The 2020 Major League Rugby season was the third season of
Major League Rugby
Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...
, the professional
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
competition sanctioned by
USA Rugby
USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...
. The regular season schedule was released on September 23, 2019, and the regular season itself began on February 8, 2020.
Three teams made their debut in 2020: the
New England Free Jacks
The New England Free Jacks are a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) based in the Greater Boston area. They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They competed in their first ...
,
Old Glory DC
Old Glory DC RFC is a professional rugby union team that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR), founded in 2018. The organization is led by two local business leaders, former USA Eagles' Paul Sheehy and local club rugby player Chris Dunlavey. ...
, and
Rugby ATL
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
. The
Seattle Seawolves were the defending champions, having won their second consecutive title in the
previous year.
On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to increasing local
social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
restrictions amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. One week later, MLR announced that the season was officially cancelled.
Teams and format
With the addition of three teams for the 2020 season, Major League Rugby moved to a two-conference format. For the regular season, each team was to play against the other teams in their conference twice each and against every team in the opposite conference once each for a total of 16 games.
The playoffs expanded from four teams in 2019 to six teams in 2020, with the top three teams from each conference qualifying. The second- and third-placed team from each conference were to play each other in the conference semifinals, with the winner moving on to play the first-placed team in the conference finals. The winners of the conference finals would have the played against each other in the final for the championship.
Regular season
Standings
Matches
The following are the matches for the 2020 Major League Rugby regular season:
Updated to match(es) played on March 8, 2020
Colors: Blue: home team win; Yellow: draw; Red: away team win.
Scheduled completed
Week 1 (Feb 8–9)
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Week 2 (Feb 15–16)
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Week 3 (Feb 22–23)
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Week 4 (Feb 29 – Mar 1)
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Week 5 (Mar 6–8)
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Cancelled schedule
Week 6 (Mar 14–15)
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Week 7 (Mar 21–22)
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Week 8 (Mar 28–29)
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Week 9 (Apr 4–5)
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Week 10 (Apr 10–12)
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Week 11 (Apr 18–19)
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Week 12 (Apr 25–26)
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Week 13 (May 1–3)
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Week 14 (May 9–10)
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Week 15 (May 16–17)
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Week 16 (May 22–25)
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Week 17 (May 30–31)
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Playoffs
The top three teams from each conference would have qualified for the playoffs had the season not been cancelled. The top team in each conference earns a bye week while the second and third place team play in a conference semifinal.
Player statistics
Top scorers
The top ten try and point scorers during the 2020 Major League Rugby season were:
Last updated: March 9, 2020
Sanctions
MLR Virtual
Following the cancellation of the 2020 season, the MLR announced they would host a tournament, with each team, playing
Rugby 20
Rugby 20 is a rugby union simulation video game developed by Eko Software and published by Bigben Interactive for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC game, PC.
Details
Rugby 20 is the only rugby union video game that exclusively features the b ...
.
The teams would enter a pool to select which nation they would play as. The MLR also announced that all of the MLR teams would be raising
Feeding America
Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...
’s COVID-19 Response Fund. All of the matches would be streamed on the league's
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...
account.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Playoffs
First round
Semi-finals
Final
Friendlies
MLR Draft
The 1st ever Major League Rugby collegiate
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
was held in 2020. Players were eligible for the draft after 3 years of college or if they had reached 21 years of age.
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
s were permitted try out to join teams at 18 years old.
Notes
References
See also
*
2020 MLR Draft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major League Rugby season, 2020
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
2020 rugby union tournaments for clubs
2020 in American rugby union
2020 in Canadian rugby union
Sports events curtailed and voided due to the COVID-19 pandemic