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The 2019 Major League Rugby season comes to a conclusion on Sunday as the San Diego Legion host the defending champion Seattle Seawolves at Torero Stadium in the Championship Final. It’s a fitting end given that they finished as the top two finishers in the regular season, and one certain to be tightly contested given previous results.
It was the Legion that had the edge in both of their meetings this season, but there was little separating the two sides with the scores 17-13 in torrential rain at San Diego and 28-22 in Seattle. The latter was a frustrating evening for the Seawolves that saw the visitors win despite playing shorthanded for more than half the game.
Seattle have since bolstered their roster with high profile signings in Samu Manoa, Jeff Hassler, and Jake Ilnicki while San Diego have added Joshua Furno, Dino Waldren, and Will Holder. It brings the total to 26 fully-capped internationals between the two sides, with all but four starters playing for their country at age grade, senior, or sevens level.
Neither side has made any changes to their match day rosters. Injury absences include Keni Nasoqeqe, Devin Short, Dylan Audsley, and Mike Te’o for the Legion while the Seawolves were unable to consider Olive Kilifi, John Hayden, Cam Polson, Peter Tiberio, and William Rasileka.
On the field there’s little separating the two sides. San Diego has struggled with their discipline but boast the league’s most resilient defense, the ‘Seawall’ brand not quite living up to its name this season. Seattle however showed their strength on defense against Toronto with the likes of Manoa and Api Naikatini sending ball carriers reeling.
In Joe Pietersen the Legion have arguably the league’s most influential player, with JP du Plessis the fulcrum of their midfield attack. Shalom Suniula and George Barton have proved a dangerous midfield for the Seawolves with their combination of guile and brute strength, while Brock Staller is the league’s most prolific goal kicker.
Can the Legion improve their discipline enough to limit Staller’s chances? Can the Seawolves punch holes in the Legionary defense? Will Seattle’s scrum put Paddy Ryan & Co. under pressure? Will Furno disrupt the Seattle lineout? These are all questions that will be answered on Sunday, with the winner hoisting the MLR Shield.
Kickoff is set for 1pm local time, 4pm Eastern. For the first time in MLR history the match will be broadcast live on CBS, with a Facebook stream available for those outside the USA.
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Louis Stanfill, 5 Joshua Furno, 6 Jasa Veremalua, 7 Psalm Wooching, 8 Jordan Manihera, 9 Nate Augspurger, 10 Joe Pietersen (capt.), 11 Nick Boyer, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Ryan Matyas, 14 Conor Kearns, 15 Tai Enosa
Replacements: 16 Dean Muir, 17 Nathan Sylvia, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Siaosi Mahoni, 20 Pat Blair, 21 Kyle Rogers, 22 Save Totovosau, 23 Will Holder
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Api Naikatini, 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Samu Manoa, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Jeff Hassler, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 George Barton, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner
Replacements: 16 Dan Trierweiler, 17 Kellen Gordon, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Jérémy Lenaerts, 20 Eric Duechle, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Roland Suniula, 23 Vili Toluta’u
Date: Sunday, June 16
Venue: Torero Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 13:00 local (16:00 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USAR)
Assistants: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU) & Elgan Williams (WRU)
TMO: Davey Ardrey (USAR)
Broadcasts: CBS, Facebook
