Photo Credit: Joshua Fredlund
The 2021 MLR Schedule has been released. With an uneven balance of teams (7 Western, 6 Eastern), it was going to be interesting to see how Major League Rugby balanced the schedule. With the release of the schedule we have our answer. Each team will play home and away against each team in it's conference. The Western Conference teams will play four of the eastern conference teams. Two Eastern Conference teams will only play four Western conference opponents, while the other four will play five.
Here's how the schedule breaks out in block form:
The home team is on the left and the away team is across the top. Black means the game never happens and purple means the teams will only play once. Some interesting things to note here are the fact that New York will get two home games against both Old Glory and New England, NOLA get two home games against Rugby ATL, and New England gets two home games against Toronto.
Now the schedule is subject to change depending on the TV broadcast schedule, but as of now there are only 4 games this season that won't happen on a Saturday or Sunday. This also puts the schedule in a bit of a time crunch, especially for those fans who like to watch every game. As of right now, there are only two weeks out of the 18 scheduled where the kickoff times don't clash with each other.
Also, no Vegas Weekend this year. Fans will be happy about that, especially after losing a home game for a couple teams. Travel was also a priority for the league this year. There isn't as much cross country traveling as there has been in years past.
Listed below is each team by conference and some basic information. Some new stadiums (Old Glory and Toronto) and some big stadiums from the new joiners. The Dallas Jackals will play at Globe Life Park which seats 48,114 and the LA Giltinis plan to play at the LA Coliseum which holds 77,500 after recent renovations.
Western Conference
Austin Gilgronis
Location - Bold Stadium, Austin, Texas Head Coach - Sam Harris
Doesn't Play: New England, NOLA Gold
Dallas Jackals
Location - Globe Life Park, Arlington, Texas Head Coach - Allen Clarke
Doesn't Play: New England, RUNY, Toronto
Houston Sabercats
Location - AVEVA Stadium, Houston, Texas Head Coach - Paul Healy
Doesn't Play: NOLA Gold, Old Glory, Toronto
Los Angeles Giltinis
Location - Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California Head Coach - Darren Coleman
Doesn't Play: New England, Old Glory, Toronto
San Diego Legion
Location - Torero Stadium, San Diego, California Head Coach - Scott Murray/Zack Test
Doesn't Play: Old Glory, RUNY
Seattle Seawolves
Location - Starfire Stadium, Tukwila, Washington Head Coach - Kees Lensing
Doesn't Play: New England, Rugby ATL
Utah Warriors
Location - Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman, Utah Head Coach - Chris Latham
Doesn't Play: Rugby ATL, RUNY
Eastern Conference
New England Free Jacks
Location - Union Point Sports Complex, Weymouth, Massachusetts Head Coach - Ryan Martin
Doesn't Play: Austin, Dallas, Seattle
NOLA Gold
Location - The Gold Mine, Metairie, Louisiana Head Coach - Nate Osborne
Doesn't Play: Austin, Houston
Old Glory DC
Location - Segra Field, Leesburg, Virginia Head Coach - Andrew Douglas
Doesn't Play: Los Angeles, San Diego
Rugby ATL
Location - Lupo Family Field, Marietta, Georgia Head Coach - Scott Lawrence
Doesn't Play: Seattle, Utah
Rugby United New York
Location - MCU Park, Brooklyn, New York Head Coach - Gregg McWilliams
Doesn't Play: Dallas, San Diego, Utah
Toronto Arrows
Location - York Lions Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Head Coach - Chris Silverthorn
Doesn't Play: Houston, Los Angeles
~Joshua Fredlund