The 2018 Major League Rugby final was the championship match of the inaugural season of Major League Rugby (MLR), a rugby union club competition in the United States. It was played on July 7, 2018, at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California, between the Glendale Raptors and the Seattle Seawolves. Seattle won the match 23–19 to take their first title.
The Glendale and Seattle teams finished first and second in the regular season, respectively, and advanced to the MLR Championship Series, contesting the semifinals against San Diego and Utah.
Background
Major League Rugby was established in 2017 and began play in April 2018.
Seattle and Glendale played each other twice during the regular season, with Glendale winning both matches.
Venue
Torero Stadium, home field of Major League Rugby team San Diego Legion, was selected as the venue for the final before the beginning of the Championship Series playoffs. The stadium with a seating capacity of 6,000 on the campus of the University of San Diego is also home to the various athletics teams of the university.
Broadcasting
The match was broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Dan Power served as the play by play commentator for CBS and was joined by color analysts Brian Hightower and Peter Steinberg.
Match
Details
Team details FB 15 Maximo de Achaval RW 14 Harley Davidson OC 13 Chad London IC 12 Bryce Campbell LW 11 Mika Kruse FH 10 Will Magie SH 9 Shaun Davies (c) N8 8 Sam Figg OF 7 John Quill BF 6 Peter Dahl RL 5 Ben Landry LL 4 Kody O'Neil TP 3 Kelepi Fifita HK 2 Zach Fenoglio LP 1 Blake Rogers Replacements:PR 16 Luke White PR 17 Nick Kwasniewski HK 18 Dylan Fawsitt LK 19 Connor Cook FL 20 Grigor Kerdikoshvili SH 21 Mickey Bateman CE 22 Ata Malifa OB 23 Nick Johnson Coach: David Williams FB 15 Mathew Turner RW 14 Sequoyah Burke-Combs OC 13 William Rasileka IC 12 Shalom Suniula (c) LW 11 Peter Tiberio FH 10 Peter Smith SH 9 Phil Mack N8 8 Riekert Hattingh OF 7 Vili Tolutaʻu BF 6 Eric Duechle RL 5 Cam Polson LL 4 Taylor Krumrei TP 3 Tim Metcher HK 2 Ray Barkwill LP 1 Olive Kilifi Replacements:HK 16 Mike Shepherd PR 17 John Hayden PR 18 Kellen Gordon LK 19 Cole van Harn LF 20 Aladdin Schirmer FL 21 Andre Coquillard OB 22 Jeremy Misailegalu OB 23 Mozac Samson Coach: Phil Mack Most Valuable Player: Vili Tolutaʻu (Seattle)
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal (England) Derek Summers (United States) Television Match Official: Marc Nelson (United States)
Highlights
The champion Seattle Seawolves was awarded the "America's Championship Shield", an oversized metal shield of the MLR logo, which they hoisted. Seawolves flanker Vili Tolutaʻu was named the MLR Championship Series "MVP", equivalent to man of the match. For his efforts, he received a Shinola Detroit American Made watch.
References
External links