Gold Top MLR Rankings Through 3 Weeks

At this point last season, the NOLA Gold was off to a slow 1-2 start. The 2019 campaign, however, has been a bird of a different feather. After three weeks, the Gold are currently undefeated and lead the league in a number of categories.

For starters, the Gold stand alone at the top of the leader board with 15 points. The closest team to the Gold being the San Diego Legion with 9. This essentially means the Gold have a two game lead on the second ranked team in MLR. For our Rugby Novices out there, playoff implications are not measured simply in wins and losses; but rather in terms of points accrued through the course of the season. The breakdown is as follows:

4 points for winning a match
2 points for drawing a match
0 points for losing a match
1 losing bonus point for losing by 7 points or fewer
1 try bonus point for scoring 4 tries or more

The NOLA Gold has also established itself as an offensive power house, cutting through defenses like a hot knife through butter. With an average points scored of 39 per match, no one else comes close. The Toronto Arrows are posting an impressive 27 per match, but have only played in 2 games this season so far.

Aside from the team-as-a-whole’s success, the players of the Gold are racking up personal accolades as if they were being thrown from a float on Mardi Gras day. Outside Center Taylor Howden (New Zealand) and Fullback Jean Pierre “JP” Eloff (South Africa), were the MLR’s Week 2 and Week 3 Player of the Week respectively. The Gold has had at minimum of 3 players make the MLR’s First XV of the Week each week since the start of the season. Two players, Outside Center Tristan Blewett (South Africa) and JP Eloff have made the cut twice. As if Eloff’s early success isn’t impressive enough, he currently leads the league in both Conversions (9) and Total Points Scored (38).

If you haven’t been able to come out and catch a game, this weekend’s match against Rugby United New York is your last chance until March 23rd when we return home from a pair of bye weeks and a pair of away contests. Get your tickets here.