Two weeks ago, the Seattle Seawolves eliminated the San Diego Legion from the Major League Rugby playoffs.
Sunday, they’ll try to accomplish something San Diego has never done — win a championship. And in San Diego, no less.
The Seawolves will take on the defending champion New England Freejacks in the Major League Rugby Championship match held at Snapdragon Stadium. The match begins at 1 p.m. and will air on Fox.
Seattle beat San Diego on July 21, advancing to the MLR’s Western Conference finals. The loss ended the Legion’s season and led to the dismissal of longtime coach and general manager Danny Lee.
The Seawolves then earned a spot in the MLR final with a 28-25 victory over the Dallas Jackals.Seattle is in search of its third MLR title. The Seawolves won in both 2018 and 2019, beating the Legion in the latter game at Torero Stadium.
Sunday marks the first MLR championship match ever held at Snapdragon Stadium, the Legion’s home the last two years.
“We’ve got a couple of the boys who have made it to the final before and a couple of guys who have won it,” Seattle’ Jake Stighling told reporters. “Being able to take that into tomorrow, I think that should help us out.”
Like Seattle, New England has a history with the Legion. The Freejacks beat San Diego 25-24 in last year’s MLR final held in a Chicago suburb. Roux Malan scored the decisive try in the 77th minute, canceling out a pair of scores from the Legion’s Nathaniel Augspurger. San Diego made the 2023 final after beating Seattle for the Western Conference title.
Still, New England’s Jayson Potroz was quick to caution that “this year is a different group” than the one that beat San Diego for last year’s title.
“We went through a little bit of adversity, which has made us stronger,” he said. “We took some losses early in the year, so we got to learn a lot about our game and how to get better. It’s nice to be back, but we don’t want to just be part of it. We’re down here to win it.
Major League Rugby Championship final
Who: Seattle Seawolves vs. New England Freejacks
When: 1 p.m.
Where: Snapdragon Stadium
TV: Fox
Tickets: www.majorleague.rugby/mlrplayoffs
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