2018 Major League Rugby final

The 2018 Major League Rugby final was the championship match of the inaugural season of Major League Rugby (MLR), a rugby union club competition in the United States. It was played on July 7, 2018, at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California, between the Glendale Raptors and the Seattle Seawolves. Seattle won the match 23–19 to take their first title.

The Glendale and Seattle teams finished first and second in the regular season, respectively, and advanced to the MLR Championship Series, contesting the semifinals against San Diego and Utah.

Background

Major League Rugby was established in 2017 and began play in April 2018.

Seattle and Glendale played each other twice during the regular season, with Glendale winning both matches.

Venue

Torero Stadium, home field of Major League Rugby team San Diego Legion, was selected as the venue for the final before the beginning of the Championship Series playoffs. The stadium with a seating capacity of 6,000 on the campus of the University of San Diego is also home to the various athletics teams of the university.

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Dan Power served as the play by play commentator for CBS and was joined by color analysts Brian Hightower and Peter Steinberg.

Match

Details

	July 7	Glendale Raptors	19–23	Seattle Seawolves	Torero Stadium, San Diego, California
	9:00 pm EDT (UTC−04)	Try: Fenoglio (2) 13' c, 50' m Campbell 56' c Con: Magie (2/3) 13', 57'	Report	Try: Barkwill 23' m Rasileka 58' m, Hattingh 61' c Con: Smith (1/3) 62' Pen: Smith (2/3) 9', 67'	Attendance: 2,901 Referee: Scott Green (United States)

Glendale Raptors

Seattle Seawolves

Team details


FB	15	Maximo de Achaval
RW	14	Harley Davidson
OC	13	Chad London	46'
IC	12	Bryce Campbell
LW	11	Mika Kruse
FH	10	Will Magie
SH	9	Shaun Davies (c)
N8	8	Sam Figg
OF	7	John Quill
BF	6	Peter Dahl	57'
RL	5	Ben Landry	57'
LL	4	Kody O'Neil	62'
TP	3	Kelepi Fifita
HK	2	Zach Fenoglio
LP	1	Blake Rogers	68'
Replacements:
PR	16	Luke White	68'
PR	17	Nick Kwasniewski
HK	18	Dylan Fawsitt	57'
LK	19	Connor Cook	62'
FL	20	Grigor Kerdikoshvili	57'
SH	21	Mickey Bateman
CE	22	Ata Malifa	46'
OB	23	Nick Johnson
Coach:
David Williams



FB	15	Mathew Turner
RW	14	Sequoyah Burke-Combs
OC	13	William Rasileka
IC	12	Shalom Suniula (c)
LW	11	Peter Tiberio
FH	10	Peter Smith
SH	9	Phil Mack
N8	8	Riekert Hattingh
OF	7	Vili Tolutaʻu	76'
BF	6	Eric Duechle
RL	5	Cam Polson
LL	4	Taylor Krumrei	57'
TP	3	Tim Metcher	59'
HK	2	Ray Barkwill	62'
LP	1	Olive Kilifi	57'
Replacements:
HK	16	Mike Shepherd	62'
PR	17	John Hayden	59'
PR	18	Kellen Gordon	57'
LK	19	Cole van Harn	76'
LF	20	Aladdin Schirmer	57'
FL	21	Andre Coquillard
OB	22	Jeremy Misailegalu
OB	23	Mozac Samson
Coach:
Phil Mack

Most Valuable Player:
Vili Tolutaʻu (Seattle)

Assistant Referees:
Adam Leal (England)
Derek Summers (United States)
Television Match Official:
Marc Nelson (United States)

Highlights

The champion Seattle Seawolves was awarded the "America's Championship Shield", an oversized 80-pound (36 kg) metal shield of the MLR logo, which they hoisted. Seawolves flanker Vili Tolutaʻu was named the MLR Championship Series "MVP", equivalent to man of the match. For his efforts, he received a Shinola Detroit American Made watch.