Rugby 2019: The Americas

PART II: the Americas Rugby Championship and Major League Rugby

Americas Rugby Championship

The 2019 season included the Argentina XV, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States and second place finisher and world cup qualifier Uruguay. While not anywhere near the history, reputation or standard of play, the ARC is in some ways shaping up as the Americas equivalent of Europe’s annual Six Nations tournament. After back to back titles in 2017 and 2018 the USA Eagles fell back to 3-2 this year and finished third behind Argentina XVs and Uruguay. The Argentines won the reconstituted competition for the second time, tying USA for the most wins in the new (post 2015) ARC with two titles each. The 2019 tournament was the last to be held early in the year, as from 2020 onward the ARC will take place in August and September to better align with the World Rugby calendar.

USA 71 - Chile 8

Maipu, Chile (02 Feb 2019)

Argentina XV 45 - USA 14

Cipolletti, Río Negro Province (09 Feb 2019)

ARC 2019 Table (source: Wikipedia)

Major League Rugby (North America)

In the United States Major League Rugby (MLR) kicked off its second season of professional rugby union in North America and added two additional franchises with the Toronto Arrows and Rugby United New York (RUNY) entering the fray.  The Seattle Seawolves captured the title for the second year running. Topflight proven and deeply experienced international rugby talent also came to US shores with the likes of Ben Foden (England, with RUNY); Joe Pietersen (South Africa, with San Diego); Mathieu Bastareaud (France, with RUNY); and Juan Manuel Leguizamón (Argentina with Seattle), among others.

Both expansion franchises had impressive first seasons. RUNY came out of the gate instantly competitive, winning seven of their first eight games, despite playing their first five games on the road. RUNY split their remaining games to finish their inaugural season with an 11-5 record and finish in fourth place, tied on wins and losses with fellow debutante Toronto. The Arrows took a different path losing five of their first nine games before righting the ship and finishing the season strong, winning their final seven games. The Arrows finished ahead of RUNY with 57 points to 54 despite having the same record.

RUNY defense holds off Toronto

Coney Island (5 Mar 2019)

The author with scrum half Mike Petri at the first ever RUNY home game

In the semi-finals the San Diego Legion edged out RUNY 24-22 in a thrilling game that went down to the waning moments at Torero Stadium. Joe Pieterson slotted over a difficult conversion to put the legion up by two and see them clear to the championship game against first season champs Seattle, who knocked off the Toronto Arrows 30-17 in the other semi-final. San Diego played Seattle on June 16th, 2019 at Torero Stadium. MLR could not have asked for a better finish with yet another exciting game where the Seawolves won their second championship, defeating the Legion 26-23. 

The addition of RUNY and Toronto was not the only growth for MLR in 2019. MLR also added three more expansion franchises with DC Old Glory, the New England Freejacks and Rugby ATL. With the addition of these three new teams, MLR will in just its third season be able to organize conferences and begin to foster regional rivalries. For the 2020 season there will be an Eastern and Western conference. Fans can also look forward to a potential “I-95” rivalry between Washington, New York and Boston.

 First ever DC Old Glory rugby game

(19 May 2019 vs Shannon RFC)

Scotland U20s vs DC Old Glory

(27 May 2019)

Paul Sheehy and Chris Dunleavy’s new franchise, DC Old Glory got things rolling in the nations’ capital with an exhibition season in May and June, winning two and losing two at Catholic University of America's Cardinal Stadium in Washington D.C. With attendance north of 2,500 for exhibition games at a university field, Old Glory made a good start of it. But Sheehy and Dunleavy were not finished surprising us. In December Old Glory made waves with the shock signing of famed Springbok loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira fresh off winning the Rugby World Cup in Japan and the announcement of his retirement from test rugby. The 34-year-old has 159 career appearances in Super Rugby with the Sharks and 117 caps as a Springbok.

Tendai Mtawarira

(RWC Final 2019)