Major League Rugby Roundup: Round 1

The Roundup will be a weekly piece highlighting the action from around Major League Rugby.

Colorado Raptors 12 – 21 Houston SaberCats

The Colorado Raptors couldn’t overcome a slow start, issues in the scrum, and handling errors as they fell to the Houston SaberCats in the season opener. They’ll have to correct those issues in a hurry as they’ll face a San Diego Legion team that looked scary in their season-opening victory over the Seattle Seawolves.

Old Glory D.C. 13 – 46 NOLA Gold

Old Glory D.C. was the only expansion team to lose this weekend. The 46 points that the NOLA Gold scored this weekend were the most of any team. NOLA started 2019 strong before a disastrous stretch at the end of the year resulted in missing the playoffs. Old Glory signed South African prop and World Cup winner Tendai Mtawarira in the offseason and will need him to arrive soon to help solidify their forward pack.

Utah Warriors 19 – 28 Rugby ATL

By only a matter of minutes, Rugby ATL was the first expansion team to win in 2020. Things have been in Atlanta, but they picked up a solid win over a reloaded Utah team entering its third season. Atlanta will get their shot at the top-scoring Gold next week in a matchup that will surely develop into a rivalry in next to no time. Utah will get a shot at their second expansion team in as many weeks as they’ll take on the New England Free Jacks coming off a win against Rugby United New York.

Rugby United New York 14 – 34 New England Free Jacks

The New England Free Jacks couldn’t have started off their MLR campaign on a better foot. In what was arguably the most shocking victory of the weekend, the Free Jacks got a leg up on their sure-to-be rivals in a 34-14 victory over a Rugby United New York club that narrowly missed out on a spot in the 2019 MLR Championship.

Seattle Seawolves 24 – 33 San Diego Legion

This rematch of the 2019 MLR Championship, played on the same pitch, saw the San Diego Legion knock off the reigning champion Seattle Seawolves. Led by their big addition in inside center and former All Black Ma’a Nonu, the Legion looked scary on Sunday afternoon. Despite dropping their first match of the season, Seattle will be tough to beat this season once they get back to full strength.

Toronto Arrows 38 – 10 Austin Gilgronis

Not including the New England Free Jacks – RUNY match that was played in Las Vegas, the Toronto Arrows were the only road team to come away with a victory in Round 1. Having strong performances on the road will be important for the Arrows as they won’t have a true home match until April 4. The Gilgronis, who finished the 2019 season with an 0-16 record, couldn’t slow down an Arrows team that made the playoffs in 2019.