League: Major League Rugby

Founded in 2017 with it’s inaugural season played in 2018, Major League Rugby (MLR) is the highest level of professional rugby in North America.

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2022 – RD 2: Toronto Arrows v LA Giltinis

The Toronto Arrows are billed as the home team as they face the LA Giltinis at Starlight Stadium in British Columbia. This game marks the first time a Major League Rugby match was held in Canada outside of Ontario.

With the 2020 season shortened due to COVID-19, and the Arrows spending the 2021 season in Atlanta, Arrows fly-half Will Kelly scored the first MLR points on Canadian soil in over 1000 days with a 2nd minute penalty. Arrows Captain Mike Sheppard scored the first try of the match in the 13th minute, the first Try on Canadian soil in over 1000 days.

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2022 – RD 1: Austin Gilgronis v Dallas Jackals

This game, the 2nd of the 2022 Major League Rugby season, pits the Austin Gilgronis against the expansion Dallas Jackals, marking the first MLR game in the Jackals’ history.

The 2022 MLR season was the only season to date to involve 3 teams from Texas, and as such an intra-season Texas Cup round robin was also up for grabs. This game marks the first game in that mini-league.

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2021 – Championship Final: LA Giltinis v Rugby ATL

In their Inaugural Season, the LA Giltinis host a home MLR Final against Rugby ATL. This is arguably the best match up in the league, with LA & ATL finishing 1st & 2nd in the regular season overall standings.

LA did NOT score first for a change, with ATL fly-half slotting a penalty in the 15th minute to give them a short lived 0-3 lead before Wallabies legend Matt Giteau levelled things up in the 19th minute. A few minutes later, the dam burst with John Ryberg scoring 2 tries in quick succession, one of which was converted to give LA a 15-3 lead before Marko Janse van Rensburg swung the momentum back with a converted try just before half time. Half-time score now 15-10.

Giteau landed another penalty early int he second half to bring the momentum back to the home camp, before a DTH van der Merwe try from a disrupted ATL lineout took the score further from the visitors grasp, before late penalties from Giteau and Luke Burton put the game to bed despite a late consolation try from Ross Deacon.

Final score: LA Giltinis 31, Rugby ATL 17. The LA Giltinis become MLR Champions in their inaugural season in the competition!

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2021 – Western Conference Final: LA Giltinis v Utah Warriors

The LA Giltinis host the Utah Warriors for the Western Conference Final, and the chance to face Rugby ATL in the MLR Grand Final!

As they did so many times through the regular season, LA were the first on the scoreboard even if it did take 35 minutes.  LA took this 7-0 lead into the break, but it was quickly erased early in the second half by two penalties from the boot of Hagen Schulte, before a try under the posts from Sama Malolo in the 58th minute gave Utah a 7-13 lead to carry into the last 20 minutes.

It took 10 minutes for LA to shift the momentum, and they did so with a 68th minute try from Ryan James. The conversion was missed however, so Utah held on to a narrow 12-13 lead into the last 10 minutes. It took until the 77th minute for Harrison Goddard to connect again with Ryan James, who scored his second try of the game with a fantastic finish! James becomes only the 2nd player in MLR history to score multiple tries in a single playoff game.

LA advance to a home MLR Final against Rugby ATL!

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