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Major League Rugby hampered by COVID-19 yet again as title contenders prepare for season away from home

By Alex McLeod
(Photo by Stuart Walmsley/Getty Images)

Major League Rugby has been hit with another COVID-19-related disruption ahead of the 2021 campaign, with one of the competition’s title frontrunners moving away from their home for the entire season.

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In a statement released on Monday (local time), the San Diego Legion announced they will play their home matches in Las Vegas rather than at their normal venue of Torero Stadium.

The side said the move is due to the impact of COVID-19 in Southern California, with the entire state accounting for a total of 3.2 million virus cases and over 37,000 deaths.

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“Due to the impact of COVID-19 in Southern California, San Diego Legion will play its 2021 Major League Rugby home matches in Las Vegas, Nevada,” the club said.

“We are in the process of finalising the arrangements and we will announce further details as soon as possible.

“In the meantime, we thank our fans for their support and patience. We remain focused on delivering the MLR Championship title to San Diego in 2021.”

San Diego have established themselves as a dominant force in MLR since its inception in 2018.

The franchise featured in a semi-final in its debut season, reached the final in 2019, and stood 11 points clear at the top of the Western Conference standings at the time of MLR’s cancellation, due to COVID-19, last year.

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The Californian side has subsequently become a glamour club of sorts in recent years.

All Blacks centurion Ma’a Nonu, ex-Wallabies prop Paddy Ryan and USA stars Takudzwa Ngwenya, Tony Lamborn and Cam Dolan have all previously played for the side, while the Legion’s biggest signing this season is former England captain Chris Robshaw.

He is accompanied by other high-profile newbies ex-Springboks wing Bjorn Basson, Blitzboks legend Cecil Afrika, Argentine playmaker Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias and former Waratahs wing Cam Clark.

That contingent of foreign recruits will be forced to wait to play in front of their home fans, though, as the Legion prepare for their season-long move to Nevada.

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San Diego’s announcement comes just a week after the Dallas Jackals, one of the league’s two new expansion sides expected to play this year, were forced to delay their inaugural MLR season to 2022.

“This has been a challenging process, but we firmly believe this is the best decision for the long-term success of our team,” Jackals President Scott Sonju said in a statement released last Tuesday.

“The pandemic has obviously had a far-reaching impact on many businesses. For an expansion sports team it presents very specific challenges, from properly cultivating community and business relationships, to securing visas for international players – there are many challenges in a normal climate, let alone in the unusual climate of this past year.”

The Jackals and Legion aren’t the only sides in the league seriously affected by the pandemic over the past year.

One of MLR’s founding members, the Colorado Raptors, withdrew from the competition last May, citing that COVID-19 had made it “impossible” to continue its involvement in the league.

Japan’s star-studded Top League has also faced COVID-19 difficulties this year, with organisers postponing the competition’s start date by three weeks to February 6 as a result of a virus outbreak throughout three clubs.

MLR is scheduled to kick-off on March 20 when NOLA Gold host Old Glory DC at Shrine on Airline in New Orleans.

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Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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