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2019 Major League Rugby final

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2019 Major League Rugby final
Event2019 Major League Rugby season
DateJune 16, 2019
VenueTorero Stadium, San Diego, California
Man of the MatchJP Smith
RefereeScott Green (United States)
Attendance6,000
2018
2021

The 2019 Major League Rugby final was the championship match of the 2nd season of Major League Rugby (MLR), a rugby union club competition in the United States. It was played on June 16, 2019, at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California, between the San Diego Legion and the Seattle Seawolves.

San Diego and Seattle finished first and second in the regular season, respectively, and advanced to the final after defeating New York and Toronto in the semifinals. The Seattle team was the defending champion, having won the 2018 final. Seattle defeated San Diego 26–23 in the 2019 final to take their second championship title.

Background

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The 2019 Major League Rugby season began in January 2019 with nine teams all playing each other home and away. The Seattle Seawolves won the previous season's championship, defeating the Glendale Raptors at Torero Stadium in San Diego.[1]

Seattle and San Diego played each other twice during the regular season, ending in 17–13 and 28–22 victories for the Legion.[2]

Venue

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Torero Stadium, home field of Major League Rugby team San Diego Legion, was selected as the venue for the final after the team finished as the top seed in the regular season.[3] The stadium with a seating capacity of 6,000 on the campus of the University of San Diego is also home to the various athletics teams of the university.[4]

Broadcasting

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The match was broadcast nationally on CBS.[5] It received a rating of 0.34 (510,000).[6]

Match

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Details

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June 16 San Diego Legion 23–26 Seattle Seawolves Torero Stadium, San Diego, California  
1:00 pm EDT (UTC−04) Try: Boyer 52’ c Manihera 65’ c
Con: Pietersen 2/2 (53’, 66’)
Pen: Pietersen 2/2 (6’, 21’)
Drop: Pietersen 1/2 (78’)
ARN Report Try: Coetzee 22’ c Smith 32‘ c Hattingh 71’ m Tucker 80’ c
Con: Staller 3/4 (23’, 33’, 82’)
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Scott Green (United States)

Man of the Match: JP Smith

Team details
LP 1 United States Fakaʻosi Pifeleti downward-facing red arrow 40'
HK 2 United States Kapeli Pifeleti downward-facing red arrow 57'
TP 3 Australia Paddy Ryan downward-facing red arrow 61'
LL 4 United States Louis Stanfill downward-facing red arrow 61'
RL 5 Italy Joshua Furno
BF 6 Fiji Jasa Veremalua downward-facing red arrow 61'
OF 7 United States Psalm Wooching
N8 8 New Zealand Jordan Manihera
SH 9 United States Nate Augspurger (c)
FH 10 South Africa Joe Pietersen
LW 11 United States Nick Boyer
IC 12 South Africa JP du Plessis
OC 13 United States Ryan Matyas
RW 14 United States Conor Kearns
FB 15 United States Tai Enosa downward-facing red arrow 42'
Replacements:
HK 16 South Africa Dean Muir upward-facing green arrow 57'
PR 17 United States Nathan Sylvia upward-facing green arrow 40'
PR 18 United States Dino Waldren upward-facing green arrow 61'
LK 19 United States Siaosi Mahoni upward-facing green arrow 61'
FL 20 United States Pat Blair upward-facing green arrow 61'
FB 21 United States Kyle Rogers
WG 22 Fiji Save Totovosau
OB 23 United States Will Holder upward-facing green arrow 42'
Coach:
England Rob Hoadley
LP 1 Canada Djustice Sears-Duru  downward-facing red arrow 50'
HK 2 South Africa Stephan Coetzee downward-facing red arrow 75'
TP 3 Australia Tim Metcher downward-facing red arrow 50'
LL 4 Fiji Api Naikatini downward-facing red arrow 62'
RL 5 New Zealand Brad Tucker
BF 6 United States Samu Manoa downward-facing red arrow 53'
OF 7 Canada Nakai Penny downward-facing red arrow 62'
N8 8 United States Riekert Hattingh
SH 9 South Africa JP Smith
FH 10 United States Ben Cima downward-facing red arrow 57'
LW 11 Canada Jeff Hassler
IC 12 United States Shalom Suniula (c)
OC 13 Canada George Barton downward-facing red arrow 57'
RW 14 Canada Brock Staller
FB 15 England Mathew Turner
Replacements:
HK 16 United States Daniel Trierweiler upward-facing green arrow 75'
PR 17 United States Kellen Gordon upward-facing green arrow 50'
PR 18 Canada Jake Ilnicki upward-facing green arrow 50'
LK 19 Belgium Jérémy Lenaerts upward-facing green arrow 62'
LF 20 United States Eric Duechle upward-facing green arrow 62'
SH 21 Canada Phil Mack upward-facing green arrow 57'
OB 22 United States Roland Suniula upward-facing green arrow 57'
LF 23 United States Vili Toluta’u upward-facing green arrow 53'
Coach:
New Zealand Richie Walker

Most Valuable Player:
JP Smith

Assistant Referees:
Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
Elgan Williams (Wales)

Television Match Official:
Davey Ardrey (United States)

Post-match

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The defending champion Seattle Seawolves was once again awarded the "America's Championship Shield", which was changed to a 20-pound (9.1 kg) metal shield in the shape of the MLR logo. Seawolves scrum-half JP Smith was named the MLR Championship Series "man of the match".[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Monahan, Terry (July 7, 2018). "Seawolves win inaugural Major League Rugby championship". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  2. ^ Saul, John (June 15, 2019). "Seawolves hoping third time's a charm vs. San Diego in quest for repeat Major League Rugby title". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  3. ^ Strickler, Colton (June 7, 2019). "Legion Host RUNY to Kick Off MLR Championship Series". San Diego Legion. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  4. ^ Leonard, Tod (July 6, 2018). "In San Diego for title match, Major League Rugby reflects on inaugural season, future". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  5. ^ Benjamin, Cody (June 11, 2019). "Major League Rugby championship: How to watch Seattle vs. San Diego on CBS". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  6. ^ "SKEDBALL: Weekly Sports TV Ratings 6.10-6.16.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2022.