# 2021 Major League Rugby season

The 2021 Major League Rugby season was the fourth season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season began on March 20, 2021.
One team made their debut in 2021: the LA Giltinis. The season also marks the first team departure in the league's history, with the Colorado Raptors. MLR history was made when United States Rugby referee Kat Roche became the first woman in a lead officiating role in a match (Seattle Seawolves vs Houston SaberCats on July 15).

## Teams and format

| Conference | Club | Metro area | Stadium | Capacity | Coach | Captain |
| Western Conference | Austin Gilgronis | Austin, Texas | Bold Stadium | 5,000 | Sam Harris | Bryce Campbell |
| Western Conference | Houston SaberCats | Houston, Texas | Aveva Stadium | 4,000 | Paul Healy | Luke Beauchamp De Wet Roos |
| Western Conference | LA Giltinis | Los Angeles, California | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 77,500 | Darren Coleman | Dave Dennis |
| Western Conference | San Diego Legion | San Diego, California Las Vegas, Nevada Los Angeles, California Chula Vista, California | Torero Stadium James Regional Sports Park Dignity Health Track & Facility Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center | 6,000 | Scott Murray Zack Test | Joe Pietersen |
| Western Conference | Seattle Seawolves | Seattle, Washington | Starfire Stadium | 4,500 | Kees Lensing (to April 23, 2021) Pate Tuilevuka (from April 23, 2021, to May 27, 2021) Allen Clarke (from May 27, 2021) | Riekert Hattingh |
| Western Conference | Utah Warriors | Salt Lake City, Utah | Zions Bank Stadium | 5,000 | Shawn Pittman | Bailey Wilson |
| Eastern Conference | New England Free Jacks | Boston, Massachusetts | Union Point Sports Complex Veterans Memorial Stadium | 2,000 5,000 | Ryan Martin | Josh Larsen |
| Eastern Conference | New Orleans Gold | New Orleans, Louisiana | Gold Mine | 10,000 | Nate Osborne | Kyle Baillie |
| Eastern Conference | Old Glory DC | Washington, D.C. | Segra Field | 5,000 | Andrew Douglas | Mungo Mason Thretton Palamo |
| Eastern Conference | Rugby United New York | New York, New York Jersey City, New Jersey | MCU Park Cochrane Stadium | 7,000 4,000 | Marty Veale | Dylan Fawsitt |
| Eastern Conference | Rugby ATL | Atlanta, Georgia | Lupo Family Field | 2,500 | Scott Lawrence | Matt Heaton Ryan Nell |
| Eastern Conference | Toronto Arrows | Toronto, Ontario Atlanta, Georgia | Lupo Family Field | 2,500 | Chris Silverthorn | Ben LeSage Lucas Rumball |

## Trial laws

Several new rules were introduced for the 2021 season, some of which are not practiced in other rugby leagues:
* Kick Clock: Kickers will now have sixty seconds as opposed to ninety seconds for both conversions and penalties.
* Seven points will be automatically awarded for any try scored directly under the posts and kicking a conversion will no longer be necessary.
* Referees will work with stricter protocols that will limit the number of scrums to two per incident – the original plus one reset for a collapse, penalty, or freekick.
* The offside line will be the feed line/channel of the scrum to allow for unimpeded access to the ball at the back of the scrum for the attacking team.
* No longer will a red card mean a team plays a man down for the remainder of the match. Under the new law a red card would lead to a player being sent off and the team goes down to 14 players for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, the player can be replaced with another player on the bench.

## Regular season

The regular season consists of eighteen weeks, with each team playing 16 matches, beginning on March 20, 2021.

### Standings

Season Standings :
| Western Conference ||||||||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | LA Giltinis (CH) | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 545 | 305 | +240 | 80 | 37 | 11 | 4 | 63 |
| 2 | Utah Warriors (SF) | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 506 | 464 | +42 | 72 | 65 | 13 | 4 | 57 |
| 3 | Austin Gilgronis | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 389 | 317 | +72 | 51 | 43 | 7 | 4 | 47 |
| 4 | San Diego Legion | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 430 | 464 | -34 | 61 | 63 | 9 | 5 | 38 |
| 5 | Seattle Seawolves | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 343 | 461 | -118 | 46 | 63 | 4 | 6 | 26 |
| 6 | Houston SaberCats | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 274 | 550 | -276 | 31 | 80 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| Eastern Conference ||||||||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | Rugby ATL (RU) | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 420 | 321 | +99 | 58 | 41 | 9 | 4 | 57 |
| 2 | Rugby United New York (SF) | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 448 | 419 | +29 | 60 | 59 | 10 | 3 | 53 |
| 3 | New Orleans Gold | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 375 | 378 | -3 | 49 | 47 | 7 | 2 | 51 |
| 4 | New England Free Jacks | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 382 | 351 | +31 | 52 | 50 | 7 | 1 | 48 |
| 5 | Old Glory DC | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 409 | 490 | -81 | 56 | 65 | 8 | 5 | 39 |
| 6 | Toronto Arrows | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 411 | 412 | -1 | 53 | 56 | 5 | 5 | 30 |
| 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): number of matches won the difference between points for and points against the number of tries scored the most points scored the difference between tries for and tries against the fewest red cards received the fewest yellow cards received ||||||||||||||
| Green background indicates teams in position for the Playoffs (CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. Last Updated: July 18, 2021 ||||||||||||||

### Matches

| Home \ Away | AUS | HOU | LA | NE | NO | DC | ATL | NY | SD | SEA | TOR | UTA |
| Austin Gilgronis | | 26–0 | 3–17 | | | | 17–15 | 16–9 | 11–14 | 42–15 | 47–21 | 28–30 |
| Houston SaberCats | 9–28 | | 35–48 | 0–32 | | 13–21 | | | 34–32 | 30–24 | 10–19 | 5–24 |
| LA Giltinis | 31–17 | 52–5 | | 42–27 | 20–21 | 47–17 | | | 45–17 | 57–26 | | 38–27 |
| NE Free Jacks | 22–18 | | | | 9–17 | 38–34 | 22-19 | 22–6 | | 25–21 | 14–12 | 22–21 |
| New Orleans Gold | 15–18 | 28–26 | | 30–29 | | 26–26 | 7–8 | 51–28 | | | 22–14 | 29–24 |
| Old Glory DC | 29–25 | | | 35–22 | 21–25 | | 30–23 | 10–46 | 38–29 | 22–18 | 19–40 | |
| Rugby ATL | | 33–15 | 17–12 | 33–18 | 38–28 | 32–12 | | 17–27 | 41–22 | | 21–14 | |
| Rugby United NY | | 54–19 | 18–16 | 29–19 | 32–35 | 38–34 | 31–24 | | | | 12–53 | 28–29 |
| San Diego Legion | 14–33 | 39–11 | 13–19 | 17–33 | 43–17 | | | 29–36 | | 34–21 | | 31–29 |
| Seattle Seawolves | 31–36 | 40–21 | 14–29 | | 30–6 | | 6–25 | 21–23 | 21–15 | | | 28–29 |
| Toronto Arrows | | | 16–43 | 17–28 | 12–18 | 34–28 | 29–33 | 24–31 | 30–40 | 52–7 | | |
| Utah Warriors | 45–24 | 50–43 | 34–29 | | | 34–33 | 31–41 | | 45–41 | 15–20 | 39–24 | |
Updated to match(es) played on July 17, 2021 Colors: Blue: home team win; Yellow: draw; Red: away team win.

### Scheduled matches
#### Week 3 (April 3)

* Bye/s: LA Giltinis, NOLA Gold, Rugby United NY, Seattle Seawolves

#### Week 4 (April 10–11)

* Bye/s: New England Free Jacks, Old Glory DC

#### Week 7 (May 1–2)

* Bye/s: Austin Gilgronis, Houston SaberCats, Rugby ATL, Utah Warriors

#### Week 10 (May 19–23)

* Bye/s: San Diego Legion, Toronto Arrows

#### Week 11 (May 29–30)

* Bye/s: New Orleans Gold, Seattle Seawolves

#### Week 12 (June 5–6)

* Bye/s: LA Giltinis, Rugby United New York

#### Week 14 (June 19–20)

* Bye/s: New England Free Jacks, Old Glory DC

#### Week 16 (July 3–4)

* Bye/s: Austin Gilgronis, Houston SaberCats, Rugby ATL, Utah Warriors

#### Week 18 (July 15–18)

* Bye/s: San Diego Legion, Toronto Arrows

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | LA Giltinis | 17 | | | |
| 4 | Utah Warriors | 13 | | | |
| 4 | Utah Warriors | 13 | 1 | LA Giltinis | 31 |
| | | | 2 | Rugby ATL | 17 |
| 2 | Rugby ATL | 10 | 2 | Rugby ATL | 17 |
| 3 | Rugby United New York | 9 | | | |

### Final
## Player statistics
### Top scorers

The top ten try and point scorers during the 2021 Major League Rugby season were:
Last updated: August 2, 2021
| Most tries |
| No | Player | Team | Tries |
| 1 | D. T. H. van der Merwe | LA Giltinis | 11 |
| 2 | Bjorn Basson | San Diego Legion | 10 |
| 3 | Angus Cottrell | LA Giltinis | 9 |
| 3 | Julián Domínguez | NOLA Gold | 9 |
| 3 | Dylan Fawsitt | Rugby United NY | 9 |
| 3 | Dougie Fife | New England Free Jacks | 9 |
| 3 | Harrison Goddard | LA Giltinis | 9 |
| 3 | Sama Malolo | Utah Warriors | 9 |
| 3 | John Ryberg | LA Giltinis | 9 |
| 3 | Mike Te'o | Utah Warriors | 9 |
| 11 | Harry Barlow | New England Free Jacks | 8 |
| 11 | Marko Janse van Rensburg | Rugby ATL | 8 |
| 11 | James Malcolm | Seattle Seawolves | 8 |
| 11 | Ross Neal | Seattle Seawolves | 8 |
| Most points |
| No | Player | Team | Pts |
| 1 | Dan Hollinshead | RUNY | 111 |
| 2 | Sam Windsor | Houston SaberCats | 110 |
| 3 | Jason Robertson | Old Glory DC | 108 |
| 4 | Beaudein Waaka | New England Free Jacks | 105 |
| 5 | Tayler Adams | Toronto Arrows | 104 |
| 6 | Matt Giteau | LA Giltinis | 96 |
| 6 | Mack Mason | Austin Gilgronis | 96 |
| 8 | Hagen Schulte | Utah Warriors | 87 |
| 9 | Joe Pietersen | San Diego Legion | 78 |
| 10 | Carl Meyer | NOLA Gold | 66 |

### Sanctions

| Player | Team | Red | Yellow |
| Kara Pryor | Rugby United New York | 1 | 1 |
| John Poland | New England Free Jacks | 1 | 0 |
| Josh Whippy | Utah Warriors | 1 | 0 |
| Jamason Faʻanana-Schultz | Old Glory DC | 1 | 0 |
| Luke White | LA Giltinis | 1 | 0 |
| Stan South | Old Glory DC | 0 | 3 |
| Ronan McCusker | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 2 |
| Jurie van Vuuren | Utah Warriors | 0 | 2 |
| Travis Larsen | San Diego Legion | 0 | 2 |
| Vili Tolutaʻu | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 2 |
| Hanno Dirksen | NOLA Gold | 0 | 2 |
| Apisai Naikatini | Old Glory DC | 0 | 2 |
| Aleki Morris-Lome | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 2 |
| Jérémy Lenaerts | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 2 |
| Danny Tusitala | Old Glory DC | 0 | 2 |
| Juan Cappiello | NOLA Gold | 0 | 2 |
| Michael de Waal | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 2 |
| Quinn Ngawati | Rugby United NY | 0 | 2 |
| James Rochford | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| Christian Poidevin | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| Aleki Morris-Lome | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Mitch Wilson | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Sama Malolo | Utah Warriors | 0 | 1 |
| Lance Williams | Utah Warriors | 0 | 1 |
| Joeli Tikoisuva | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Moni Tonga’uiha | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Nikola Bursic | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Conor Keys | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Charlie Connolly | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 1 |
| Harrison Boyle | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Josh Larsen | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Kyle Ciquera | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Joseph Mano | Utah Warriors | 0 | 1 |
| Angus Cottrell | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| Mahe Vailanu | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| Will Magie | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Diego Magno | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 1 |
| Nicolás Solveyra | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 1 |
| Zachary Short | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 1 |
| Gaston Cortes | Toronto Arrows | 0 | 1 |
| Cecil Afrika | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Djustice Sears-Duru | Seattle Seawolves | 0 | 1 |
| Marno Redelinghuys | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Bautista Ezcurra | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Andrew Ellis | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| Benjamín Bonasso | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| Luke Burton | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| Save Totovosau | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Robbie Coetzee | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Tayler Adams | Toronto Arrows | 0 | 1 |
| Quentin Newcomer | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Conner Mooneyham | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Paddy Ryan | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Player | Team | Red | Yellow |
| Nika Khatiashvili | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Andrew Quattrin | Toronto Arrows | 0 | 1 |
| Samu Tawake | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| Adam Ashe | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| Faka'osi Pifeleti | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Siaosi Mahoni | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Eric Howard | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Nick Boyer | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 1 |
| Mark O'Keeffe | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Jackson Thiebes | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Will Leonard | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| James Vaifale | Utah Warriors | 0 | 1 |
| Apenisa Cakaubalavu | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| Ross Deacon | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Robbie Petzer | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Bjorn Basson | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Isaac Ross | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Harry Bennett | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| Dominic Akina | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Sebastian de Chaves | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Tiaan Loots | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Dan Pryor | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Eric Howard | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Brian Nault | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Carlo de Nysschen | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Nate Brakeley | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| Paul Mullen | Utah Warriors | 0 | 1 |
| Luke Carty | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| Dino Waldren | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Devin Short | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Baska | Utah Warriors | 0 | 1 |
| Jeremy Misailegalu | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Renata Roberts-Tenana | Old Glory DC | 0 | 1 |
| Dean Muir | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Baumann | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Dave Dennis | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| JP Smith | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| Lauina Futi | Seattle Seawolves | 0 | 1 |
| Karsten Leitner | Seattle Seawolves | 0 | 1 |
| Rhyno Herbst | Seattle Seawolves | 0 | 1 |
| Joaquín Tuculet | Toronto Arrows | 0 | 1 |
| Pago Haini | LA Giltinis | 0 | 1 |
| Carl Meyer | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Kyle Rogers | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Baumann | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Apenisa Cakaubalavu | Rugby United NY | 0 | 1 |
| Victor Comptat | Seattle Seawolves | 0 | 1 |
| Apisai Tauyavuca | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 1 |
| David Still | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Wian Conradie | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Tuidraki Samusamuvodre | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |

## End of Season Awards
### All-MLR Awards

| Player of the Year | Forward of the Year | Back of the Year | Coach of the Year | Rookie of the Year |
| Mike Te'oUtah Warriors | Johan MomsenRugby ATL | Bill MeakesLA Giltinis | Shawn PittmanUtah Warriors | Andrew GuerraNOLA Gold |

### All-MLR First Team

The top 30 players throughout the season were selected to make up the first and second All-MLR teams. The selections were voted on by a group made up of MLR media, referees, and stats specialists.
The 2021 All-MLR First XV Team is:
| Pos | | Player | Team |
| FB | 15 | Mike Te'o | Utah Warriors |
| RW | 14 | Julián Domínguez | NOLA Gold |
| OC | 13 | Ben LeSage | Toronto Arrows |
| IC | 12 | Bill Meakes | LA Giltinis |
| LW | 11 | D. T. H. van der Merwe | LA Giltinis |
| FH | 10 | Matt Giteau | LA Giltinis |
| SH | 9 | Harrison Goddard | LA Giltinis |
| N8 | 8 | Wian Conradie | New England Free Jacks |
| OF | 7 | Lucas Rumball | Toronto Arrows |
| BF | 6 | Angus Cottrell | LA Giltinis |
| RL | 5 | Nate Brakeley | Rugby United New York |
| LL | 4 | Johan Momsen | Rugby ATL |
| TP | 3 | Dino Waldren | NOLA Gold |
| HK | 2 | Sama Malolo | Utah Warriors |
| LP | 1 | Chance Wenglewski | Rugby ATL |

### All-MLR Second Team

The All-MLR Second XV Team is:
| Pos | | Player | Team |
| FB | 15 | Ben Foden | Rugby United New York |
| RW | 14 | Paula Balekana | Houston SaberCats |
| OC | 13 | Adam Ashley-Cooper | LA Giltinis |
| IC | 12 | Mark O'Keeffe | Rugby ATL |
| LW | 11 | Bjorn Basson | San Diego Legion |
| FH | 10 | Jason Robertson | Old Glory DC |
| SH | 9 | Andrew Ellis | Rugby United New York |
| N8 | 8 | Jason Damm | Rugby ATL |
| OF | 7 | Joe Johnston | New England Free Jacks |
| BF | 6 | Tomás de la Vega | Toronto Arrows |
| RL | 5 | Dave Dennis | LA Giltinis |
| LL | 4 | Aston Fortuin | Utah Warriors |
| TP | 3 | JP Smith | LA Giltinis |
| HK | 2 | Dylan Fawsitt | Rugby United New York |
| LP | 1 | Angus MacLellan | Utah Warriors |

### Honorable Mention

For the first time in MLR history, an additional 15 players were also named "Honorable Mention" because of the 'surplus of excellent nominees'.
| | Player | Team |
| 1 | Jamie Mackintosh | Austin Gilgronis |
| 2 | Mike Sosene-Feagai | Old Glory DC |
| 3 | Charlie Abel | LA Giltinis |
| 4 | Rhyno Herbst | Seattle Seawolves |
| 5 | Nathan Den Hoedt | LA Giltinis |
| 6 | Benjamín Bonasso | Rugby United New York |
| 7 | Bailey Wilson | Utah Warriors |
| 8 | Cam Dolan | NOLA Gold |
| 9 | Michael Baska | Utah Warriors |
| 10 | Dan Hollinshead | Rugby United New York |
| 11 | Mika Kruse | Utah Warriors |
| 12 | JP du Plessis | NOLA Gold |
| 13 | Bryce Campbell | Austin Gilgronis |
| 14 | Jeremy Misailegalu | Rugby ATL |
| 15 | Beaudein Waaka | New England Free Jacks |