Major League Rugby

[Mellsblue]

a pitch that had temporary goalposts that sat on the dead ball line.
Puja

Hehe. Hopefully, this was due to reasons other than ignorance.

[rowan]

The Major League podcast for those interested: https://www.earfulofdirt.com/2018/04/ea ... crazy.html

[Puja]

a pitch that had temporary goalposts that sat on the dead ball line.
Puja

Hehe. Hopefully, this was due to reasons other than ignorance.

Temporary posts with supports which meant they couldn't sit on the goal line. I am informed that Austin have now secured real goal posts in time for the season, although it's a bit alarming that they've left it this late.

I think Austin are really going to struggle in this first season. They were one of the pioneers of the MLR concept and pushed the league into being by making themselves professional in their previous incarnation as the mighty Austin Huns. They were dominant in the amateur game, but don't appear to have done much to improve their squad since becoming a professional entity and seem to be relying on the same team to get them through - I think they're in for a rude awakening.

Puja

[rowan]

Seattle Seawolves beat Canada's Prairie Wolf Pack by 45-7 in a friendly encounter.

[rowan]

[rowan]

Some good nicks here, but the Austin Elite ain't one of them

The Major League Rugby season is here. The league kicks off this weekend with three big matches. It's going to the first time we get a look at al of the teams in their element against other MLR sides. No practice games now, it's for real. With all that in mind we thought we'd off our last MLR rankings of the pre-season.

1. Glendale Raptors (Last Ranking: 1): Our question is who is going to stop the Raptors this year. At this point they clearly look like favorites to win the title. They have had their way with teams in the pre-season. Additionally, the team recently add some more big names like Dylan Fawsitt. The team was already stacked if you just took the players they had remaining from the DI club side and the Denver PRO Rugby team but they have gone out and added even more players to the group. If they don't win the whole thing it will be a shock.

2. Seattle Seawolves (LR: 6): We're going out on a bit of a limb here and jumping the Seawolves all the way up to second from sixth. Mostly this comes from reports we heard out of their match against the Prairie Wolf Pack. Their defense was reportedly fantastic and they had Will Holder running things from the fly-half position. There were a lot of questions about how the Seawolves might shape up but if the Wolf Pack game is any indication--and it might not be--they should be good.

Take the jump to read more.

3. Houston SaberCats (LR: 3): The SaberCats are the most familiar team to most observers having played a lot of rugby in 2018. They are a good side and getting better with time. They have the stars to play really well but we still are wondering if they have the depth to contest with the top sides. It wouldn't be a surprise to see them finish in the top two but they could also be a middle of the table pack.

4. San Diego Legion (LR: 2): The Legion offense is going to be excellent but can their forwards hold up against some teams with very strong packs? That is a big question that the day still has to answer. If they can hold up they have every threat to finish in the top two. If it's not then they might struggle and when the June internationals roll around they could be hurt even more.

5. NOLA Gold (LR: 5): Some have labelled the NOLA Gold as their dark horse in the competition and we can see that. Their front-row looks good as does their back-row. They also have their backs that can get out and run. Depth may be an issue but that's what we also said for Ohio in PRO Rugby and they were excellent. NOLA Gold has that chance.

6. Utah Warriors (LR: 4): We probably have the Warriors too low on this list. They've had a solid pre-season so far even if the results haven't been there. Utah has the pieces to be great, especially with the addition of Kurt Morath at fly-half. We've always said that if Utah teams were given a chance to play a full season they would be one of the best teams in the country. We still think that but the early season might be difficult for the Warriors.

7. Austin Elite (LR: 7): There are still many questions out there about how Austin is going to perform. A year ago they were so hot but now it seems that they might not have the depth to compete. Even more they have struggled in pre-season.


http://www.thisisamericanrugby.com/2018 ... l?spref=fb

[Puja]

Big news - all of the Major League Rugby games are to be shown in the UK via the MLR Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/usmlr/

Anyone fancy watching the opening game at 8pm UK time tomorrow? It's Houston vs New Orleans and it looks like it's going to be tasty.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

I’ll be sitting in the sunny getting nicely drunk with school friends. I’ll definitely be watching some MLR matches at some point, though.

[rowan]

Houston Sabrecats v NOLA is live on MLR's Facebook page right now. I've been watching it off and on. Pretty low quality, but I guess that's to be expected. I'd like to see them play a bit more expansively though, rather than just trying to bulldoze their way across through the forwards, invariably resulting in a penalty. NOLA lead 12-18 early 2nd 1/2.

Update NOLA 12-25 3/4 mark.

New Orleans 19-32 late in the game. Headed for an upset.

FT 19-35. Lots of hitting it up around the fringes. Not so much backline dazzle. These guys need to import some Pacific Island talent on the cheap if they want folks to watch it on TV ...

[Puja]

Pretty solid game between Houston and NOLA, which NOLA won 26-35. A couple of very good tries from Josua Vici were the main highlights, but NOLA were good value for their win.

Crowd was about 2k and quality was about English Championship level, so about what was expected on both counts. Solid start.

Puja

[Puja]

Crazy game for Glendale vs Austin. Glendale winning 38-21, but are now down to 12 players for the last 6 minutes, due to two reds (both for tip tackles) and a yellow. Austin 5m from the Glendale line.

Now 38-26 with 4 minutes...

Finished 41-26 - Elite somehow managed to fail to find their way out of their 22 from the kickoff against 12 men and then gave up a penalty to lose the game completely.

Puja

[Puja]

Video of the best try from the Houston vs NOLA game if anyone wants to see:

And the best from Glendale vs Austin:

Take a moment's pity for the Glendale number 10, who is still searching his pockets for the receipt for that dummy he was sold. Not great defence.

Puja

[rowan]

Houston v New Orleans 2018-04-21 Dyer Stadium, Houston 26-35
Glendale v Austin 2018-04-21 Infinity Park, Austin 41-26
Seattle v San Diego 2018-04-22 Starfire Stadium, Seattle 39-23

TEAM GP W L D PF PA PD BP PTS
Seattle Seawolves 1 1 0 0 39 23 +16 1 5
Glendale Raptors 1 1 0 0 41 26 +15 1 5
New Orleans Gold 1 1 0 0 35 26 +9 1 5
Houston SaberCats 1 0 1 0 26 35 -9 1 1
Austin Elite 1 0 1 0 26 41 -15 1 1
San Diego Legion 1 0 1 0 23 39 -16 0 0
Utah Warriors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[Mellsblue]

I’m awaiting my invitation to be a non-executive director before tackling that one.

Good news - RUNY is apparently a placeholder name, with the final branding to be announced "later this year". New York are now officially confirmed by MLR as an expansion team for 2019 and they have 4 confirmed fixtures for a 2018 exhibition season, home and away against Ontario and Boston.

Rugby United New York’s home match against Boston, which will be open to the public, is set for March 24 at 7 p.m. EST at Gaelic Park in the Bronx. The game against the city’s historic sports rival will also serve as the annual FDNY vs. NYPD rugby match, in aid of the McNaughton-Engeldrum fund for the families of fallen personnel. Tickets for match day are available at rugbyunitedny.com

A quick poke of the website shows tickets are $30 a go which, while not up there with Twickenham, is not exactly freebies. I'm very curious to see what kind of crowd they can whip up. Houston have set the standard for community engagement and creating a hubbub and hopefully the Runnies will be able to follow suit.

Big day for MLR in general - Ngwenya's just signed for San Diego, A.Suniula for Austin, Alex Elkins for Sabercats, so three US internationals brought into the league, plus Canterbury RU and Crusaders have bought a minority stake in Seattle Seawolves. I'm amazed that no other overseas clubs have followed suit as yet, given how keen they've been to chase the dollar so far.

Puja

$30 is dirt cheap by NY standards.

Just cos I love quoting myself......currently looking at tickets for Giants v Redskins. £200ish for top tier on the halfway line!!! The rugby will be a snip by comparison.

[Puja]

I'd imagine a slightly less comfortable stadium though - the facilities I've seen on the television have been worse than the Rec!

Crowds still looking good though - Houston got another crowd around 2k and Seattle have now sold out their 4.5k stadium for every game this season, which is impressive. Couple more American football crossovers coming now as well - Joey Iosepha joining Houston as an impressively-sized full-back - and the suggestion that a few of the disappointed people from the NFL draft might be talked to by a few MLR teams. This thing might just be a goer, you know.

Puja

[rowan]

2K is a good crowd in Houston? Seriously ??

[rowan]

According to this report in the SMH, SANZAR may have its eye on MLR:

The American Dream is alive and well in southern hemisphere rugby, with administrators looking at adding a fourth conference of US teams to Super Rugby in an effort to resuscitate the embattled SANZAAR joint venture.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-unio ... 4zcx8.html

Personally I'd rather they looked at the proposed South American MLR, which is already in the advanced stages of planning, with teams to be based in Uruguay and Brazil, as well as Argentina of course.

[rowan]

Glendale - Utah live on MLR's Facebook page. Raptors holding a slender 31-29 lead late in the game . . .

Update: 36-29. 4 mins left.

FT: 36-29 Glendale Raptors win it. Utah were hammering away at their line late in the game but eventually gave up a penalty.

Meanwhile, Ontario Arrows absolutely dominating the Boston Mystics 32-3 HT

[rowan]

77-8 was the final score for the Arrows. Boston Mystics needs a name change. Sounds like a women's team. Gotta be something tough & mean, like the Boston Brutes or the Boston Stranglers or something . . .

[rowan]

New Orleans v Seattle live on the MLR Facebook site now. NOLA with the narrow HT lead 15-10. Small crowd. Probably under 1 K

15-24 Seawolves, midway 2nd half ...

29-31 - tense last few minutes coming up!

That's the FT score. Seawolves won in New Orleans!

[rowan]

Interesting read:

Some pundits are crediting the USA’s new Major League Rugby competition with the potential to revolutionise rugby not only in the USA but around the world.
This time the sleeping giant WILL awaken. But if what unfolded on opening weekend was the face of the revolution, count me among the loyalists.

In all three matches, I surveyed via YouTube (Austin at Glendale, New Orleans at Houston, San Diego at Seattle) mysterious minute-long stoppages of play appeared in both halves. I say “mysterious” because such scenes had never before been seen in the 195-year history of rugby union.

What’s the water break for ref?
Glendale, Colorado, elevation 5,200 feet: It’d snowed the night before and skies are dreary. Fans wear their parkas with hoods up. At 15:13 of the first half, Glendale has just cleared their lines from a penalty kick.

Viewers hear the referee’s whistle, followed by his voice over his on-field mic: “Time off – water break”.
The on-air broadcaster blurts out: “It’s a hydration break right now”, and is heard no more.

On screen, the camera zooms in on Glendale flanker John Quill of Cork, Ireland, as he approaches the lineout with his fellow forwards, determined to counter Austin’s recent momentum.

Quill is visibly perplexed, and his voice comes clearly through the ref’s mic: “What’s the water break for? Are we all right, ref? Can we play? Can we play?”

“Naw, we can’t play – it’s a water break” is the answer, and the referee spends most of the following 60 seconds trying to calm players who just want to get on with it.

“It’s not me – water break” we hear him say more than once.

Continues here: http://the1014.com/thoughts-of-a-rugby- ... -the-line/

[Mellsblue]

Nice little cluster of derbies(ish) in the North East:

[Puja]

Nice little cluster of derbies(ish) in the North East:

Well that one's out of the blue. DC's had some mild rumours but no more than Sacramento, Philadelphia, or LA and certainly a hell of a lot less than Boston, Kansas, or Chicago.

Good place for a side though - especially if they're looking to poach contact sport fans from the people annoyed that the Redskins still keep doubling down on the racism.

No further news on Ontario or Vancouver either, despite the Arrows having a full exhibition season. Apparently the money men in Ontario are still of two minds as to whether they want to go all in - the backroom are being paid for the exhibition, but the players are all still amateur. Hopefully they will decide to go for next season; I don't want to see any further ground lost to the Wolfpack.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Nice little cluster of derbies(ish) in the North East:

Well that one's out of the blue. DC's had some mild rumours but no more than Sacramento, Philadelphia, or LA and certainly a hell of a lot less than Boston, Kansas, or Chicago.

Good place for a side though - especially if they're looking to poach contact sport fans from the people annoyed that the Redskins still keep doubling down on the racism.

No further news on Ontario or Vancouver either, despite the Arrows having a full exhibition season. Apparently the money men in Ontario are still of two minds as to whether they want to go all in - the backroom are being paid for the exhibition, but the players are all still amateur. Hopefully they will decide to go for next season; I don't want to see any further ground lost to the Wolfpack.

Puja

Are Boston not already confirmed?

[Puja]

Nice little cluster of derbies(ish) in the North East:

Well that one's out of the blue. DC's had some mild rumours but no more than Sacramento, Philadelphia, or LA and certainly a hell of a lot less than Boston, Kansas, or Chicago.

Good place for a side though - especially if they're looking to poach contact sport fans from the people annoyed that the Redskins still keep doubling down on the racism.

No further news on Ontario or Vancouver either, despite the Arrows having a full exhibition season. Apparently the money men in Ontario are still of two minds as to whether they want to go all in - the backroom are being paid for the exhibition, but the players are all still amateur. Hopefully they will decide to go for next season; I don't want to see any further ground lost to the Wolfpack.

Puja

Are Boston not already confirmed?

They are not. It is understood that there will be 10 US-based MLR sides in 2019, which will be the existing 7 (Seattle, San Diego, Glendale, Utah, Austin, Houston, New Orleans), New York, and two TBA. Dallas is generally assumed to be the 9th and has been name dropped unofficially a lot, but is yet to be formally announced.

It was thought that Chicago, Kansas City, and Boston were the main choices for the 10th, as the first two were originally named as teams when MLR was first mooted and Boston have been playing exhibition games against New York and Ontario. However, it appears the stumbling block is money - MLR is a single-ownership league and teams have to buy a fairly pricey stake to be allowed in. It has the advantage of making it very financially secure - all the wages for the players have to be paid into the central league pot upfront, and then the players are paid out of that, rather than running the risk of anyone not getting paid - but it does mean that franchises are going where they can raise the funding, rather than necessarily where the best teams might set up. Chicago would be perfect given there's a purpose-built 5k rugby stadium and the recently event games at Soldier Field providing free advertising (and a triple header coming this June of USA Women v Black Ferns, Ireland vs Italy and USA vs Maori), but there's no news about them getting their act together. I am also told that Boston are a long way off having the funding to buy into the league.

Interestingly, the Guardian article about the DC team says that, "A planned Los Angeles team is closer to realisation than projects in Boston and Vancouver, sources said." Los Angeles is another one that's been mildly mentioned in the rumour mill, but was assumed to be a long way off.

Puja