2019 Major League Rugby Final

The 2019 Major League Rugby Final was the championship match of the 2nd season of Major League Rugby (MLR), a rugby union club competition in the United States. It was played on June 16th 2019, at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California, between the San Diego Legion and the Seattle Seawolves.

2019 Major League Rugby Final
Event2019 Major League Rugby season
San Diego Legion Seattle Seawolves
23 26
DateJune 16, 2019
VenueTorero Stadium, San Diego, California
Man of the MatchJP Smith
RefereeScott Green (United States)
Attendance6,000

San Diego and Seattle finished first and second in the regular season, respectively, and advanced to the final after defeating New York and Toronto in the semifinals. The Seattle team was the defending champion, having won the 2018 final. Seattle defeated San Diego 26–23 in the 2019 final to take their second championship title.

Background

The 2019 Major League Rugby season began in January 2019 with nine teams all playing each other home and away. The Seattle Seawolves won the previous season's championship, defeating the Glendale Raptors at Torero Stadium in San Diego.[1]

Seattle and San Diego played each other twice during the regular season, ending in 17–13 and 28–22 victories for the Legion.[2]

Venue

Torero Stadium, home field of Major League Rugby team San Diego Legion, was selected as the venue for the final after the team finished as the top seed in the regular season.[3] 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.[4]

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast nationally on CBS.[5] It received a rating of 0.34 (510,000). [6]

Match

Details
June 16 San Diego Legion 23–26 Seattle Seawolves Torero Stadium, San Diego, California  
1:00 pm EDT (UTC−04) Try: Boyer 52’ c Manihera 65’ c
Con: Pietersen 2/2 (53’, 66’)
Pen: Pietersen 2/2 (6’, 21’)
Drop: Pietersen 1/2 (78’)
 ARN Report Try: Coetzee 22’ c Smith 32‘ c Hattingh 71’ m Tucker 80’ c
Con: Staller 3/4 (23’, 33’, 82’)
 Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Scott Green (United States)

Man of the Match: JP Smith

Team details
FB15 Tai Enosa 42'
RW14 Conor Kearns
OC13 Ryan Matyas
IC12 JP du Plessis
LW11 Nick Boyer
FH10 Joe Pietersen
SH9 Nate Augspurger (c)
N88 Jordan Manihera
OF7 Psalm Wooching
BF6 Jasa Veremalua 61'
RL5 Joshua Furno
LL4 Louis Stanfill 61'
TP3 Paddy Ryan 61'
HK2 Kapeli Pifeleti 57'
LP1 Faka’osi Pifeleti 40'
Replacements:
HK16 Dean Muir 57'
PR17 Nathan Sylvia 40'
PR18 Dino Waldren 61'
LK19 Siaosi Mahoni 61'
FL20 Pat Blair 61'
FB21 Kyle Rogers
WG22 Save Totovosau
OB23 Will Holder 42'
Coach:
Rob Hoadley
FB15 Mathew Turner
RW14 Brock Staller
OC13 George Barton 57'
IC12 Shalom Suniula (c)
LW11 Jeff Hassler
FH10 Ben Cima 57'
SH9 JP Smith
N88 Riekert Hattingh
OF7 Nakai Penny 62'
BF6 Samu Manoa 53'
RL5 Brad Tucker
LL4 Api Naikatini 62'
TP3 Tim Metcher 50'
HK2 Stephan Coetzee 75'
LP1 Djustice Sears-Duru  50'
Replacements:
HK16 Daniel Trierweiler 75'
PR17 Kellen Gordon 50'
PR18 Jake Ilnicki 50'
LK19 Jérémy Lenaerts 62'
LF20 Eric Duechle 62'
SH21 Phil Mack 57'
OB22 Roland Suniula 57'
LF23 Vili Toluta’u 53'
Coach:
Richie Walker

Most Valuable Player:
JP Smith

Assistant Referees:
Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
Elgan Williams (Wales)

Television Match Official:
Davey Ardrey (United States)

Post-match

The defending champion Seattle Seawolves was once again awarded the "America's Championship Shield", which was changed to a 20-pound (9.1 kg) metal shield in the shape of the MLR logo. Seawolves scrum-half JP Smith was named the MLR Championship Series "man of the match".

References
  1. Monahan, Terry (July 7, 2018). "Seawolves win inaugural Major League Rugby championship". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  2. Saul, John (June 15, 2019). "Seawolves hoping third time's a charm vs. San Diego in quest for repeat Major League Rugby title". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  3. Strickler, Colton (June 7, 2019). "Legion Host RUNY to Kick Off MLR Championship Series". San Diego Legion. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  4. Leonard, Tod (July 6, 2018). "In San Diego for title match, Major League Rugby reflects on inaugural season, future". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  5. Benjamin, Cody (June 11, 2019). "Major League Rugby championship: How to watch Seattle vs. San Diego on CBS". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  6. http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/skedball-weekly-sports-tv-ratings-6-10-6-16-2019.html
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