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.
The Toronto Arrows ‘host’ the LA Giltinis at the Gold Mine in Louisiana. The Arrows played their entire 2021 season in the US due to border restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Although the Arrows were billed as the home team, NOLA Gold’s home venue is neutral for both sides.
The Arrows did not present much trouble for the powerhouse Giltinis, who emerged comfortable victors, with a score of 16-43 and 6 tries to Toronto’s 1.
Rugby ATL welcome the San Diego Legion to The Snake Pit in round 3 of the 2021 Major League Rugby Season.
Rugby ATL emerged as the victors thanks in part to Robbie Petzer’s 8/9 effort from the tee, totalling 21 of ATL’s 41pts which as at the time the most points ever scored by an ATL player! Rugby ATL set franchise records for both points scored (41) and winning margin (19) so a great day out unless you’re a Legion fan.
The Austin Gilgronis host their Texas rivals the Houston SaberCats at Bold Stadium, in Major League Rugby’s 2nd ever Texas Cup match!
This game was entirely Austin, with the AGs scoring tries throughout the match for a total of 4 for the try bonus point. Even better for Austin’s home crowd, they didn’t let the Cats get on the board, blanking them 26-0 in the 4th shutout in MLR history. At the time, this was a Franchise Record for the biggest winning margin in club history and they successfully defend the Texas Cup!
For Houston, they hold the unenviable record of being the only MLR team to date to have been shut out more than once, having also been blanked by the Free Jacks last week. They didn’t help themselves, with 3 yellow cards leaving them shorthanded for a significant portion of the game. In their last two matches, then have been outscored 58-0.
Old Glory DC host the Toronto Arrows at Segra Field in what proved to be a disappointing outing for the home team.
The Arrows were 19-40 victors with Tayler Adams slotting a drop goal, a rarity in Major League Rugby. With this DG as well as Ben LeSage’s 7pt Try in the 41st minute, the Toronto Arrows became the first team in MLR history to score in every way in a single game: Penalty, Try, Conversion, Drop Goal, 7pt Try!
The Free Jacks host the Utah Warriors in their Home Opener at the Union Point Sports Complex.
Despite a last minute score from the Warriors, the home side scraped a win by a score of 22-21. Free Jacks full back Beaudein Waaka missed both conversions, but slotted all 4 penalties he attempted for 12 of New England’s 22 points.
22 v 21 
WarriorsThe Los Angeles Giltinis host the 2x Major League Rugby champion Seattle Seawolves at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
LA proved that they were a force to be reckoned with, steamrolling the Seawolves by a score of 57-26, scoring 9 tries including a hattrick from Harrison Goddard. This was the first hattrick in LA franchise history, and the 9th hattrick in MLR history!
Goddard’s was not the only hattrick of the game though. Seattle replacement hooke James Malcolm entered the game in the 53rd minute, and had scored 3 tries by the 62nd minute. This was the first hattrick in Seawolves franchise history, and the 10th in MLR history. with all 3 tries scored in a 9 minute period after Malcolm entered the game, this is the fastest hattrick in MLR history to date.
This was the 2nd time in the 2021 season that a team scored over 50pts in a game, and at the time 57pts was the highest score from a single team this MLR season.
The New England Free Jacks travelled to the Space City to face the SaberCats at AVEVA Stadium.
Unfortuntely for the Houston crowd, they weren’t given much to cheer about. The Free Jacks scored in the first minute through Pieter Jansen and never looked back, shutting out the Cats with a score of 0-32. This is despite the Free Jacks receiving 3 yellow cards throughout the match, including 2 in the first quarter which put them down to 13 men for about 8 minutes.
This was the 3rd shut out in Major League Rugby history and at the time this was the largest, surpassing a 22-0 effort from the Raptors over the Arrows in 2019.
0 v 32 Free JacksThe Utah Warriors host the Toronto Arrows at Zion’s Bank Stadium for their 2021 home opener!
The Warriors handily dispatched the Arrows with a 39-24 victory, despite going down to 14, then 13 men in the closing stages.
Old Glory DC welcome Rugby ATL to their 2021 home opener at Segra Field.
OGDC did not disappoint, coming from behind to take a 30-23 win over Rugby ATL. Regular DC scrum-half Danny Tusitala started at 10 in this game and proved more than capable, going 6/6 from the tee and with a try to add, he totalled 20 of DC’s 30pts!
Giltinis
Legion
Seawolves