2019 Major League Rugby season

The 2019 Major League Rugby season was the second season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season began on January 26 and concluded on June 2.[1]

2019 Major League Rugby season
Countries United States (8 teams)
Canada (1 team)
DateJanuary 26 – June 16
ChampionsSeattle Seawolves
(2nd title)
Runners-upSan Diego Legion
Matches played75
Attendance159,941
(average 2,133 per match)
Highest attendance6,000
San Diego v Seattle (16th June 2019)
Lowest attendance578
Austin v San Diego (22nd February 2019)
Top point scorerBrock Staller (223)
Top try scorerJohn Ryberg & Dylan Fawsitt (13)
Official website
www.usmlr.com

Two teams made their debut in 2019, the Toronto Arrows[2] and Rugby United New York.[3] The Seattle Seawolves won the championship for the second consecutive season, defeating the San Diego Legion 26-23 on June 16.

Teams

TeamHead coachCaptainStadiumCapacity
Austin Elite Alain Hyardet Ben MitchellDell Diamond11,500
Glendale Raptors David Williams Shaun DaviesInfinity Park5,000
Houston SaberCats Justin Fitzpatrick (to 2 May 2019)
Paul Emerick (interim from 3 May 2019)
Matt TrouvilleAveva Stadium
Constellation Field
Dyer Stadium[lower-alpha 1]
4,000
7,500
6,000
New Orleans Gold Nate Osborne Eric HowardGold Stadium3,000
Rugby United New York Mike Tolkin Mike PetriMCU Park7,000
San Diego Legion Rob Hoadley Joe PietersenTorero Stadium6,000
Seattle Seawolves Richie Walker
Phil Mack
Shalom SuniulaStarfire Stadium3,800
Toronto Arrows Chris Silverthorn Dan MoorAlumni Field
Lamport Stadium
3,500
9,600
Utah Warriors Alf Daniels Tim O'MalleyZions Bank Stadium5,000

Notes:

  1. The Houston SaberCats played their first four games of the 2019 season at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas, home of the Sugar Land Skeeters in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. All remaining home games were planned to be played at Aveva Stadium, however due to the state of the turf after the first match there, the next home match was moved to Dyer Stadium. All home matches after that were played at AVEVA Stadium.

Regular season

The regular season was expanded from ten weeks in 2018 to nineteen weeks for 2019, with each team playing 16 matches.

Standings

The standings for the 2019 Major League Rugby regular season are:

Major League Rugby
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 San Diego Legion 161213457296+1618361
2 Seattle Seawolves 161114498407+9110258
3 Toronto Arrows 161105472362+1109457
4 Rugby United New York 161105411320+917354
5 New Orleans Gold 16907463403+6011653
6 Glendale Raptors 16727456463−710143
7 Houston SaberCats 166010345496−1515130
8 Utah Warriors 162212381517−1364521
9 Austin Elite 160016263482−219235
Updated: June 2, 2019

Source:

Four points for a win, two for a draw, and no points for a bye.
One bonus point for scoring four or more tries (TB).
One bonus point for losing by seven or less (LB).
  Teams 1 to 4 (Green background) at the end of the regular season qualify for the semifinals.

Matches

The following are the matches for the 2019 Major League Rugby regular season:

Home ╲ Away AUS GLE HOU NOLA RUNY SAN SEA TOR UTA
Austin Elite 13–24 20–21 14–26 11–19 17–45 17–29 19–23 9–17
Glendale Raptors 38–19 52–44 34–33 20–16 28–28 36–53 22–0 62–22
Houston SaberCats 36–15 32–17 11–49 8–35 19–40 10–52 27–44 29–27
New Orleans Gold 35–31 40–31 20–27 24–27 19–26 41–31 36–31 28–19
Rugby United NY 27–7 31–19 21–0 24–22 31–38 19–29 24–21 24–22
San Diego Legion 45–15 46–15 17–13 22–10 23–25 17–13 20–27 21–10
Seattle Seawolves 38–26 20–18 27–14 25–24 33–21 22–28 35–30 27–27
Toronto Arrows 24-13 40-12 35–21 31–35 22–20 23–19 29–7 28–21
Utah Warriors 35–19 26–26 27–31 19–21 21–47 21–31 36–48 31–64

Updated to match(es) played on
Colors: Blue: home team win; Yellow: draw; Red: away team win.


Week 1


Bye/s: Utah Warriors

Week 2


Bye/s: Houston Sabercats, RUNY, Toronto Arrows

Week 3


Bye/s: Glendale Raptors, RUNY, Utah Warriors

Week 4


Bye/s: Houston Sabercats

Week 5


Bye/s: NOLA Gold

Week 6


Bye/s: Austin Elite, San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves

Week 7


Bye/s: NOLA Gold

Week 8


Bye/s: Utah Warriors

Week 9


Bye/s: San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves, Toronto Arrows

Week 10


Bye/s: Houston Sabercats

Week 11


Bye/s: RUNY

Week 12


Bye/s: Glendale Raptors

Week 13


Bye/s: Austin Elite

Week 14


Bye/s: NOLA Gold

Week 15


Bye/s: Seattle Seawolves

Week 16


Bye/s: Austin Elite

Week 17


Bye/s: Toronto Arrows

Week 18


Bye/s: San Diego Legion

Week 19


Bye/s: Glendale Raptors

Playoffs

Semifinals

Final

Players Statistics

Top scorers

The top ten try and point scorers during the 2019 Major League Rugby season are:[12]

Last updated June 5, 2019

Sanctions

Player Team Red Yellow
Josua Vici Houston SaberCats12
Keni Nasoqeqe San Diego Legion11
Osea Kolinisau  Houston SaberCats10
Lance Williams Utah Warriors03
Connor Cook Glendale Raptors02
Con Foley NOLA Gold02
Pat O'Toole Houston SaberCats02
Jamie Dever Houston SaberCats01
Jack Evans Toronto Arrows01
Matt Hughston Rugby United NY01
Tim Maupin NOLA Gold01
Peni Tagive Austin Elite01
Sione Tuihalamaka San Diego Legion01
Chris Turori San Diego Legion01
Rob Brouwer Toronto Arrows01
Phil Mack Seattle Seawolves01
Sam Malcolm Toronto Arrows01
Dylan Fawsitt Rugby United NY01
Soheyl Jaoudat Austin Elite01
Maikeli Naromaitoga Utah Warriors01
Josh Whippy Utah Warriors01
Luke Beauchamp Houston Sabercats01
Jeremy Misailegalu Utah Warriors01
Kane Thompson NOLA Gold01
Franco van den Berg Utah Warriors01
Tiaan Erasmus Austin Elite01
Moe Abdelmonem Austin Elite01
Kevin Sullivan NOLA Gold01
James Denise Rugby United NY01
Zach Fenoglio Glendale Raptors01
Ignacio Dotti NOLA Gold01
Andrew Ferguson Toronto Arrows01
Cam Polson  Seattle Seawolves01
Jasa Veremalua  San Diego Legion01
Jordan Manihera  San Diego Legion01
Will Magie Glendale Raptors01
Diego Magno Houston SaberCats01
Avery Oitomen Toronto Arrows01
Kyle Baillie NOLA Gold01
Hubert Buydens NOLA Gold01
Daniel Trierweiler Seattle Seawolves01
Leandro Leivas Toronto Arrows01
Mateo Sanguinetti Houston SaberCats01
Mason Pedersen Austin Elite01
Murphy Taramai Glendale Raptors01
Fetu'u Vainikolo Utah Warriors01
JP du Plessis San Diego Legion01
Nate Augspurger San Diego Legion01
Dino Waldren San Diego Legion01
Alejandro Nieto Houston SaberCats01
Juan Echeverría Austin Elite01
Cam Dolan NOLA Gold01
Shalom Suniula Seattle Seawolves01
James Semple Utah Warriors01
Pat Blair San Diego Legion01
Tristan Blewett NOLA Gold01
Awara Elkington Utah Warriors01
Peter Milazzo Toronto Arrows01

Awards

MVP of the Championship Match

Player Team
JP SmithSeattle Seawolves

All-MLR First Team

Player Position Team
Rob BrouwerLoosehead PropToronto Arrows
Dylan FawsittHookerRugby United New York
Paddy RyanTighthead PropSan Diego Legion
Mike SheppardLeft LockToronto Arrows
Nate BrakeleyRight LockRugby United New York
Brad TuckerBlindside FlankerSeattle Seawolves
Nakai PennyOpenside FlankerSeattle Seawolves
Riekert HattinghNo8Seattle Seawolves
Nate AugspurgerScrum-halfSan Diego Legion
Joe PietersenFly-halfSan Diego Legion
Connor Wallace-SimsBlindside WingRugby United New York
JP du PlessisInside CenterSan Diego Legion
Tristan BlewettOutside CenterNew Orleans Gold
John RybergOpenside WingGlendale Raptors
JP EloffFullbackNew Orleans Gold

All-MLR Second Team

Player Position Team
Franco van den BergLoosehead PropUtah Warriors
Eric HowardHookerNew Orleans Gold
Morgan MitchellTighthead PropToronto Arrows
Ben MitchellLeft LockAustin Elite
Louis StanfillRight LockSan Diego Legion
Lance WilliamsBlindside FlankerUtah Warriors
Matt HughstonOpenside FlankerRugby United New York
Cam DolanNo8New Orleans Gold
Mike PetriScrum-halfRugby United New York
Sam MalcolmFly-halfToronto Arrows
Dan MoorBlindside WingToronto Arrows
Shalom SuniulaInside CenterSeattle Seawolves
Ryan MatyasOutside CenterSan Diego Legion
Brock StallerOpenside WingSeattle Seawolves
Mathew TurnerFullbackSeattle Seawolves

Attendances

TeamStadiumCapacityTotal
Attendance
Average
Attendance
% Capacity
Austin EliteDell Diamond
Toyota Field
11,500
8,296
4,560
1,000
894
1,000
7%
12%
Glendale RaptorsInfinity Park5,00019,7042,46349%
Houston SaberCatsConstellation Field
Dyer Stadium
Aveva Stadium
7,500
6,000
4,000
3,900
1,000
5,382
975
1,000
1,794
13%
17%
45%
New Orleans GoldGold Stadium3,00012,8571,42847%
Rugby United New YorkMCU Park7,00014,1841,77325%
San Diego LegionTorero Stadium6,00030,4253,04351%
Seattle SeawolvesStarfire Stadium3,80029,8733,73498%
Toronto ArrowsYork Lions Stadium
Lamport Stadium
3,700
9,600
7,655
9,953
1,913
2,488
51%
26%
Utah WarriorsZions Bank Stadium5,00019,4482,43149%

Notes:

    References

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