background & History
The San Diego Legion were founded in 2017 as a founding member of Major League Rugby, to compete in the league’s inaugural season in 2018. The San Diego Legion is owned by Darren Gardner and Ryan Patterson. Patterson also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Major League Rugby.
The Legion have competed in every season of Major League Rugby to date and have finished as MLR Runners-Up on two occasions (2019, 2023). Despite having never lifted the shield themselves, through the 2023 season the San Diego Legion are the winningest team in MLR history, having won 53 of their 83 MLR games (see ‘Historical Performance’ section below). The Legion are the first (and so far, only) MLR team to have reached the MLR Championship Final on more than one occasion and not win the Shield.
In 2023, the San Diego Legion finished the regular season with a 15-0-1 record and a points differential of +269. This is the best regular season in MLR history, surpassing the New England Free Jacks’ 13-0-3 record in 2022. Despite this sensational regular season, the San Diego Legion would finish as the bridesmaids of the 2023 season, falling 24-25 to the New England Free Jacks in the Championship Game in Chicago, the Legion’s 2nd Runners-Up medal following their 2019 season where they fell in the Seattle Seawolves in the final play of the game. The Legion experienced a huge amount of turnover between 2023 & 2024, with 5 players earning Super Rugby contracts, a number of retirements of the likes of Will Hooley & Ryan Matyas, etc. The Legion did manage to persuade Wallabies legend Matt Giteau to come out of retirement for a last hurrah, and they recorded a 11-5 season, finishing 3rd in the Western Conference and qualifying for the playoffs, but they fell 30-28 to their rivals the Seattle Seawolves once again. Following their season, the Legion announced that they had parted ways with head Coach Danny Lee in late July 2024.
Records & Record Holders
all time
Top Scorer: Joe Pietersen (420)
Top Try Scorer: Nate Augspurger (22)
Top Playoff Scorer: Joe Pietersen (40)
Top Tackler: Nathan Sylvia (566)
Top Meter Eater: Nate Augspurger (3,525m)
Most Capped Player: Nathan Sylvia (76)
Most Starts: Nate Augspurger (50)
Single Season
Top Scorer: Joe Pietersen (146) – 2022
Top Try Scorer: Nate Augspurger & Tomas Aoake (11)
Top Tackler: Michael Smith (240) – 2022
Top Meter Eater: Nate Augspurger (1,595m)
historical Performance
2018: 5-0-3 (+13) – 24pts: 3rd (Semifinalist)
2019: 12-1-3 (+161) – 61pts: 1st (Runners-Up)
2020: 5-0-0 (+53) – 23pts: 1st
2021: 6-0-10 (-34) – 38pts: 4th in Western Conference
2022: 8-0-8 (+47) – 43pts: 5th in Western Conference
2023: 15-0-1 (+269) – 74pts: 1st in Western Conference (Runners-Up)
2024: 11-0-5 (+47) – 55pts: 3rd in Western Conference (Western Conference Semifinalist)
Overall Regular Season Record: 62-1-30
Overall Championship Series Record: 2-5
Championship Series Appearances: 5 (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
head coach & Captain
head coach
- Rob Hoadley: 2018-2020
- Scott Murray: 2020-2021
- Danny Lee: 2022-2024
- John Manenti: 2025
Captain
- Nate Augspurger (2018, 2020)
- Joe Pietersen (2019)
- Cam Clark (2021)
- Ma’a Nonu (2022)
- Blair Cowan (2023-2024)
Logo & Jersey
The logo of the San Diego Legion has not changed through their 7 year history. The logo resembles a shield, referencing the military history of the city of San Diego as does the name of the club itself ‘Legion’. The club has historically played in a red/black home kit, and primarily white away kit. There is often another nod to the military within Legion kits, for example in 2022 the kits mimicked a Lorica Hamata, a type of Roman chainmail, and the club’s 2023 kits featured a roman helmet. When their 2024 jerseys were revealed they were labelled as their ‘Military Series’ jerseys, but this proved to just be their regular jerseys, a home kit of red & black camouflage (chosen to echo how central to San Diego the military is) and away kit of white & black camo. The Legion were the only MLR team that season to not play in a City Edition jersey.
venue
For their first 4 years between 2018-2021 the San Diego Legion played out of the University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium, a 6,000-seater grass stadium. For the 2022 season, the Legion moved from the University of San Diego to San Diego State University, playing out of the SDSU Sports Deck with a capacity of 3,000. This move to the SDSU Sports Deck may bee seen as a backwards step, but the Legion only played there until construction was completed on their long-term home, Snapdragon Stadium. Snapdragon was opened in September 2022, and the San Diego Legion moved into the 35,000-seater grass-pitch giant for the 2023 season, Snapdragon was chosen to host the 2024 MLR Championship Final, the 3rd final held in San Diego, following the 2018 & 2019 Finals at Torero Stadium.
