NEWS

Week 17 Awards: SaberCats Upset Gold While JP Smith Saves the Day for the Seawolves

MLR announces Player, Team and First XV of Week 17

Salt Lake City, UT; May 21, 2019: The San Diego Legion became the first team in Major League Rugby’s second season to clinch a playoff spot with their win over the Utah Warriors on Saturday evening, while the NOLA Gold were stunned by the Houston SaberCats, the MLR Week 17 Team of the Week. Even without fly-half Joe Pietersen, the cornerstone of the Legion backline, San Diego took care of business by picking up a bonus-point victory to give themselves a five-point cushion between them and the second-place Gold. Sandwiched in between those two matches was the latest chapter in the MLR’s first great rivalry as the Seattle Seawolves and Glendale Raptors squared off at Infinity Park. The Seawolves won the fifth meeting between these two sides 53-36, largely due to the performance of fly-half Juan-Philip Smith, who came in to relieve an injured Ben Cima, and went on to win the Week 17 Player of the Week Award.

Having dropped a competitive match to the Legion just a week earlier, the Gold had an opportunity to keep pace with San Diego in the table and inch one step closer to a playoff spot with a win over the visiting Houston SaberCats ahead of Week 17. Houston had other plans. The SaberCats jumped out to an early 10-3 lead before the Gold answered back with tries from Eric Howard and Tristan Blewitt in the match’s second stanza. The SaberCats used a try from Santiago Arata Perrone and a conversion from fly-half Sam Windsor to head into the half tied at 17 points apiece. Houston added another converted try and a penalty goal in the second half to hand the Gold their second consecutive home loss 27-20 and put their hopes at a playoff spot on hold for one more week with just two matches remaining.

The Seawolves headed into Infinity Park on Saturday afternoon with plenty to play for. The next stepping stone on the trail to defending their Championship Shield would have to go through a Glendale Raptors side that was hungry to avenge their back-to-back losses to the Seawolves in a rematch of the 2018 MLR Championship. That route was set to be a little more difficult when starting fly-half Ben Cima went down with an injury during the match. That was until scrum-half JP Smith slid into the fly-half position and helped save the day. The utility man carried the ball nine times for 73 meters and two tries to help put the bow on the Seawolves victory and earn his first Player of the Week award in 2019.

MLR’s First XV of Week 17:

Loosehead Prop (No. 1), Djustice Sears-Duru, Seattle Seawolves

Hooker (No. 2), Stephan Coetzee, Seattle Seawolves

Tighthead Prop (No. 3), Dino Waldren, San Diego Legion

Lock (No. 4), Diego Magno, Houston SaberCats

Lock (No. 5), Nate Brakeley, Rugby United New York

Blindside Flanker (No. 6), Ben Mitchell, Austin Elite Rugby

Openside Flanker (No. 7), Nakai Penny, Seattle Seawolves

No. 8, Dylan Fawsitt, Rugby United New York

Scrum-half (No. 9), Nate Augspurger, San Diego Legion

Fly-half (No. 10), Juan-Philip Smith, Seattle Seawolves

Wing (No. 11), Connor Wallace-Sims, Rugby United New York

Inside Center (No. 12), Will Leonard, Rugby United New York

Outside Center (No. 13), Josua Vici, Houston SaberCats

Wing (No. 14), John Ryberg, Glendale Raptors

Fullback (No. 15), Dylan Taikato-Simpson, Glendale Raptors

About MLR

MLR is a professional rugby league launched in April of 2018. It’s an initiative of the North American rugby community, in partnership with private investors, who believe that North American rugby can thrive at the highest levels: as a commercial enterprise; as an influential player on the international scene; and as a participation sport at the youth and senior level. MLR will be the pinnacle of North American rugby, and provide a rallying point for local communities, a focal point for North American rugby fans, and an aspirational destination for young athletes. There are already over 40 internationals and players from more than 15 countries playing in the MLR. Twenty-two MLR stars represented the USA Eagles and Canada national teams in the opening round of the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship, with more than 30 called up over the course of the tournament.

The teams competing in MLR Season 2 are Austin Elite, Glendale Raptors, Houston SaberCats, New Orleans Gold, San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves, Utah Warriors plus new additions Rugby United New York and Toronto Arrows. In 2020, New England Free Jacks, Old Glory DC and Rugby ATL will bring the total to 12 teams for MLR Season 3.

Media Contacts

Major League Rugby: Press Office, info@usmlr.com