MLR UPDATE: ROSTERS, COACHING, AND VENUES

With two months to go before Major League Rugby kicks off its first official match, Rugby Today wanted to give you an update on where each club stands. Rosters, coaching, and venues are coming into focus as more information and signings are announced every day. All information is subject to change.

With 39 players signed and Justin Fitzpatrick at the helm, the Houston Sabercats are well on their way. The Sabercats will be playing at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas this season before their newly inked $3.2 million, 3,500 seat stadium is built as part of the Houston Sports Park. The squad featuring Jake Turnball, Cecil Garber IV, Kyle Sumison, Matt Trouville, Osea Kolinisau, and Zach Pangelinan has gone 4-2 in the preseason. The ramp-up continues with matches versus NYAC, NOLA Gold, and the Ontario Arrows before their home opener on April 21st against New Orleans.

The only other club that has played this year is NOLA Gold. Led by head coach Nathan Osborne, the Gold will be holding court at Archbishop Shaw Field in New Orleans, La. With Cam Falcon, Ben Tarr, Holden Yungert, Sebastian Kalm, Nikola Bursic, and JP Eloff on the roster, the NOLA defeated the Capital Selects in their inaugural preseason match and are scheduled to play the Sabercats, the Glendale Raptors, and the Austin Elite twice prior to the start of the regular season.

The team with the most history and greatest camaraderie is the Glendale Raptors. Playing at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colo., the core of the club is strong with nine players logging minutes with the USA Eagles. The Raptors are loaded Ben Landry, Zach Fenoglio, Peter Dahl, John Quill, Shaun Davies, Will Davies, Bryce Campbell, Chad London, Harley Davidson, Ata Malifa, and Seth Halliman. Head Coach David Williams will have his team ready for its first test on March 10th against NOLA Gold before playing the Utah Warriors and NYAC before the regular season begins. The first test of the regular season is against the Austin Elite at home in late April.

From the team that has been around longest to the newest club in the league, information regarding the San Diego Legion is limited. Former USA 7s player and coach Matt Hawkins is in charge of assembling the team and only has ten players named to the club so far. As the only California team in the MLR and the wealth of talent playing in the Pacific Rugby Premiership right now, the team will be filled out soon. In the meantime, Eagles such as Ben Cima, Cam Dolan, Ryan Matyas, Nate Augspurger, Dylan Audsley, Tony Purpura, Brett Thompson, and Mike Te’o have been signed. With no preseason games scheduled as of yet, the Legion kicks off the season at the Seattle Seawolves on April 22nd.

Signing many players from the successful Seattle Saracens, the Seawolves are set to begin their regular season against San Diego at Starfire Stadium that they will share with MLS’ Seattle Sounders. Former British Columbia Bears head coach Tony Healy is in control of a squad filled with international caps. Ray Barkwill, Shalom Suniula, Nick Wallace, Olive Kilifi, Garrett Bender, Phil Mack, Aladdin Schirmer, and Mike Palefau highlight the Seawolves.

After winning the DI Club National Championship last year, the majority of the Austin Huns have jumped to the Austin Elite for the inaugural MLR season. Like the Raptors, the core of Peter Malcolm, Hanco Germishuys, Michael Ried, Zinzan Elan-Puttick, Mason Pederson, Sani Taylor, Tim Fitzgerald, Timothée Guillemin and others are familiar with each other and know how to play as a cohesive unit. General Manager Thierry Daupin has tasked Alain Hyardet and his exhaustive international coaching experience to lead the Austin faithful. The Elite will play a pair of home and away games against NOLA Gold in the preseason prior to heading to Glendale for its first official match.

Lastly, drawing on the rich tradition of rugby in the state of Utah, the Warriors look to make their mark in the inaugural season of the MLR. After coaching extensively in New Zealand, Alf Daniels will lead a determined club starring Paul Lasike, Matt Jensen, Josh Whippy, Don Pati, Angus MacLellan, John Cullen, and Fetu’u Vainikolo. Playing at 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah, the Warriors have the two preseason home games against the Raptors and Ontario Arrows before playing at San Diego on April 28th.