# 2020 Major League Rugby season

The 2020 Major League Rugby season was the third season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season schedule was released on September 23, 2019, and began on February 8, 2020.
Three teams made their debut in 2020: the New England Free Jacks, Old Glory DC, and Rugby ATL. The Seattle Seawolves were the defending champions, having won their second consecutive title from the previous year.
On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to increasing local social distancing restrictions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. One week later, MLR announced that the season was officially cancelled.

## Teams and format

With three additional teams for the 2020 season, Major League Rugby moved to a two-conference format. For the regular season, each team was to play against the other teams in their conference twice and against every team in the opposite conference once, for a total of 16 games.
The playoffs expanded from four teams in 2019 to six teams in 2020, with the top three teams from each conference qualifying. The second- and third-placed team from each conference were to play each other in the conference semifinals, with the winner moving on to play the first-placed team in the conference finals. The winners of the conference finals would have to play against each other in the final for the championship.
| Conference | Club | Metro area | Stadium | Capacity | Coach | Captain |
| Western Conference | Austin Gilgronis | Austin, Texas | Bold Stadium | 5,000 | Brent Semmons | Zinzan Elan-Puttick |
| Western Conference | Colorado Raptors | Denver, Colorado | Infinity Park | 5,000 | Peter Borlase | Luke White |
| Western Conference | Houston SaberCats | Houston, Texas | Aveva Stadium | 4,000 | Paul Healy | De Wet Roos |
| Western Conference | San Diego Legion | San Diego, California | Torero Stadium | 6,000 | Rob Hoadley | Nate Augspurger |
| Western Conference | Seattle Seawolves | Seattle, Washington | Starfire Stadium | 4,500 | Kees Lensing | Riekert Hattingh |
| Western Conference | Utah Warriors | Salt Lake City, Utah | Zions Bank Stadium | 5,000 | Chris Latham | Dwayne Polataivao |
| Eastern Conference | New England Free Jacks | Boston, Massachusetts | Union Point Sports Complex | 2,000 | Josh Smith | 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. | Cardinal Stadium | 3,500 | Andrew Douglas | Thretton Palamo |
| Eastern Conference | Rugby United New York | New York, New York | Maimonides Park | 7,000 | Greg McWilliams | Dylan Fawsitt |
| Eastern Conference | Rugby ATL | Atlanta, Georgia | Lupo Family Field | 2,500 | Scott Lawrence | Ryan Nell |
| Eastern Conference | Toronto Arrows | Toronto, Ontario | Alumni Field Lamport Stadium | 2,500 9,600 | Chris Silverthorn | Dan Moor |

## Regular season
### Standings

Season Standings :
| Western Conference ||||||||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | San Diego Legion | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 161 | 108 | +53 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| 2 | Utah Warriors | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 125 | 134 | -9 | 15 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| 3 | Colorado Raptors | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 98 | 130 | -32 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | Seattle Seawolves | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 138 | 162 | -24 | 15 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Austin Gilgronis | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 104 | 155 | -51 | 13 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | Houston SaberCats | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 99 | 116 | -17 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Eastern Conference ||||||||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | Toronto Arrows | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 151 | 89 | +62 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| 2 | Old Glory DC | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 122 | 129 | -7 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| 3 | New Orleans Gold | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 135 | 102 | +33 | 19 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| 4 | Rugby United New York | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 136 | 131 | +5 | 18 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| 5 | Rugby ATL | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 116 | 119 | +6 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 6 | New England Free Jacks | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 139 | 158 | -19 | 22 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order 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 Conference Finals Blue background indicates teams in position for the Conference Semi-Finals (CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. Last Updated: March 7, 2020 ||||||||||||||

### Matches

The following are the matches for the 2020 Major League Rugby regular season:
| Home \ Away | AUS | COL | HOU | NEFJ | NOLA | OGDC | RATL | RUNY | SAN | SEA | TOR | UTA |
| Austin Gilgronis | | May 17 | Apr 26 | | | 19–28 | Mar 28 | | Mar 14 | Apr 4 | 10–38 | 20–20 |
| Colorado Raptors | Mar 21 | | Apr 18 | | 20–27 | | May 2 | | May 30 | May 23 | 22–19 | 22–14 |
| Houston SaberCats | 20–24 | 21–12 | | | | 13–22 | May 23 | 23–31 | May 16 | May 2 | | Apr 11 |
| New England Free Jacks | May 9 | Apr 4 | Mar 14 | | Apr 25 | Apr 18 | May 30 | 34–14 | | | May 16 | |
| New Orleans Gold | May 23 | | May 9 | 31–22 | | 46–13 | 10–22 | Apr 18 | 21–25 | | Mar 28 | |
| Old Glory DC | | Mar 15 | | May 24 | Apr 11 | | 31–29 | Mar 29 | | 28–22 | Apr 26 | May 3 |
| Rugby ATL | | | | Mar 22 | Apr 5 | May 17 | | 19–22 | Apr 26 | May 10 | 18–28 | 28–19 |
| Rugby United NY | 49–31 | Apr 25 | | May 1 | May 30 | May 9 | Apr 10 | | | Mar 14 | Mar 22 | |
| San Diego Legion | May 3 | 49–22 | Apr 5 | 30–21 | | Mar 22 | | 24–20 | | 33–24 | | May 25 |
| Seattle Seawolves | May 31 | Mar 29 | Mar 21 | 44–29 | May 17 | | | | Apr 12 | | 17–39 | 31–33 |
| Toronto Arrows | | | 27–22 | Apr 12 | May 3 | May 31 | Apr 19 | May 22 | May 10 | | | Apr 4 |
| Utah Warriors | Apr 18 | May 9 | May 30 | 39–33 | Mar 14 | | | May 16 | Mar 28 | Apr 25 | | |
Updated to match(es) played on March 8, 2020 Colors: Blue: home team win; Yellow: draw; Red: away team win.

### Cancelled schedule
#### Week 6 (Mar 14–15)

* Bye/s: Rugby ATL, Toronto Arrows

#### Week 7 (Mar 21–22)

* Bye/s: NOLA Gold, Utah Warriors

#### Week 8 (Mar 28–29)

* Bye/s: Houston SaberCats, New England Free Jacks

#### Week 9 (Apr 4–5)

* Bye/s: Old Glory DC, RUNY

#### Week 10 (Apr 10–12)

* Bye/s: Austin Gilgronis, Colorado Raptors

#### Week 11 (Apr 18–19)

* Bye/s: San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves

#### Week 17 (May 30–31)
## Playoffs

The top three teams from each conference would have qualified for the playoffs had the season not been cancelled. The top team in each conference earns a bye week while the second and third place team play in a conference semifinal.

## Player statistics
### Top scorers

The top ten try and point scorers during the 2020 Major League Rugby season were:
Last updated: March 9, 2020
| Most tries |
| No | Player | Team | Tries |
| 1 | Riekert Hattingh | Seattle Seawolves | 5 |
| 2 | Dan Moor | Toronto Arrows | 4 |
| 2 | Cam Dolan | NOLA Gold | 4 |
| 2 | Tiaan Erasmus | Austin Gilgronis | 4 |
| 2 | John Poland | New England Free Jacks | 4 |
| 6 | Dean Muir | San Diego Legion | 3 |
| 6 | Sam Windsor | Houston SaberCats | 3 |
| 6 | Doug Fraser | Old Glory DC | 3 |
| 6 | Kyle Sumsion | RUNY | 3 |
| 6 | Moni Tonga'uiha | NOLA Gold | 3 |
| Most points |
| No | Player | Team | Pts |
| 1 | Sam Malcolm | Toronto Arrows | 60 |
| 2 | Sam Windsor | Houston SaberCats | 57 |
| 3 | Jason Robertson | Old Glory DC | 51 |
| 4 | Carl Meyer | NOLA Gold | 48 |
| 5 | Hagen Schulte | Utah Warriors | 43 |
| 6 | Cathal Marsh | RUNY | 37 |
| 6 | Luke Burton | San Diego Legion | 37 |
| 8 | Brock Staller | Seattle Seawolves | 30 |
| 9 | Kurt Coleman | Rugby ATL | 29 |
| 10 | Ben Cima | Seattle Seawolves | 27 |
| 10 | Marcelo Torrealba | Austin Gilgronis | 27 |

### Sanctions

| Player | Team | Red | Yellow |
| Mike Shephard | Toronto Arrows | 1 | 0 |
| Poasa Waqanibau | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 2 |
| Diego Magno | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 2 |
| Brendan Daly | Colorado Raptors | 0 | 1 |
| Malcolm May | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Lindsay Stevens | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Nikola Bursic | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Gordon Fullerton | Old Glory DC | 0 | 1 |
| Saia Uhila | Utah Warriors | 0 | 1 |
| Josh Larsen | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Ben Foden | RUNY | 0 | 1 |
| Peter Malcolm | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Vili Toluta'u | Seattle Seawolves | 0 | 1 |
| Lino Saunitoga | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Potu Leavasa Jr. | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Brad Hemopo | New England Free Jacks | 0 | 1 |
| Anthony Parry | RUNY | 0 | 1 |
| Sione Fangaiuiha | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Maikeli Mudu | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Tomás de la Vega | Toronto Arrows | 0 | 1 |
| Tiaan Loots | Houston SaberCats | 0 | 1 |
| Nakai Penny | Seattle Seawolves | 0 | 1 |
| Tim Maupin | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| JP du Plessis | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Kelepi Fifita | Colorado Raptors | 0 | 1 |
| Holden Yungert | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Jamie Mackintosh | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Renata Roberts-Tenana | Old Glory DC | 0 | 1 |
| Manuel Diana | Toronto Arrows | 0 | 1 |
| Paddy Ryan | RUNY | 0 | 1 |
| Carl Meyer | NOLA Gold | 0 | 1 |
| Joshua Furno | San Diego Legion | 0 | 1 |
| Will Vakalahi | Old Glory DC | 0 | 1 |
| Neethling Gericke | Rugby ATL | 0 | 1 |
| Andrew Ferguson | Toronto Arrows | 0 | 1 |
| Rene Ranger | Colorado Raptors | 0 | 1 |
| Marco Fepulea'i | Colorado Raptors | 0 | 1 |
| Andrew Quattrin | Toronto Arrows | 0 | 1 |
| Rodrick Waters | Austin Gilgronis | 0 | 1 |
| Stephan Coetzee | Seattle Seawolves | 0 | 1 |

## MLR Virtual

Following the cancellation of the 2020 season, the MLR announced they would host a tournament, with each team, playing Rugby 20. The teams would enter a pool to select which nation they would play as. The MLR also announced that all of the MLR teams would be raising money and awareness for Feeding America's COVID-19 Response Fund, and that all matches would be streamed on the league's Twitch account.
| MLR Team (National Team) | Wins | Draws | Loses |
| Austin Gilgronis ( Fiji) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Colorado Raptors ( New Zealand) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston Sabercats ( Ireland) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New England Free Jacks ( Wales) | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| New Orleans Gold ( United States) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Old Glory DC ( France) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rugby ATL ( Japan) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rugby United New York ( Australia) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| San Diego Legion ( South Africa) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seattle Seawolves ( England) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Toronto Arrows ( Canada) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Utah Warriors ( Uruguay) | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Friendlies
## MLR Draft

The 1st ever Major League Rugby collegiate draft was held in 2020. Players were eligible for the draft after 3 years of college or if they had reached 21 years of age. Free agents were permitted try out to join teams at 18 years old.