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.

2019 – RD 12: Houston SaberCats v Seattle Seawolves

The Seawolves travel down to Texas to face the SaberCats in the first game held at Houston’s new Aveva Stadium. It would not be the welcome that the ‘Cats planned, going down 10-52 to the reigning champs, in what was the largest winning margin in MLR history at the time.

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2019 RD 11: Toronto Arrows v NOLA Gold

This game marks the first home fixture in MLR history for the Toronto Arrows, who spend the first portion of the season on the road due to unfavourable winter conditions in Toronto in the early weeks of the season. This was the first MLR game played outside the United States, and the first to be held in Canada.

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2019 – RD 11: Glendale Raptors v Houston SaberCats

The Houston SaberCats travel to Colorado to face the Raptors at Infinity Park. With a combined score of 96pts, this match was the highest scoring of the 2019 season and the highest scoring MLR game ever at the time, surpassing the previous record of 95pts set just the week before in a 31-64 clash between the Utah Warriors and Toronto Arrows. Raptors winger John Ryberg recorded a hattrick in this game, this first of his career, 2nd in Raptors franchise history, and 5th in MLR history.

This game remained the highest scoring MLR game until late in the 2022 season, and was still the 3rd highest scoring match in MLR history as of the conclusion of the 2023 season.

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2019 RD 10: Utah Warriors v Toronto Arrows

The Toronto Arrows travelled to Zions Bank to take on the Warriors in what would turn out to be a record-setting match. The Arrows emerged victorious by a score of 31-64.

At the time, this game set records in a number of areas: Highest combined score in MLR history (95pts), First MLR side to score 60+ points in a game (Toronto Arrows – 64pts), most points scored by a side in a game (64), most tries scored by a side in a game (Toronto Arrows – 9). Interestingly, all 9 Toronto tries in this game were scored by different players. A feat that has not been repeated to the same extent since.

At the conclusion of the 2022 season, this game is still the 4th highest scoring game in MLR history, 64 remains the 3rd most points scored by a side in a single MLR game, and 9 tries is T-3rd for tries scored by a team in a single MLR game.

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2019 – RD 10: Austin Elite v Rugby United New York

Rugby United New York travel to take on the Austin Elite at a new venue for Major League Rugby. This is the only game in MLR history to be held at Toyota Field, primarily a soccer stadium and home to San Antonio FC of the USL Championship.

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