2023 Major League Rugby season explained

2023 Major League Rugby season
Countries:United States (11 teams)
Canada (1 team)
Date:February 17 – July 8
Champions:New England Free Jacks (1st Title)
Matches:101
Highest Attendance:11,423[1]
San Diego Legion 33–17 Utah Warriors
Tries:729
Website:majorleague.rugby
Prevseason:2022
Nextseason:2024

The 2023 Major League Rugby season was the sixth season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season began on February 17, 2023.[2]

The Chicago Hounds made their debut this season, while the Austin Gilgronis and LA Giltinis withdrew from the competition.[3] This left a total of 12 teams competing; 6 teams in each conference, with the Chicago Hounds added to the Western Conference.

Teams and format

The 12 teams contested the regular season, with 6 in each of the Eastern and Western Conferences. Each club played two games against each of the other five clubs in their conference (one at home and one away each) and one game against each of the six clubs in the other conference.

Conference rankings at the end of the regular season determined each team's placement in the post season, known as the Championship Series:

ConferenceClubMetro areaStadiumCapacityCoachCaptain
Western ConferenceChicago HoundsChicago, IllinoisSeatGeek Stadium20,000 Sam Harris Bryce Campbell
Dallas JackalsDallas, TexasChoctaw Stadium48,114 Agustín Cavalieri JP Aguirre
Houston SaberCatsHouston, TexasSaberCats Stadium4,000 Pote Human Dean Muir
San Diego LegionSan Diego, California35,000 Danny Lee Blair Cowan
Seattle SeawolvesSeattle, WashingtonStarfire Stadium4,500 Allen Clarke Riekert Hattingh
Utah WarriorsSalt Lake City, UtahZions Bank Stadium5,000 Greg Cooper Bailey Wilson
Eastern ConferenceNew England Free JacksBoston, MassachusettsVeterans Memorial Stadium5,000 Scott Mathie Josh Larsen
New Orleans GoldNew Orleans, LouisianaGold Mine10,000 Kane Thompson Cam Dolan
Old Glory DCWashington, D.C.Segra Field5,000 Josh Syms Jamason Faʻanana-Schultz
Rugby New YorkNew York, New YorkMemorial Stadium4,000 James Semple Nate Brakeley
Rugby ATLAtlanta, GeorgiaSilverbacks Park5,000 Stephen Brett Matt Heaton
Toronto ArrowsToronto, OntarioYork Lions Stadium4,000 Peter Smith Lucas Rumball

Regular season

The regular season consisted of 18 weeks, with each team playing 16 matches, beginning on February 17, 2023, and ending on June 18.

Matches

The following are the match results for the 2023 Major League Rugby regular season:

CHIDALHOUNENODCATLNYSDSEATORUTA
Chicago Hounds24–2221–3824–3720–2114–365–2726–2710–14
Dallas Jackals28–2912–3310–153–738–4710–3514–1126–36
Houston SaberCats40–3333–2135–1431–740–2831–2617–3424–30
NE Free Jacks31–1910–947–2450–334–3123–138–057–20
New Orleans Gold12–3615–287–2331–512–2635–3640–2437–14
Old Glory DC42–2724–4217–2036–2842–3119–4129–336–22
Rugby ATL27–1219–2714–3529–1635–2724–3910–3517–10
Rugby NY43–1427–3418–3354–1934–831–2039–333–43
San Diego Legion48–2422–029–1629–1248–2636–1340–1933–17
Seattle Seawolves35–1361–1924–1226–3428–2225–1120–2327–20
Toronto Arrows26–485–8024–2629–2934–3427–2917–5027–36
Utah Warriors24–2633–2534–2826–2428–1216–2641–3547–19
Updated to match(es) played on June 18, 2023
Colors: Blue: home team win; Yellow: draw; Red: away team win.

Scheduled matches

Week 1 (February 17–19)

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Week 2 (February 24–26)

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Week 3 (March 3–5)

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Week 4 (March 11–12)

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Week 5 (March 18–19)

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Week 6 (March 25–26)

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Week 7 (March 31 – April 2)

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Week 8 (April 8)

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Week 9 (April 15–16)

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Week 10 (April 22–23)

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Week 11 (April 28–30)

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Week 12 (May 6–7)

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Week 13 (May 12–14)

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Week 14 (May 18–21)

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Week 15 (May 27–28)

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Week 16 (June 2–4)

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Week 17 (June 9–11)

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Week 18 (June 17–18)

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Championship Series

Championship final (July 8)

See main article: 2023 Major League Rugby Championship Final.

Player statistics

Top scorers

The top ten try and point scorers during the 2023 Major League Rugby season are:

Last updated: July 11, 2023

Most tries
NoPlayerTeamTries<-- Pos Player Team Tries-->
1 Paula Balekana New England Free Jacks15
2 Joseph ManoUtah Warriors14
3 Riekert HattinghSeattle Seawolves12
4 Tomas AoakiSan Diego Legion11
Nate AugspurgerSan Diego Legion
Gideon van WykHouston SaberCats
7 Dylan FawsittRugby New York10
William TalatainaOld Glory DC
9 Christian DyerHouston SaberCats9
Lauina FutiSeattle Seawolves
Le Roux MalanNew England Free Jacks
Most points
NoPlayerTeamPts<-- Pos Player Team Points-->
1 Jayson PotrozNew England Free Jacks146
2 Davey CoetzerHouston SaberCats135
3 Joel HodgsonUtah Warriors122
4 AJ AlatimuSeattle Seawolves100
5 Joaquín Díaz BonillaOld Glory DC96
6 Will HooleySan Diego Legion89
7 Jordan ChaitSeattle Seawolves77
Rodney IonaNew Orleans Gold
9 Paula Balekana New England Free Jacks75
10 Jason EmeryRugby New York73

MLR awards the try scorer 7 points when there is an Automatic Conversion (The ball is touched down between the post in the in-goal area).

Sanctions

Last updated: May 11, 2023

End of Season Awards

Award Player TeamPosition Ref.
Coach of the Year Head Coach [5]
Player of the Year Fly-half[6]
Rookie of the Year Lock [7]
Back of the Year Scrum-half[8]
Forward of the Year Flanker [9]
S. Marcus Calloway Community Impact Centre [10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Record crowd watches San Diego defeat Utah . americas rugby news . February 19, 2023 . February 19, 2023.
  2. Web site: Major League Rugby Releases 2023 Season Schedule . Major League Rugby . February 3, 2023.
  3. Web site: Major League Rugby Issues 2023 Competition Update . Major League Rugby . October 25, 2022.
  4. Web site: New England Free Jacks win Major League Rugby Championship Final in Chicago . December 25, 2023 . Major League Rugby . en-US.
  5. Web site: OLD GLORY DC’S COACH SYMS RECEIVES COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY SPORTSBREAKS.COM . Major League Rugby . August 7, 2023.
  6. Web site: NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS’ JAYSON POTROZ RECEIVES THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY SPORTSBREAKS.COM . Major League Rugby . August 7, 2023.
  7. Web site: DALLAS JACKALS’ SAM GOLLA RECEIVES ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY SPORTSBREAKS.COM . Major League Rugby . August 7, 2023.
  8. Web site: SAN DIEGO LEGION’S NATE AUGSPURGER RECEIVES BACK OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY SPORTSBREAKS.COM . Major League Rugby . August 7, 2023.
  9. Web site: NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS’ WIAN CONRADIE RECEIVES FORWARD OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY SPORTSBREAKS.COM . Major League Rugby . August 7, 2023.
  10. Web site: DANIEL KRIEL OF THE SEATTLE SEAWOLVES NAMED RECIPIENT OF 2023 S. MARCUS CALLOWAY COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD PRESENTED BY FASTENAL . Major League Rugby . August 7, 2023.