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2021 Major League Rugby final

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2021 Major League Rugby final
Event2021 season
DateAugust 1, 2021
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Man of the MatchMatt Giteau
RefereeJP Doyle (England)
Attendance7,389
WeatherSunny
2019
2022

The 2021 Major League Rugby final was the third Major League Rugby championship match, held at the conclusion of the 4th season of the rugby union club competition in North America. It was played on August 1, 2021, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, between the LA Giltinis and Rugby ATL.[1]

Background

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With the 2020 Major League Rugby season being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] there was no Championship match, or series, held in 2020. Instead, the Championship series returned for the 2021 season, which featured the arrival of the LA Giltinis,[3] and the departure of the Colorado Raptors,[4] leaving 12 teams to take part over two conferences; the East and West.

The format for the regular season ensured that the top two teams of each conference would compete in a Conference Final, with the victors of each taking part in the Championship Final. The regular season ended with the LA Giltinis and the Utah Warriors as the top two teams in the Western Conference, and Rugby ATL and Rugby United New York as the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. This marked the first time in MLR history that the Seattle Seawolves would not contest the Championship Final.

On July 24, Rugby ATL ground out a narrow win over RUNY, 10–9, to become the Eastern Conference Champions.[5] They also became the first Eastern-based team to make it to the Championship Final (previous finals only had teams that would later be from the Western Conference.)

On July 25, LA Giltinis were able to secure the victory in the final few minutes, with a try by Ryan James in the closing 5 minutes. Their 17–13 score means that they would become Western Conference Champions, the first time a debuting franchise would claim the title.[6] This also ensured that the Championship Final would be contested against solely expansion franchises for the first time.

Venue

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The venue was decided by which of the Conference Champions was ranked highest across both conferences.[1] LA, with 63 points, ranked above Atlanta on 57, and held the home advantage for the Championship Final.[7]

Broadcasting

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The match was broadcast nationally on CBS.[1] It averaged 478,000 viewers.[8]

Match

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Details

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August 1, 2021 LA Giltinis 31-17 Rugby ATL Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California  
4:00 pm EDT (UTC−04) Try: Ryberg (2) 21′ c , 24′ m
Van der Merwe 53′ c
Con: Giteau (2/3) 22′, 54′
Pen: Giteau (3/3) 19′, 44′, 70′
Burton (1/1) 76′
Report Try: van Rensburg 36′ c
Deacon 78′ c
Con: Coleman (2/2) 37′, 79′
Pen: Coleman (1/1) 15′
Attendance: 7,389[9]
Referee: JP Doyle

Man of the Match: Matt Giteau

Team details
FB 15 Australia Luke Burton
RW 14 United States John Ryberg
OC 13 Australia Adam Ashley-Cooper
IC 12 Australia Billy Meakes
LW 11 Canada D. T. H. van der Merwe
FH 10 Australia Matt Giteau
SH 9 Australia Harrison Goddard
N8 8 Canada Corey Thomas
OF 7 Australia Christian Poidevin
BF 6 Australia Angus Cottrell
RL 5 Australia Nathan Den Hoedt
LL 4 Australia Dave Dennis
TP 3 Samoa Marco Fepulea'I
HK 2 Australia Mahe Vailanu
LP 1 Australia Charlie Abel
Replacements:
HK 16 Ireland Sean McNulty
PR 17 United States Blake Rogers
PR 18 Australia Luke White
LK 19 Ireland Sean O’Brien
FL 20 United States Pago Haini
SH 21 Fiji Serupepeli Vularika
FH 22 United States Luke Carty
CE 23 United States Ryan James
Coach:
Australia Darren Coleman
FB 15 United States Austin White
RW 14 United States Jeremy Misailegalu
OC 13 South Africa Ryan Nell
IC 12 Argentina Bautista Ezcurra
LW 11 New Zealand Rory Van Vugt
FH 10 South Africa Kurt Coleman
SH 9 South Africa Rowan Gouws
N8 8 South Africa Johan Momsen
OF 7 Canada Matthew Heaton
BF 6 United States Vili Helu
RL 5 Canada Conor Keys
LL 4 South Africa Marno Redelinghuys
TP 3 South Africa Wikus Groenwald
HK 2 South Africa Marko Janse van Rensburg
LP 1 United States Alex Maughan
Replacements:
HK 16 South Africa Neethling Gericke
PR 17 United States Chance Wenglewski
PR 18 United States Will Burke
LK 19 United States Connor Cook
FL 20 United States Ross Deacon
SH 21 United States Ryan Rees
FH 22 South Africa Robbie Petzer
WG 23 Ireland Mark O'Keeffe
Coach:
United States Scott Lawrence

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Looking to the MLR Championship Series". Major League Rugby. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  2. ^ "Major League Rugby cancels remainder of 2020 campaign". Yahoo! Sports. AFP. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Pengelly, Martin (June 1, 2020). "Major League Rugby announces LA Giltinis, second team named for a drink". The Guardian. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  4. ^ Petersen, Will, "Updated: Colorado Raptors withdraw from Major League Rugby," 9news.com, April 10, 2020 Accessed March 27, 2021
  5. ^ Harvey, Joe (July 25, 2021). "RUGBY ATL REACH MLR CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL WITH 10-9 VICTORY OVER RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK". Major League Rugby. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  6. ^ Evans, Luca (July 25, 2021). "L.A. Giltinis advance to Major League Rugby's championship game". LA Times. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  7. ^ "Standings - Major League Rugby". Major League Rugby. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  8. ^ Karp, Austin [@AustinKarp] (August 10, 2021). "478,000 viewers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ "LA claims MLR title with convincing win over ATL". americas rugby news. Retrieved August 2, 2021.