The San Diego Legion fell short of advancing to Sunday’s Major League Rugby championship game at Snapdragon Stadium. But enough die-hard rugby fans are out there to set a new league attendance record of 12,085, eclipsing the previous single game league record of 11,423 fans who assembled to view the Legion’s match against the Utah Warriors on Feb. 19, 2023.
Last year’s MLR championship game title game attracted 10,103 fans in suburban Chicago.
The 12,085 gathered for the New England Free Jacks’ 20-11 win over the Seattle Seawolves came during a very hot weekend in Mission Valley. Temperature at game time was 89 degrees with humidity. It was hot in the stands and even hotter on the field.
“Seattle is quite a big pack, so we wanted to run them around,” said New England flanker Jed Melvin, who was named the game’s Player of the Match. “It was a warm day; it was very tiring out there.”
The league championship title was the second consecutive for New England, which never trailed in Sunday’s final. The Free Jacks scored first on a three-point penalty kick and later tacked on the game’s opening try for a quick 8-0 lead.
Seattle, which won back-to-back MLR championships in 2018 (23-10 over the Glendale Raptors) and 2019 (26-23 over the Legion), narrowed the score to 14-8 by halftime. But the teams kept the balance intact with identical three point penalties in the second half before the Massachusetts visitors tacked on another three-point kick for a final nine-point victory.
Playmaker kicker Jayson Potroz Accounted for 15 points on five penalty kicks while Le Roux Malan scored a five-point try.
Seattle’s scoring included a try by Joe Taufete’e and a pair of three-point penalties by Mack Mason.
Mason’s three-point kick narrowed the Free Jacks lead to 8-3. Taufete’e scored to reduce the New England lead to three points at 11-8. But a third penalty kick of the half by Potroz gave the Free Jacks a six-point margin heading into halftime.
Mason also missed the uprights on a three-pointer in a bid to tie the game early on.
Seattle had won the teams’ only regular season matchup, 29-21, back on April 20.
New England’s strategy was clear from the start of the game, move the ball around the field to tire out their opponent on a hot day.
Seattle was able to move the ball more quickly down field but encountered ill-timed turnovers to thwart scoring opportunities.
Seawolves coach Allen Clarke said one game did not define the team’s otherwise standout season.
“No matter where you are in the world, you’re playing to get into the final and win the final,” he said. “Today we didn’t get the win. But we had many wins throughout the season. We have a fine group of young men, I’m proud of them.”
“We had a game plan coming in,” Melvin said. “I felt like in the first half, we kind of did that, we had a bit of dominance. They are a quality team, so they came back. Everyone did their role, and we managed to get a team win.”
The Free Jacks and Seawolves both entered Sunday’s championship game with 13-5 records.
New England had the better of play in the first half while Seattle drove deep into Free Jacks territory four times in the game’s final 20 minutes while failing to score a try.
“There were elements of the game we needed to manage better,” Clarke said. “They made less mistakes than we did. We got close to the try line. The ball wasn’t tucked away and that gave them access to the ball.”
“We got bullied by them in the first game and wanted to bring some physicality, keep them running around on this large field,” said Melvin, a native of New Zealand. “My job is to bring physicality to the offense and defense. Defense is huge in a rugby game.
“The coaches have pushed the Free Jacks to be more than just a rugby team. We are a community, a family; we look out for each other. The brotherhood in this team is incredible.
“Doing it back-to-back is pretty special. It went down to the wire. The boys were getting cramps, but we got it done. It felt great to get that win.”
All the games in this year’s playoffs were close.
Seattle defeated Dallas, 28-25, in the Western Conference Final while New England defeated Chicago, 23-17, in the Eastern Conference Final.
Seattle defeated San Diego, 30-28, in the conference semifinals while New England topped Old Glory (Washington, D.C.), 33-29, in the conference semifinals.
MLR has now put six championship seasons in the record book.
Seattle and New England have each won two titles while L.A. Giltinis (31-17 over Atlanta) captured the 2021 title and Rugby New York (30-15 over the Seawolves) claimed the 2022 championship. Seattle has appeared in four of the six league finals.
Four of the six MLR championship games have been held in California, three in San Diego (the first two at the University of San Diego’s Torrero Stadium).
The Legion has appeared in two MLR championship matches, dropping both. New England defeated San Diego, 25-24, last year as the Legion posted a remarkable 15-1 regular season, its best in franchise history.
MLR notepad
New teams for the 2024 season included the Miami Sharks and Anthem Carolina Rugby, a relocation of the Atlanta franchise to Los Angeles following the withdrawal of Toronto and New York from the league to leave membership at 12 teams.
The Western Conference includes the Dallas Jackals, Houston SaberCats, Rugby Football Club Los Angeles, San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves and Utah Warriors.
The Eastern Conference includes Anthem Rugby Carolina, Chicago Hounds, Miami Sharks, New England Free Jacks, New Orleans Gold and Old Glory DC.
Four of the six teams in each conference qualified for the three round playoffs (division semifinals, division finals and league championship).
Snapdragon Stadium has now hosted four championship games: 2023 National Women’s Soccer League, 2024 Women’s Gold Cup Final, 2023 World Lacrosse Championship Gold Medal Game and 2024 MLR Final.
The game on the home front continues to grow. There were 17 Americans listed on Seattle’s roster and 10 on New England’s roster. But the game remains dominated by players from outside the USA. The Free Jacks had 11 players from New Zealand and nine from Canada while the Seawolves had eight players from South Africa and four from New Zealand.
Major League Rugby Regular Season Standings
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W-L-T Pts
Houston 14-2-0 87
Seattle 11-5-0 57
San Diego 11-5-0 55
Dallas 6-10-0 43
Utah 5-11-0 35
Los Angeles 5-10-1 32
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W-L-T Pts
New England 11-5-0 55
New Orleans 10-6-0 50
Chicago 8-7-1 45
Old Glory 7-7-2 42
Miami 6-10-0 32
Carolina 0-16-0 7
