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.
Two teams made their debut in 2019, the Toronto Arrows and Rugby United New York. The Seattle Seawolves won the championship for the second consecutive season, defeating the San Diego Legion 26-23 on June 16.
Teams Team Head coach Captain Stadium Capacity Austin Elite Alain Hyardet Ben Mitchell Dell Diamond 11,500 Glendale Raptors David Williams Shaun Davies Infinity Park 5,000 Houston SaberCats Justin Fitzpatrick (to May 2, 2019) Paul Emerick (interim from May 3, 2019) Matt Trouville Aveva Stadium Constellation Field Dyer Stadium 4,000 7,500 6,000 New Orleans Gold Nate Osborne Eric Howard Gold Stadium 3,000 Rugby United New York Mike Tolkin Mike Petri MCU Park 7,000 San Diego Legion Rob Hoadley Joe Pietersen Torero Stadium 6,000 Seattle Seawolves Richie Walker Phil Mack Shalom Suniula Starfire Stadium 3,800 Toronto Arrows Chris Silverthorn Dan Moor Alumni FieldLamport Stadium 3,5009,600 Utah Warriors Alf Daniels Tim O'Malley Zions Bank Stadium 5,000
Notes:
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:
Matches The following are the matches for the 2019 Major League Rugby regular season:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Week 18
Week 19
Playoffs
Bracket
Semifinals
Final
Players statistics
Top scorers
The top ten try and point scorers during the 2019 Major League Rugby season are:
Last updated June 5, 2019
Most tries No Player Team Tries 1 John Ryberg Glendale Raptors 13 Dylan Fawsitt Rugby United New York 3 Tristan Blewett NOLA Gold 12 4 Eric Howard NOLA Gold 9 Mike Te'o San Diego Legion 6 Mathew Turner Seattle Seawolves 8 Stephan Coetzee Seattle Seawolves Riekert Hattingh Seattle Seawolves 9 Connor Wallace-Sims RUNY 7 Brad Tucker Seattle Seawolves Dan Moor Toronto Arrows
Most points No Player Team Pts 1 Brock Staller Seattle Seawolves 223 2 Joe Pietersen San Diego Legion 163 3 Sam Windsor Houston SaberCats 160 4 Sam Malcolm Toronto Arrows 152 5 JP Eloff NOLA Gold 141 6 Tim O'Malley Utah Warriors 134 7 Robbie Petzer Glendale Raptors 85 8 Cathal Marsh RUNY 69 9 John Ryberg Glendale Raptors 65 Dylan Fawsitt RUNY
Sanctions
PlayerTeam Red Yellow Josua Vici Houston SaberCats 1 2 Keni Nasoqeqe San Diego Legion 1 1 Osea Kolinisau Houston SaberCats 1 0 Lance Williams Utah Warriors 0 3 Connor Cook Glendale Raptors 0 2 Con Foley NOLA Gold 0 2 Pat O'Toole Houston SaberCats 0 2 Jamie Dever Houston SaberCats 0 1 Jack Evans Toronto Arrows 0 1 Matt Hughston Rugby United NY 0 1 Tim Maupin NOLA Gold 0 1 Peni Tagive Austin Elite 0 1 Sione Tuihalamaka San Diego Legion 0 1 Chris Turori San Diego Legion 0 1 Rob Brouwer Toronto Arrows 0 1 Phil Mack Seattle Seawolves 0 1 Sam Malcolm Toronto Arrows 0 1 Dylan Fawsitt Rugby United NY 0 1 Soheyl Jaoudat Austin Elite 0 1 Maikeli Naromaitoga Utah Warriors 0 1 Josh Whippy Utah Warriors 0 1 Luke Beauchamp Houston Sabercats 0 1 Jeremy Misailegalu Utah Warriors 0 1 Kane Thompson NOLA Gold 0 1 Franco van den Berg Utah Warriors 0 1 Tiaan Erasmus Austin Elite 0 1 Moe Abdelmonem Austin Elite 0 1 Kevin Sullivan NOLA Gold 0 1 James Denise Rugby United NY 0 1 Zach Fenoglio Glendale Raptors 0 1 Ignacio Dotti NOLA Gold 0 1 Andrew Ferguson Toronto Arrows 0 1 Cam Polson Seattle Seawolves 0 1 Jasa Veremalua San Diego Legion 0 1 Jordan Manihera San Diego Legion 0 1 Will Magie Glendale Raptors 0 1 Diego Magno Houston SaberCats 0 1 Avery Oitomen Toronto Arrows 0 1 Kyle Baillie NOLA Gold 0 1 Hubert Buydens NOLA Gold 0 1 Daniel Trierweiler Seattle Seawolves 0 1 Leandro Leivas Toronto Arrows 0 1 Mateo Sanguinetti Houston SaberCats 0 1 Mason Pedersen Austin Elite 0 1 Murphy Taramai Glendale Raptors 0 1 Fetuʻu Vainikolo Utah Warriors 0 1 JP du Plessis San Diego Legion 0 1 Nate Augspurger San Diego Legion 0 1 Dino Waldren San Diego Legion 0 1 Alejandro Nieto Houston SaberCats 0 1 Juan Echeverría Austin Elite 0 1 Cam Dolan NOLA Gold 0 1 Shalom Suniula Seattle Seawolves 0 1 James Semple Utah Warriors 0 1 Pat Blair San Diego Legion 0 1 Tristan Blewett NOLA Gold 0 1 Awara Elkington Utah Warriors 0 1 Peter Milazzo Toronto Arrows 0 1
Awards MVP of the Championship Match Player TeamJP Smith Seattle Seawolves
All-MLR Awards Player of the Year Forward of the Year Back of the Year Coach of the Year
All-MLR First Team Player Position Team Rob Brouwer Loosehead Prop Toronto ArrowsDylan Fawsitt Hooker Rugby United New York Paddy Ryan Tighthead Prop San Diego Legion Mike Sheppard Left Lock Toronto Arrows Nate Brakeley Right Lock Rugby United New York Brad Tucker Blindside Flanker Seattle SeawolvesNakai Penny Openside Flanker Seattle Seawolves Riekert Hattingh No8 Seattle Seawolves Nate Augspurger Scrum-half San Diego Legion Joe Pietersen Fly-half San Diego Legion Connor Wallace-Sims Blindside Wing Rugby United New York JP du Plessis Inside Center San Diego Legion Tristan Blewett Outside Center New Orleans Gold John Ryberg Openside Wing Glendale Raptors JP Eloff Fullback New Orleans Gold
All-MLR Second Team Player Position Team Franco van den Berg Loosehead Prop Utah Warriors Eric Howard Hooker New Orleans Gold Morgan Mitchell Tighthead Prop Toronto Arrows Ben Mitchell Left Lock Austin Elite Louis Stanfill Right Lock San Diego Legion Lance Williams Blindside Flanker Utah Warriors Matt Hughston Openside Flanker Rugby United New York Cam Dolan No8 New Orleans Gold Mike Petri Scrum-half Rugby United New York Sam Malcolm Fly-half Toronto Arrows Dan Moor Blindside Wing Toronto Arrows Shalom Suniula Inside Center Seattle Seawolves Ryan Matyas Outside Center San Diego Legion Brock Staller Openside Wing Seattle Seawolves Mathew Turner Fullback Seattle Seawolves
Attendances Team Stadium Capacity Total Attendance Average Attendance % Capacity Austin Elite Dell Diamond Toyota Field 11,500 8,296 4,560 1,000 894 1,000 7% 12% Glendale Raptors Infinity Park 5,000 19,704 2,463 49% Houston SaberCats Constellation 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 Gold Gold Stadium 3,000 12,857 1,428 47% Rugby United New York MCU Park 7,000 14,184 1,773 25% San Diego Legion Torero Stadium 6,000 30,425 3,043 51% Seattle Seawolves Starfire Stadium 3,800 29,873 3,734 98% Toronto Arrows York Lions StadiumLamport Stadium 3,7009,600 7,655 9,953 1,913 2,488 51%26% Utah Warriors Zions Bank Stadium 5,000 19,448 2,431 49%
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References