The Austin Gilgronis play the Toronto Arrows at Bold Stadium at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, February 9. The match is being streamed on FoxSportsNet2 and broadcast in Canada on TSN2, streamed on TSN.ca and may be viewed on the TSN app. The match is also available on the Austin Gilgronis Facebook page.
Last season the Toronto Arrows finished in third place in the league. Major League Rugby has since added three new teams for the 2020 season. The New England Free Jacks, Old Glory DC, and Rugby ATL are in the newly former Eastern Conference along with Rugby United New York, NOLA Gold, and the Toronto Arrows.
The Eastern and Western Conference teams will face each other in-home and away matches during the season and play the other Conference teams once, with three home and three away matches. The Austin Gilgronis, Colorado Raptors, Houston SaberCats, San Deigo Legion, Seattle Seawolves, and the Utah Warriors are in the Western Conference.
Following the regular sixteen match season which includes one bye week, the top three teams will advance to the playoffs in both the Western and Eastern Conferences. The playoffs will have the second and third seeds facing each other with the number one seed having a bye the first week. The following week the one seed will face the winner of the previous week’s match. The Conference champions will then play for the MLR shield.
The Austin Gilgronis had three 2020 preseason matches with the team beating the Austin Huns 57-2, losing to the Colorado Raptors 22-21, and beating the Austin Blacks 69-0. The Toronto Arrows had controlled scrimmages against the Colorado Raptors and Rugby United New York and defeated the Utah Warriors 33-5.
The Toronto Arrows have been developing their team since the 2018 exhibition season. The squad includes many Canadian internationals, as well as a couple of New Zealanders in Richie Asiata and Sam Malcolm.
The Austin Gligronis has done a transformation in rugby culture and in players ahead of the 2020 MLR season. They looked improved so far in 2020 and will look to challenge for a playoff spot in the Western Conference in 2020.
The Western Conference includes the top teams in 2019, the two-time champion Seattle Seawolves and the San Diego Legion, who have added many quality players during the off-season. Rugby pundits have the Austin Gilgronis, Colorado Raptors, Houston SaberCats, and the Utah Warriors waging a fierce battle for the third seed from the Western Conference.
Click on the player links below and get to know the players!
Squads With Player Article Links
Austin Gilgronis: 1 LaRome White 2 Chris Schade 3 Juan Echeverria 4 Maikeli Naramaitonga 5 Rikus Zwart 6 Potu Leavasa 7 Dominic Akina 8 Lino Saunitoga 9 Marcelo Torrealba 10 Zinzan Elan-Puttick (C) 11 Alex Faison-Donahoe 12 Sione Fangaiuiha 13 Peni Tagive 14 Corey Jones 15 Rodrigo Silva 16 Tiaan Strauss Erasmus 17 Skyler Adams 18 Mason Pedersen 19 JP Novack 20 Moe Abdelmonem 21 Colby Stevens 22 Alex Rees 23 Gabe Farley
Toronto Arrows: 1 Richie Asiata 2 Andrew Quattrin 3 Cole Keith 4 Mike Sheppard 5 Paul Ciulini 6 Tomas de la Vega7 Lucas Rumball 8 Manuel Diana 9 Jamie Mackenzie 10 Taylor Adams 11 Gaston Mieres 12 Guiseppe du Toit 13 Ben LaSage14 Dan Moor (C) 15 Sam Malcolm 16 Steven Ng 17 Pat Lynott 18 Tyler Rowland 19 Kolby Francis 20 Peter Milazzo 21 Andrew Ferguson 22 Mitch Richardson 23 Leandro Leivas
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