Houston Sabercats 21-Colorado Raptors 12
Houston follows up on a strong finish last season to secure the home victory against Colorado. The Raptors have reinforcements on the way, but the opening-week loss has to be a bit concerning to a team that was disappointed to miss the playoffs last season after losing in the championship in Year One.
Rugby ATL 28-Utah Warriors 19
Rugby ATL secures the home win its debut match. ATL has to be happy, recovering from a 19-8 deficit in the second half to secure take the debut victory.
NOLA Gold 46-Old Glory 13
In the best of times, it was going to be a tall task for Old Glory to keep up with NOLA’s pace in its first game together. Absences of The Beast and Declan O’Donnell certainly didn’t help matters. Old Glory faces another tough match next weekend vs. the two-time defending champion Seawolves, who are also coming off a loss. For NOLA, can they keep this pace up for all 16 weeks and finally capture that elusive playoff spot?
New England Free Jacks 34-RUNY 14
The absolute shocker of the weekend. The star-laden semifinalists go down in brutal fashion to the upstart Free Jacks. Was RUNY feeling itself a bit much in Week One, or are the boys from New England here to stay? Big-name signee Mathieu Bastareaud looked a bit frustrated in his debut, so that is one to watch for RUNY moving forward.
Toronto Arrows 38 -Austin Gilgronis 10
No surprise her as last year’s semifinalists continue their winning ways. Austin is struggling to find an identity off the field as much as on it, with a new ownership group and three names/rebrands in three years. It’s a talented roster that will be bolstered by the additions of Adam Ashley-Cooper and Roland Suniula, but after two listless seasons, including an 0-16 2019 campaign, this team needs to see improvement— soon.
*Game of the Week: San Diego Legion 33-Seattle Seawolves 24
The Championship Rematch did not disappoint. Seattle looked like it was going to continue to dominate this rivalry with an early 10-0 lead. However, it was all Legion from there as the squad popped off for a 33-0 run. Ma’a Nonu made his presence felt in his MLR debut, assisting in two second-half tries.
The Seawolves showed their championship heart to fight back and make it competitive at the end, but the damage was well done. Seattle has proved to be a late and postseason team, however, and will have plenty to say as the hosts in the April 12th rematch.