NEWS
Week 18 Awards: RUNY Outlasts Gold, Gaston Mieres and Arrows Eliminate Raptors
MLR announces Player, Team and First XV of Week 18
Salt Lake City, UT; May 28, 2019: Major League Rugby’s playoff picture became a little clearer in an action-packed Week 18 that saw the Glendale Raptors, last year’s runner-ups, eliminated from playoff contention. One of the main reasons Glendale will be watching this year’s postseason on television is largely because of the play of Toronto Arrows’ fullback and winner of the Week 18 Player of the Week award Gaston Mieres, who was instrumental in the Arrows 40-12 victory over the Raptors. Just as that match was beginning, the NOLA Gold and Rugby United New York were finishing up an extremely important match. After three-straight losses, the Gold finds themselves in unfamiliar territory heading into Week 19. The Gold couldn’t outlast Rugby United New York, the MLR Week 18 Team of the Week, on Sunday afternoon and will now need to defeat the San Diego Legion on the road in their final match of the season to secure one of the three remaining playoff spots.
Looking to rid their mouths with the foul taste that comes along with back-to-back losses, the Gold had their eyes set on being just the second team to secure a playoff spot when they traveled up to Brooklyn to take on a tough RUNY side. After NOLA jumped out to an early 10-0 lead on a Cam Dolan try and a JP Eloff penalty goal, RUNY answered back with a penalty try in the first frame of the match. Tries from Matt Hughston and Dylan Fawsitt gave RUNY a 21-17 lead and put the pressure on the Gold as they for the trailed for the first time in the match heading into the half. NOLA retook the lead with a try from Nick Feakes in the 54th minute, but a Cathal Marsh penalty goal in the 62nd minute was ultimately the difference in the match. NOLA did everything they could to manufacture another scoring opportunity in the final 18 minutes of the match, but it was RUNY, who dominated both the possession and territory battle on the day, that came away with the 24-22 victory and put NOLA’s playoff ambitions on the backburner with one match to play.
After dropping their first-ever match at home to the Seattle Seawolves a week earlier, the Glendale Raptors needed a victory in Toronto to keep their playoff hopes alive. Arrows fullback Gaston Mieres has other plans. His extremely efficient work with ball in hand on Sunday afternoon helped the Arrows hand the Raptors a 40-12 loss and extend Toronto’s win streak to six-straight matches. Mieres finished the match with two tries on five carries for 92 meters. He also added three line-breaks, one tackle-break and completed both of the tackles that he attempted to secure his first Player of the Week award of the season.
MLR’s First XV of Week 18:
Loosehead Prop (No. 1), Hubert Buydens, NOLA Gold
Hooker (No. 2), Dylan Fawsitt, Rugby United New York
Tighthead Prop (No. 3), Morgan Mitchell, Toronto Arrows
Lock (No. 4), Mike Sheppard, Toronto Arrows
Lock (No. 5), Nate Brakeley, Rugby United New York
Blindside Flanker (No. 6), Brad Tucker, Seattle Seawolves
Openside Flanker (No. 7), Matt Hughston, Rugby United New York
No. 8, Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, Houston SaberCats
Scrum-half (No. 9), Johnny Ika, Utah Warriors
Fly-half (No. 10), Sam Malcolm, Toronto Arrows
Wing (No. 11), Fetu’u Vainikolo, Utah Warriors
Inside Center (No. 12), Thretton Palamo, Houston SaberCats
Outside Center (No. 13), Joshua Whippy, Utah Warriors
Wing (No. 14), Tim Maupin, New Orleans Gold
Fullback (No. 15), Gaston Mieres, Toronto Arrows
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, press@usmlr.com
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