2022 Major League Rugby final

Event	2022 season
Rugby New York Seattle Seawolves 30 15
Date	June 25, 2022
Venue	Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey
Man of the Match	Andy Ellis
Referee	Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Attendance	1,979
Weather	92 °F (33 °C) • Sunny

The 2022 Major League Rugby final was the fourth Major League Rugby (MLR) championship match, held at the conclusion of the 5th season of the rugby union club competition in North America. The match was played on June 25, 2022, at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. It was the first MLR Final to be held in New Jersey as all previous MLR Finals were played in California.^[1] Rugby New York emerged victorious over the Seattle Seawolves by a score of 30-15.

Background

On November 9, 2021, Major League Rugby announced the format of the 2022 season and post-season.^[3] The competition had expanded to 13 teams with the addition of the Dallas Jackals, and all teams were scheduled to play 16 games over the 18 week regular season. The teams were again divided into 2 conferences, Eastern and Western. Due to the odd number of teams, the Western conference had 7 teams, and the Eastern conference had 6 teams. This was the first time in MLR history that teams would not face all other opposition teams in the regular season. Western teams faced their conference rivals in a double round-robin format, and played 4 Eastern teams, either home or away. Eastern teams faced their conference rivals in a double round-robin format, with one additional game. They then played 5 Western teams, to complete the 16 games required for the season.

For the post-season, MLR introduced a first-round, single game playoff, called Eliminators. The 2nd ranked team in each conference hosted the 3rd ranked team, while the 1st ranked team received a bye week. The following weekend, the 1st ranked team hosted the winner of their conference's Eliminator in their Conference Final. The winner of the Conference Finals met in the Championship Final to determine the winner of the 2022 season.^[3]

On June 3, 2022, MLR announced that the Austin Gilgronis were disqualified from the 2022 post-season, due to "violation of league rules".^[2] Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Eastern-qualified teams all had greater table points than any of the Western-qualified teams. As such, the 2022 Championship Final was guaranteed to be hosted by an Eastern Conference team for the first time.^[4]

On June 7, 2022, MLR announced that the LA Giltinis were also disqualified from the 2022 post-season, again due to "violation of league rules".

Championship Series

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Eliminator featured Rugby ATL hosting Rugby New York at Silverbacks Park. This marked the successive year of Atlanta hosting New York in the Championship Series, having faced each other in the 2021 Eastern Conference Final.

The first half of the match was focused on defensive decisions, and forcing penalties, as the visitors led 9-6 at halftime. The first try of the game was scored in the 44th minute, when referee Mike Lash awarded a penalty try to New York. Although Atlanta reduced the deficit with penalties, New York scored another try from the driving maul to effectively seal their victory. Atlanta were able to score a consolation try at the end of the match, but were unable to overcome New York.

	June 11	Rugby ATL	19–26	Rugby New York	Silverbacks Park
	20:30 EDT	Try: Kurt Coleman 80+2' Con: Kurt Coleman (1/1) 80+3' Pen: Kurt Coleman (4/4) 34', 40+2', 58', 65' Cards: Connor Cook  2'	Report	Try: Penalty try 44' Dylan Fawsitt 73' Con: Automatic conversion 44' Jason Emery (1/1) 74' Pen: Jason Emery (4/4) 4', 19', 27', 79' Cards: Nick Civetta  50'	Referee: Mike Lash (NZR) Assistants: Federico Anselmi (UAR) & Jack Gohl (RA) TMO: Nick Hannon (USAR) Man of the Match: Dylan Fawsitt (Rugby New York)

The Conference Final was hosted by the New England Free Jacks, at Veterans Memorial Stadium. This was New England's first appearance in the Championship Series since joining the league in 2020.

Although New England were able to score first and maintained the lead at half-time, it was New York that was able to seal the victory with two tries in the second half. The victory marked New York's first Eastern Conference Championship win, and the first time that the team that finished first in the Eastern Conference did not reach the Championship Final.

	June 19	New England Free Jacks	16–24	Rugby New York	Veterans Memorial Stadium
	15:00 EDT	Try: Beaudein Waaka 4' Con: Beaudein Waaka (1/1) 5' Pen: Beaudein Waaka (3/3) 17', 28', 46' Cards: Reegan O'Gorman  73'	Report	Try: Benjamín Bonasso 19' Nehe Milner-Skudder 69' Andrew Coe 76' Con: Jason Emery (1/1) 20' Sam Windsor (2/2) 70', 77' Pen: Jason Emery (1/2) 32'	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Federico Anselmi (UAR) Assistants: Mike Lash (NZR) & Cisco Lopez (USAR) TMO: Nick Hannon (USAR) Man of the Match: Andrew Coe (Rugby New York)

Western Conference

The Western Eliminator featured the Seattle Seawolves hosting the San Diego Legion at Starfire Stadium. Seattle and San Diego returned to the Championship Series for the first time since 2019, where both teams contested in that season's Championship Final.

Although San Diego were the first team to get on the scoreboard, the impressive points total from AJ Alatimu alone was enough to see off the Legion, as Seattle claimed a fifth successive win in their MLR post-season matches, as well as a 3-0 winning streak over San Diego.

	June 12	Seattle Seawolves	43–19	San Diego Legion	Starfire Sports Stadium
	19:00 PDT	Try: Sam Matenga 11' Duncan Matthews 19' Travis Larsen 62' Ross Neal 67' Con: AJ Alatimu (3/3) 12', 20', 68' Automatic conversion 62' Pen: AJ Alatimu (5/5) 7', 14', 46', 56', 74' Cards: Riekert Hattingh  50'	Report	Try: Nate Augspurger 2' Tevita Tameilau 28' Jason Higgins 77' Con: Joe Pietersen (2/2) 3', 29' Josh Henderson (0/1)	Referee: Scott Green (USAR) Assistants: Luke Rogan (USAR) & Lex Weiner (USAR) TMO: Austin Reed (USAR) Man of the Match: Duncan Matthews (Seattle Seawolves)

The Conference Final was hosted by the Houston SaberCats, at AVEVA Stadium. This was the first time Houston had reached the Championship Series, and the first Championship Series game ever to be hosted in Texas.

Despite scoring first, Houston were outmatched by Seattle, with the visitors able to take the lead early on in the match, and retained it throughout the game. This result awards Seattle their first Western Conference Championship, their third appearance in the Championship Final, and the first time the first-ranked team in the Western Conference did not reach the Championship Final (since the conference system was introduced.)

	June 18	Houston SaberCats	27–46	Seattle Seawolves	Aveva Stadium
	19:00 EDT	Try: David Coetzer 6' Gerrie Labuschagné 42' Christian Dyer (2) 47', 75' Con: David Coetzer (2/4) 7', 48' Pen: Gerrie Labuschagné (1/1) 13'	Report	Try: James Malcolm 17' Juan-Philip Smith 29' Duncan Matthews (2) 31', 60' Mzamo Majola 54' Ross Neal 57' Con: AJ Alatimu (4/5) 32', 55', 58', 61' Automatic conversion 29' Pen: AJ Alatimu (2/2) 9', 24'	Attendance: 2,341 Referee: Scott Green (USAR) Assistants: Luke Rogan (USAR) & Kahlil Harrison (USAR) TMO: Derek Summers (USAR) Man of the Match: AJ Alatimu (Seattle Seawolves)

Venue

On June 21, it was announced that the Championship Final would be held at the Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, New Jersey. The Arena had previously hosted rugby union matches, including an Premiership Rugby match between London Irish and Saracens, as well as an International game between the United States and Ireland.^[1] This was the first time that an MLR Championship Final match was held at a venue that wasn't the home ground of any MLR team.

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast in the United States on Fox, and available internationally on The Rugby Network.

Championship final

Details

	June 25	Rugby New York	30–15	Seattle Seawolves	Red Bull Arena
	12:00 EDT	Try: Will Tucker 8' Penalty try 24' Andy Ellis 35' Nic Mayhew '56 Con: Jason Emery (1/3) 9' Automatic conversion 24' Pen: Jason Emery (1/2) 50' Drop: Sam Windsor (1/1) 73' Cards: Will Tucker  66'	Report	Try: Martin Iosefo 4' Sam Matenga 61' Con: AJ Alatimu (1/2) 62' Pen: AJ Alatimu (1/1) 13' Cards: Rhyno Herbst  24'	Attendance: 1,979 Referee: Federico Anselmi (UAR) Assistants: Mike Lash (NZR) & Cisco Lopez (USAR) TMO: Nick Hannon (USAR) Man of the Match: Andy Ellis (Rugby New York)

Team details

FB 15 Nehe Milner Skudder RW 14 Waisake Naholo OC 13 Fa'asiu Fuatai IC 12 Jason Emery LW 11 Andrew Coe FH 10 Jack Heighton SH 9 Andy Ellis N8 8 Antonio Kiri Kiri OF 7 Brendon O'Connor BF 6 Will Tucker RL 5 Nate Brakeley (c) LL 4 Ben Bonasso (vc) TP 3 Wilton Rebolo HK 2 Dylan Fawsitt LP 1 Chance Wenglewski Replacements: HK 16 Kaleb Geiger PR 17 Nic Mayhew PR 18 Kalolo Tuiloma LK 19 Nick Civetta FL 20 Joe Basser SH 21 Conor McManus FH 22 Sam Windsor CE 23 Quinn Ngawati Coach: Marty Veale

FB 15 Mat Turner RW 14 Ross Neal OC 13 Dan Kriel IC 12 David Busby LW 11 Martin Iosefo FH 10 AJ Alatimu SH 9 Juan-Philip Smith N8 8 Riekert Hattingh (c) OF 7 Travis Larsen BF 6 Andrew Durutalo RL 5 Rhyno Herbst LL 4 Samu Manoa TP 3 Samuel Matenga HK 2 James Malcolm LP 1 Mzamo Majola Replacements: HK 16 Sean McNulty PR 17 Kellen Gordon PR 18 Taniela Tupou LK 19 Brad Tucker FL 20 Tommy Clark SH 21 Reid Watkins CE 22 Tavite Lopeti WG 23 Launia Futi Coach: Allen Clarke

References