| 2018 Major League Rugby | |
| Country: | United States |
| Date: | April 21 – July 7 |
| Champions: | Seattle Seawolves (1st title) |
| Runnersup: | Glendale Raptors |
| Tournament Format: | Round-robin and Knockout |
| Matches: | 31 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Sam Windsor (103) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Tonata Lauti (9) |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
| Website: | https://www.usmlr.com/ |
The 2018 Major League Rugby season was the inaugural season of Major League Rugby, an annual rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby.The seven inaugural teams were based in the United States. The competition began the weekend of April 21–22 with three matches, with New Orleans defeating Houston 35–26 to open the season.
Glendale and Seattle were the best two teams at the end of the regular season and won their respective semi-final matches to advance to the championship game at Torero Stadium in San Diego. Seattle became Major League Rugby's first champion team with a surprise come-from-behind 23–19 win in the final over Glendale, who had only lost once previously during the season.
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,500 | |||||
 David Williams | 5,000 | ||||
| 6,000 | |||||
 Taylor Howden | 3,000 | ||||
| 6,000 | |||||
| 3,800 | |||||
| Alf Daniels | 5,000 |
All seven participating teams played eight matches and received two rounds of byes during the regular season held over ten weeks from April through to June. The schedule was short of a full home and away draw by four match rounds, so each side played two of the other teams twice and four of them only once. The top four teams at the end of the regular season advanced to the MLR playoffs.
The final standings for the 2018 Major League Rugby regular season were:
The following matches were played for the 2018 Major League Rugby regular season:
The top four teams from the regular season qualified for the playoffs. The format was two semifinal matches – first versus fourth, and second versus third – followed by a Championship game between the semifinal winners to determine the MLR champion team.
The semifinals were played as a double header at Infinity Park in Glendale on June 30, followed a week later by the final at Torero Stadium in San Diego on July 7.[1]
See main article: 2018 Major League Rugby final.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | Average | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | 26 | 41 | 38 | 50 | 30 | 17 | 22 | 41 | – | – | 31 | 5 | 41 | 33 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 31 | – | – | 224 | 238 | 28.0 | 29.8 | |
| Glendale | 41 | 26 | 19 | 15 | 36 | 29 | 31 | 27 | – | – | – | – | 47 | 10 | 37 | 24 | 33 | 11 | 5 | 23 | 249 | 165 | 31.1 | 20.6 | |
| 26 | 35 | 50 | 38 | 32 | 35 | – | – | 20 | 24 | 30 | 36 | 7 | 20 | 24 | 37 | – | – | 27 | 31 | 216 | 256 | 27.0 | 32.0 | ||
| 35 | 26 | – | – | 17 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 24 | 20 | 26 | 55 | 10 | 47 | 22 | 39 | 46 | 43 | – | – | 209 | 291 | 26.1 | 36.4 | ||
| San Diego | 23 | 39 | 31 | 24 | 35 | 32 | 27 | 31 | – | – | 5 | 31 | – | – | 39 | 22 | 31 | 17 | 23 | 5 | 214 | 201 | 26.8 | 25.1 | |
| Seattle | 39 | 23 | 15 | 19 | – | – | 31 | 29 | 41 | 32 | 55 | 26 | 20 | 7 | 20 | 19 | 11 | 33 | – | – | 232 | 188 | 29.0 | 23.5 | |
| Utah | – | – | 24 | 31 | 29 | 36 | 41 | 22 | 32 | 41 | 36 | 30 | 33 | 41 | – | – | 43 | 46 | 31 | 27 | 269 | 274 | 33.6 | 34.3 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | Average | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | – | – | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 29 | 32 | 3.6 | 4.0 | |
| Glendale | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 34 | 22 | 4.3 | 2.8 | |
| 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 5 | – | – | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | – | – | 3 | 5 | 26 | 35 | 3.3 | 4.4 | ||
| 4 | 4 | – | – | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | – | – | 28 | 41 | 3.5 | 5.1 | ||
| San Diego | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | – | – | 1 | 4 | – | – | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 24 | 3.4 | 3.0 | |
| Seattle | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | – | – | 29 | 25 | 3.6 | 3.1 | |
| Utah | – | – | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | – | – | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 40 | 34 | 5.0 | 4.3 |
| Attack | Defense |
The leading scorers in 2018 over the regular season and playoffs combined were:
| No. | Player | Team | Tries excl. playoffs | Total tries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah Warriors | 8 | 9 | ||
| 2 | Glendale Raptors | 6 | 7 | ||
| Glendale Raptors | 4 | 7 | |||
| 4 | Austin Elite | 6 | 6 | ||
| 5 | Houston SaberCats | 5 | 5 | ||
| 5 --> | William Rasileka | Seattle Seawolves | 3 | 5 | |
| 5 --> | San Diego Legion | 5 | 5 | ||
| 5 --> | Houston SaberCats | 5 | 5 | ||
| 9 | Utah Warriors | 4 | 4 | ||
| 10 --> | Seattle Seawolves | 4 | 4 | ||
| 9 --> | Houston SaberCats | 4 | 4 | ||
| 9 --> | Austin Elite | 4 | 4 |
| No. | Player | Team | Points excl. playoffs | Total points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston SaberCats | 103 | 103 | ||
| 2 | Austin Elite | 84 | 84 | ||
| 3 | Glendale Raptors | 64 | 77 | ||
| 4 | New Orleans Gold | 65 | 65 | ||
| 5 | Seattle Seawolves | 60 | 60 | ||
| 6 | Utah Warriors | 47 | 49 | ||
| 7 | Utah Warriors | 40 | 45 | ||
| 8 | San Diego Legion | 42 | 42 | ||
| 9 | Seattle Seawolves | 20 | 41 | ||
| 10 | Maximo de Achaval | Glendale Raptors | 35 | 35 |
| Player | Team | Red | Yellow | Suspended match(es): |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zachary Pangelinan | 1 | 2 | vs. New Orleans Gold () | |
| Connor Cook | 1 | 0 | vs. Austin Elite () | |
| Ben Landry | 1 | 0 | vs. Austin Elite () | |
| Jake Turnbull | 0 | 1 | vs. New Orleans Gold () | |
| Eric Howard | 0 | 1 | vs. Houston SaberCats () | |
| Ben Mitchell | 0 | 1 | vs. Glendale Raptors () | |
| Sani Taylor | 0 | 1 | vs. Glendale Raptors () | |
| Kelepi Fifita | 0 | 1 | vs. Austin Elite () | |
| Sione Tuihalamaka | 0 | 1 | vs. Seattle Seawolves () | |
| Matt Trouville | 0 | 1 | vs. Austin Elite () | |
| Maximo de Achaval | 0 | 1 | vs. Seattle Seawolves () | |
| Siaosi Finau | 0 | 1 | vs. New Orleans Gold () | |
| Pago Haini | 0 | 1 | vs. San Diego Legion () | |
| Taylor Howden | 0 | 1 | vs. Seattle Seawolves () | |
| Hubert Buydens | 0 | 1 | vs. Houston SaberCats () | |
| Chris Slater | 0 | 1 | vs. Glendale Raptors () | |
| Anthony Parry | 0 | 1 | vs. San Diego Legion () | |
| Cam Poison | 0 | 1 | vs. Glendale Raptors () | |
| Alec Barton | 0 | 1 | vs. Austin Elite () | |
| Ben Mitchell | 0 | 1 | vs. San Diego Legion () | |
| Alec Barton | 0 | 1 | vs. Seattle Seawolves () | |
| Siaosi Mahoni | 0 | 1 | vs. Seattle Seawolves () | |
MVP of the Championship Match
All-MLR First Team
| Player | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loosehead Prop | Houston SaberCats | ||
| Hooker | Glendale Raptors | ||
| Tighthead Prop | Seattle Seawolves | ||
| Left Lock | Austin Elite | ||
| Right Lock | Glendale Raptors | ||
| Blindside Flanker | Seattle Seawolves | ||
| Openside Flanker | Austin Elite | ||
| No8 | San Diego Legion | ||
| Scrum-half | Seattle Seawolves | ||
| Fly-half | Houston SaberCats | ||
| Tonata Lauti | Blindside Wing | Utah Warriors | |
| Inside Centre | Utah Warriors | ||
| Outside Centre | San Diego Legion | ||
| Harley Davidson | Openside Wing | Glendale Raptors | |
| Fullback | Seattle Seawolves |
All-MLR Second Team
| Player | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loosehead Prop | Seattle Seawolves | ||
| Hooker | San Diego Legion | ||
| Alex Tucci | Tighthead Prop | Utah Warriors | |
| Left Lock | Utah Warriors | ||
| Right Lock | Houston SaberCats | ||
| Blindside Flanker | Glendale Raptors | ||
| Matt Hughston | Openside Flanker | NOLA Gold | |
| No8 | Glendale Raptors | ||
| Scrum-half | Glendale Raptors | ||
| Fly-half | Glendale Raptors | ||
| Blindside Wing | Houston SaberCats | ||
| Inside Centre | Austin Elite | ||
| Outside Centre | Houston SaberCats | ||
| Openside Wing | Seattle Seawolves | ||
| Zinzan Elan-Puttick | Fullback | Austin Elite |