Jackals at No. 2 Seattle Seawolves, 4 p.m. Sunday

Prior meetings: Seattle 34-32 (Week 6), Dallas 14-7 (Week 12)

Dallas Jackals

A high-flying unit that led the league in regular season tries with 71, we predicted that the Jackals were one of the top candidates to play spoiler in the postseason thanks to their ability to score at any time, even while playing the role of underdog in their playoff opener against the mighty top-seeded Houston SaberCats on the road. 

And after Dallas pulled off the biggest shock of the quarterfinal round by sending its Lone Star State rival packing with a 34-22 victory, no one is taking the Jackals lightly now. 

A serious dark horse to win it all, Dallas may have only had six victories in the regular season — with the caveat that nine of its 10 defeats came by one score or less — but looked like a squad reborn against the SaberCats, running riot in enemy territory and winning the first playoff match in club history in the process. 

Though Dallas undoubtedly deserves to play for a shot to get to Snapdragon Stadium, it must ensure that there’s no hangover from beating Houston for the first time in seven tries and subsequently upending the hopes and dreams of the pre-playoff favorite to win it all; it still is the Jackals’ first playoff trip, after all, and overconfidence has been the demise of many talented teams before them. 

Still, Dallas’ win last weekend solidified that it can’t be ignored as long as it’s still going, and if that win was a sign that it’s getting hot at the right time, we could be in for a postseason run for the ages.

Seattle Seawolves

A part of the old guard and one of the premier standard-setters for long-term success in the MLR, Seattle is back in a playoff semifinal round for the sixth time in seven tries since the MLR’s inaugural season in 2018, getting back to the final four by way of taking down another fellow league original in the San Diego Legion by a 30-28 margin this past weekend — another classic in the long-winding history between the two clubs. 

The Jackals did the Seawolves a favor by defeating Houston, which meant that Seattle was granted hosting rights for the conference final by way of being the higher-seeded team, but the Seawolves would love nothing more than to thank Dallas for that boost by eliminating it from the playoffs and getting one step closer to what would be a record-extending third MLR title and first since 2019. 

Both of Seattle’s matches against the Jackals this season were a bit nutty for different reasons, but the league’s highest-scoring team during the regular season (498 points) most definitely has the firepower to keep up with Dallas’ electric attack. 

The burning question for this weekend’s match, however, is this: Is Seattle ready to stamp its foot down as the new favorite to be the MLR champion, or are the Jackals simply a team of destiny that even favored opponents are near-powerless to stop?

Key man: Dewald Kotze, hooker, Dallas Jackals

A member of FloRugby’s MLR Dream XV for the regular season, Kotze knows a thing or two about making some history against Seattle. In the Jackals’ Week 6 loss to the Seawolves, Kotze (who recently earned his first senior international cap for Canada) had a brilliant five-try haul to set a MLR record for the most tries scored by a single person in one match. It was one of the most stunning individual performances of the MLR season and makes Kotze a dangerous man going into a semifinal rematch with Seattle — one with more history on the line for Dallas.