Background & History
The Toronto Arrows were a founding member of Major League Rugby, and played in the competition between 2019-2023. The Arrows joined MLR with Rugby United New York (Later Rugby New York and the Rugby New York Ironworkers), first competing in the 2019 season. To date, they are the only MLR team to have been based outside of the US, and the first professional rugby team in Canada’s history.
As the only professional team in Canada and the only Canadian team in MLR, the Arrows were committed to finding and developing Canadian rugby talent, similar to how the MLR and other teams were developing US talent. This presented unique problems during their tenure in MLR as the only club outside of the USA. They did not participate in the inaugural MLR Collegiate Draft because Canadian schools were not included. They had to play their entire 2021 season within the US due to border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic (which cancelled the 2020 season after only 5 rounds, during which the Arrows had a 4-1 record on the road), and based themselves out of Rugby ATL’s facilities. The Arrows went over 1000 days without a home game between 2019-2022, losing a huge amount of gate revenue in the process. Their 2023 season was the worst on record, finishing with a 1-2-13 record and dead last in the Eastern Conference. The ownership seemed to want to start afresh following this, with a shuffle of staff that included replacing the head coach, and a re-brand that played into their aeronautic background (named for the AVRO Arrow, a Canadian jet plane) and focused more on being Canada’s team, rather than simply Toronto’s. While a new logo (top right) and branding was launched, the Arrows never took to the field with their new look. Arrows Co-Founder and Majority Owner Bill Webb, a titan in Canadian rugby and the true driving force behind the team, tragically passed away in August 2023, and while things initially looked promising to continue in 2024, the Arrows were unable to replace Webb’s stake after potential investors pulled out late, and the team announced in November 2023 that they would not be competing in MLR in the 2024 season. The Toronto Arrows Academy is still trying to develop rugby talent in the Toronto area, led by former Canadian international Jamie Cudmore and assisted by ex-Arrows players Noel Reid and Sam Malcolm.
A week later, the Rugby New York Ironworkers also announced they they were folding and would not compete in 2024. NY and Toronto joined MLR in the same season and, somewhat poetically, left at the same time. Following the Arrows demise another professional team emerged in British Columbia, the Vancouver Highlanders. This team does not compete in MLR however and as of the conclusion of the 2024 season, Major League Rugby has not returned to Canada.
Records & Records Holders
All Time
Top Scorer: Sam Malcolm (370pts)
Top Try Scorer: Gastón Mieres (15)
Top Playoff Scorer: Sam Malcolm (11pts)
Top Tackler: Lucas Rumball (770)
Top Meter Eater: Gastón Mieres (2,681m)
Most Capped: Mike Sheppard (58)
Most Starts: Lucas Rumball (51)
Single Season
Top Scorer: Sam Malcolm (152pts) – 2019
Top Try Scorer: Dan Moor (7) – 2019 and Joaquín Tuculet & Manuel Montero (7) – 2021
Top Tackler: Lucas Rumball (228) – 2021
Top Meter Eater: Dan Moor (1,124m) – 2019
historical performance
2019: 11-0-5 (+110) – 57pts: 3rd (Semifinalist)
2020: 4-0-1 (+62) – 19pts: 1st in Eastern Conference
2021: 5-0-11 (-1) – 30pts: 6th in Eastern Conference
2022: 8-0-8 (-24) – 41pts: 4th in Eastern Conference
2023: 1-2-13 (-295) – 16pts: 6th in Eastern Conference
Overall Regular Season Record: 29-2-33
Overall Championship Series Record: 0-1
Championship Series Appearances: 1 (2019)
Head Coach & Captain
head coach
- Chris Silverthorn (2019-2021)
- Peter Smith (2021-2023)
- Stephen Meehan (2024)*
*= Meehan was named as coach for the Arrows in 2024, but the team folded before he could take charge.
captain
- Dan Moor (2019-2020) – Co-Capt.
- Lucas Rumball (2019-2021) – Co-Capt.
- Ben LeSage (2021) – Co-Capt.
- Mike Sheppard (2022)
- Lucas Rumball (2023)
Logo & Jersey
The Ontario Arrows logo (far left) features a golden arrow above the Toronto skyline, forming the bridge of an ‘A’ within a circle (an ‘O’, for Ontario). This logo was excellent but was changed when the Arrows rebranded as the Toronto Arrows and entered MLR. The MLR logo for the vast majority of the Arrows time in MLR featured an interlocking ‘T’ and ‘A’ in white and dark blue. The Arrows jerseys were typically dark blue for their home kits, and white for their away. They have played in blue and white hoops with a collar during the 2021 season which was a fan favourite.
The Toronto Arrows when through a rebrand following the 2023 season, changing their logo to reflect their aeronautic history and changing the logo to just an ‘A’, removing the ‘T’ to market themselves more as Canada’s team rather than just Toronto’s team. The colour scheme seems to be red, light blue, and grey, and while we were lucky enough to see the new logos, we did not get to see the Arrows’ jerseys for the 2024 season before the team shut down.
Venues
In 2019, the Arrows split their home games between Alumni Field (3,500 Capacity) at York University, and Lamport Stadium (9,600 Capacity) in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto, which they shared with the Toronto Wolfpack rugby league side. This was the plan for their 2020 home games, but the season was cancelled before any Arrows home games were held. In 2021, the Arrows played their entire season based in the USA, sharing facilities with Rugby ATL, playing their ‘home’ games at Lupo Family Field (2,500 Capacity). Between 2022-2023, the Arrows played their home games at York Lions Stadium (4,000 Capacity) at York University. This is outside of the downtown core but still on the Toronto subway line, and drew healthy crowds even through their miserable 2023 season.
Australia