2024 Major League Rugby season

Last updated

2024 Major League Rugby season
Major League Rugby wordmark.svg
Countries United States (12 teams)
DateMarch 2 – August 4
Champions New England Free Jacks (2nd Title)
Runners-up Seattle Seawolves
Matches played103
Attendance16,115
(average 156 per match)
Highest attendance12,085
Seattle Seawolves 11–20 New England Free Jacks
August 4, 2024
Official website
majorleague.rugby
←  2023
2025  →

The 2024 Major League Rugby season was the seventh season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season began on March 2, 2024, and lasted through June 29, 2024, with the Championship Series to follow. [1]

Contents

The Miami Sharks and Anthem Rugby Carolina made their league debut this season, as well as Rugby Football Club Los Angeles following their move from Atlanta. [2] [3] [4] The Toronto Arrows and Rugby New York withdrew from the league following the 2023 season. [5] [6] This leaves a total of 12 teams competing for the 2024 season.

Teams and format

Following the departure of Toronto and New York, the arrival of Miami and Charlotte, and the relocation of Atlanta to Los Angeles, the League had 12 teams for the 2024 season. As a result, Chicago was moved to the Eastern conference, ensuring both conferences had 6 teams each.

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Locations of teams in Major League Rugby
ConferenceClubMetro areaStadiumCapacityCoachCaptain
Western Conference Dallas Jackals Dallas, Texas Choctaw Stadium 48,114 Flag of Argentina.svg Agustín Cavalieri Flag of Argentina.svg Jerónimo Gómez Vara
Houston SaberCats Houston, Texas SaberCats Stadium 4,000 Flag of South Africa.svg Pote Human Flag of South Africa.svg Johan Momsen
Rugby Football Club Los Angeles Carson, California Dignity Health Sports Park 27,000 Flag of New Zealand.svg Stephen Brett IRFU flag.svg Niall Saunders
San Diego Legion San Diego, California Snapdragon Stadium 35,000 Flag of New Zealand.svg Danny Lee Flag of Scotland.svg Blair Cowan
Seattle Seawolves Seattle, Washington Starfire Stadium 4,500 IRFU flag.svg Allen Clarke Flag of the United States.svg Riekert Hattingh
Utah Warriors Salt Lake City, Utah Zions Bank Stadium 5,000 Flag of New Zealand.svg Greg Cooper Flag of the United States.svg Bailey Wilson
Eastern Conference Anthem Rugby Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina American Legion Memorial Stadium 10,500 Flag of New Zealand.svg Alama Ieremia Flag of the United States.svg Jake Turnbull
Chicago Hounds Chicago, Illinois SeatGeek Stadium 20,000 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Sam Harris Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bill Meakes
Miami Sharks Fort Lauderdale, Florida AutoNation Sports Field 1,500 Flag of Argentina.svg José Pellicena Flag of Argentina.svg Tomás Cubelli
New England Free Jacks Boston, Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Stadium 5,000 Flag of South Africa.svg Scott Mathie Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Josh Larsen
New Orleans Gold New Orleans, Louisiana Gold Mine 10,000 Flag of New Zealand.svg Cory Brown Flag of the United States.svg Moni Tongaʻuiha
Old Glory DC Washington, D.C. Maryland SoccerPlex 5,000 Flag of Scotland.svg Simon Cross Flag of the United States.svg Jamason Faʻanana-Schultz

Regular season

The regular season will consist of 18 weeks, with each team playing 16 matches, beginning on March 2, 2024, and ending on June 29.

Standings

2024 MLR Eastern Conference (
)
ClubPWDLPFPAPDTFTATBLBPts
1 New England Free Jacks 16110546334411965458355
2 New Orleans Gold 1610064103496158478250
3 Chicago Hounds 168174543876765517445
4 Old Glory DC 16727394416-2250576442
5 Miami Sharks 166010335389-5440514432
6 Anthem Rugby Carolina 160016323676-35347102617
Tiebreakers

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreaker criteria are as follows (coin tosses or draw of lots will be used if those below fail):

  1. number of matches won
  2. the difference between points for and points against
  3. the number of tries scored
  4. the most points scored
  5. the difference between tries for and tries against
  6. the fewest red cards received
  7. the fewest yellow cards received
2024 MLR Western Conference (
)
ClubPWDLPFPAPDTFTATBLBPts
1 Houston SaberCats 161402478347131664711067
2 Seattle Seawolves 16110549837312563499457
3 San Diego Legion 1611054213744751457455
4 Dallas Jackals 16601048245032716210943
5 Utah Warriors 165011424471-4760677835
6 RFC Los Angeles 165110367473-10654678232
Tiebreakers

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreaker criteria are as follows (coin tosses or draw of lots will be used if those below fail):

  1. number of matches won
  2. the difference between points for and points against
  3. the number of tries scored
  4. the most points scored
  5. the difference between tries for and tries against
  6. the fewest red cards received
  7. the fewest yellow cards received

Matches

The following are the match results for the 2024 Major League Rugby regular season:

Home \ Away CAR CHI DAL HOU LA MIA NE NO DC SD SEA UTA
Anthem Rugby Carolina 29–38 28–68 15–38 29–33 14–30 13–46 5–40 32–46
Chicago Hounds 59–26 54–31 38–26 17-22 13–25 21–22 22–16 26–34
Dallas Jackals 22–20 27–30 26–29 22-35 34–36 23–30 14–7 22–20
Houston SaberCats 23–22 29–28 29–12 30–19 35–47 33–0 28–25 22–15
Rugby Football Club Los Angeles 29–32 12–27 45–15 12–34 21–38 19–27 5–36 36-32
Miami Sharks 50-21 19–23 17–38 15–13 13–20 17–12 21–22 20–19
New England Free Jacks 40–7 20–26 26–24 25–3 27–21 34–35 21–29 36–27
New Orleans Gold 34–19 21–38 7–21 27–42 27–17 18–6 32–31 21–14
Old Glory DC 47–29 22–22 17–38 22–22 13–10 30–31 27–24 11-27
San Diego Legion 34–24 30–24 37–24 19–18 23–24 33–20 45–33 32–33
Seattle Seawolves 29–13 34–32 40-42 29–12 29–18 26–24 25–19 68–29
Utah Warriors 44–19 29–15 50–46 24–29 24–31 31–24 20–27 13–23

Updated to match(es) played on May 2, 2024
Colors: Blue: home team win; Yellow: draw; Red: away team win.

Scheduled matches

Championship Series

Bracket

Conference Semi-Finals Conference Finals Final
         
1 Houston Sabercats 22
4 Dallas Jackals 34
2 Seattle Seawolves 28
4 Dallas Jackals 25
2 Seattle Seawolves 30
3 San Diego Legion 28
2 Seattle Seawolves 11
1 New England Free Jacks 20
1 New England Free Jacks 33
4 Old Glory DC 29
1 New England Free Jacks 23
3 Chicago Hounds 17
2 New Orleans Gold 21
3 Chicago Hounds 45

The play-off draw is seeded based on final positions in the regular season conference tables.

The higher-ranked teams in the Conference Semi-finals and Conference Finals have home field advantage.

Conference Semi-Finals (July 20–21)

July 20, 2024
17:00 EDT (UTC−04:00)
New England Free Jacks 33−29 Old Glory DC
Try: MacDonald 3'
Melvin 35'
Lennon 40'
Con: Potroz 4' 36' 40+1'
Pen: Potroz 10' 15' 38' 59'		Report [7]
Veterans Memorial Stadium
Referee: Lex Weiner (USA)
July 20, 2024
19:30 EDT (UTC−04:00)
Houston SaberCats 22−34 Dallas Jackals
Report [8]
SaberCats Stadium
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
July 21, 2024
18:30 EDT (UTC−04:00)
New Orleans Gold 21−45 Chicago Hounds
Report [9]
Gold Mine
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
July 21, 2024
21:00 EDT (UTC−04:00)
Seattle Seawolves 30−28 San Diego Legion
Report [10]
Starfire Sports
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)

Conference Finals (July 27–28)

July 27, 2024
13:00 EDT (UTC−04:00)
New England Free Jacks 23–17 Chicago Hounds
Try: R. MacDonald (2) 20' m, 23' m
A. Quattrin 71' c
Con: J. Potroz (1/3) 72'
Pen: J. Potroz (2/2) 45', 58'
Cards: C. Keys Yellow card.svg 54' to 64'		Report [11] [12] Try: N. Augspurger 40' c
D. Fawsitt 65' c
Con: L. Carty (2/2) 40’+1', 66′
Pen: L. Carty (1/2) 54'
Veterans Memorial Stadium
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
July 28, 2024
16:00 EDT (UTC−04:00)
Seattle Seawolves 28–25 Dallas Jackals
Try: Penalty try 22'
J. Taufete’e 36' c
J. Smith 50' c
R. Rees 78' c
Con: M. Mason (1/1) 51'
S. Windsor (1/1) 79'
Pen: M. Mason (0/1)
Cards: M. Ngakuru Yellow card.svg 30' to 40'		Report [13] [14] Try: N. Benn (2) 12' c, 31' c
T. Bekerman 73' m
Con: J. Oliver (2/2) 13', 32'
Pen: J. Oliver (2/3) 3', 29'
Cards: J. Zeiss Yellow card.svg 21' to 31'
M. Alikhan Yellow card.svg 22' to 32'
Starfire Sports
Referee: Scott Green (USA)

Championship final (August 4)

August 4, 2024
1:00 pm PDT
Seattle Seawolves 11–20 New England Free Jacks
Try: J. Taufete’e 31' m
Con: M. Mason (0/1)
Pen: M. Mason (2/3) 25', 48'
Cards: T. Lopeti Yellow card.svg 52' to 62'		Report [15] Try: L. Malan 14'
Con: J. Potroz (0/1)
Pen: J. Potroz (5/5) 9', 28', 40’+1', 45', 52'
Snapdragon Stadium
Attendance: 12,085
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)

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References

  1. ↑ "Major League Rugby Unveils 2024 Slate Of Matchups". Major League Rugbby. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Major League Rugby Comes to Charlotte in a Groundbreaking Partnership" . Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Expansion Teams Headline Off-Season of Growth for Major League Rugby" . Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Major League Rugby's Atlanta Team to Relocate to Los Angeles" . Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Toronto Arrows to not compete in 2024 MLR Season". Major League Rugbby. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Former champions New York out of 2024 MLR season". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Free Jacks survive stern challenge from Old Glory in Quincy". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Sensational Jackals knock out top-seeded SaberCats". Americas Rugby News. July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Strong second half sees Chicago past NOLA into East Final". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Seawolves hang on to halt Legion and book West Final spot". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Free Jacks are final-bound after pulsating win over Hounds". Americas Rugby News.
  12. ↑ "NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS BEAT CHICAGO HOUNDS 23-17 IN EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL". Major League Rugbby. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Seawolves pushed to the brink in West Final win over Jackals". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  14. ↑ "WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL REVIEW: SEATTLE REACH CHAMPIONSHIP WITH LAST-MINUTE SCORE". Major League Rugbby. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Free Jacks beat Seawolves to claim second straight MLR title". americas rugby news. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
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