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.

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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2021 – Eastern Conference Final: Rugby ATL v Rugby United New York

Rugby ATL host Rugby United New York in a nailbiting Eastern Conference final in Georgia!

The home side claimed the only try of the game, with replacement prop Alex Maughan scoring in the 75th minute. This try could hardly have come at a better time, with NY leading 3-9 up until that point from the boot of Harry Bennett, despite an ATL penalty being the first score of the game from the boot of Bautista Ezcurra, who went 1/3 from the tee this game.

Maughan’s try brought the score to 8-9 so it was down to Kurt Coleman to nail the conversion, and he made no mistakes! This took the score to 10-9 for the hosts, who manage to hold on for the last few minutes to book their place in the 2021 MLR Final as Eastern Conference Champions!

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2021 – RD 18: Old Glory DC v Austin Gilgronis

The Austin Gilgronis travel up to Segra Field to face Old Glory DC, falling 29-25 to the flags, picking up the losing BP.

In this game, Austin flanker Dom Akina gained 204m with ball in hand. This is a new club record for the AGs, and was the most ground made by a player in a single game during the 2021 MLR season.

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