MLR Week 1 Results & Canadian Highlights: Dallas Leads West; New England Leads East
There were 36 Canadian players in action in Week 1 with some making an impact on the score sheet and the stats department. Spencer Jones scored the first try by a Canadian in MLR 2024 in the Utah v Houston match but it was Dewald Kotze who lit up the scoreboard with a hat trick of tries in the Dallas v LA match, in that match Andrew Coe had two tries for LA and Mitch Richardson added a single for Dallas. In the New England v Anthem match Ben Lesage scored 2 tries and Andrew Quattrin added one for NE.
NOLA 18 – Old Glory DC 6
Callum Botchar came into the match in the 54 minute mark when NOLA were down 6-0, he didn’t score but was part of a dominant pack in the engine room when NOLA scored 18 unanswered points to win.
For DC Gradyn Bowd made the top stats in a number of categories kicking metres (3rd), ball carries (4th), running metres (5th). Tyler Rowland was 4th in tackles made.
Houston 22 – Utah 15
Spencer Jones became the first Canadian player to score a try in MLR 2024. He was also ranked 5th in ball carries and running metres for Utah.
Seattle 25 – San Diego 19
Blair Cowan who is eligible to play for Canada was top in the tackles made stat for San Diego.
Chicago 23 – Miami 19
Lucas Rumball, Mason Flesch, Jason Higgins all made the top stats for Chicago. Lucas Rumball was tied at the top for tackles made (9), Mason Flesch was tied for 4th in running metres (44) and tied for top spot in ball carries (9). Jason Higgins was 3rd in kicking metres.
New England 46 – Anthem Carolina 13
Andrew Quattrin (1) and Ben Lesage (2) scored tries for New England. Quattrin was also tied for 3rd in ball carries (7). Josh Larsen (12) and Foster Dewitt (8) made the top stats in tackles made.
Dallas 32 – LA 29
Dewald Kotze scored three tries for Dallas at hooker, Mitch Richardson added another one. Andrew Coe scored twice for LA. Matt Heaton was the top tackler for LA at 13. Andrew Coe was the top ball carrier for LA with 16 and Dewald Kotze was top ball carrier for Dallas with 10. Andrew had the top running metres in the match at 123m and for Dallas Nic Benn logged 53m and Dewald Kotze logged 43m.
RESULTS
STANDINGS
MLR Week 1: Schedule and Canadians in Action
There are six MLR games on this weekend to kick off the season, three on Saturday, three on Sunday. As of Saturday afternoon all teams have published their rosters. Based on the published rosters, there are 19 Canadian starters and 17 in the reserves, for a total of 36 in action. There are a total of 46 Canada eligible players on MLR team rosters.
All matches are streamed for free on The Rugby Network.
SCHEDULE
New Orleans 18 v Old Glory DC 6
NOLA have one Canadian player, Callum Botchar, and he’s in the reserves wearing #19.
Old Glory have three Canadian players and all are in action, Gradyn Bowd starts at flyhalf, Tyler Rowland at tighthead prop, and Cali Martinez is in the reserves wearing #18.
Callum Botchar came on for NOLA at the 54 minute mark when they were down 6-0, they went on to score 18 unanswered points. Callum was part of a dominant pack that pushed Old Glory off their own ball at the scrum, creating a turnover that led to the first NOLA try.
Two tries in the second half are the difference in this one! @nolagoldrugby come from behind to take this one at home!
Highlights below:
@therugbynetwork | #NOLAvDC | #MLR2024 pic.twitter.com/ugvZueUugD
— Major League Rugby (@usmlr) March 2, 2024
Houston 22 v Utah 15
Houston have no Canadian players, Utah have six Canadians, Emerson Prior starts at loosehead prop, Spencer Jones at outside centre and in the reserves is Rob Povey wearing #23. Not playing are Noah Bain, Sam Reimer and Tyler Wong.
Spencer Jones became the first Canadian player to score a try in MLR 2024 when he got Utah’s first try.
Seattle 23 v San Diego 19
Seattle have one Canadian player, Reid Davis, and he’s in the reserves wearing #20. San Diego have two Canada eligible players, Blair Cowan starts at blindside, not dressing is Djustice Sears-Duru.
Miami 19 v Chicago 23
Miami have three Canada eligible players, Shane O’Leary starts at fullback, Guiseppe du Toit is in the reserves wearing #22 and Avery Oitomen is wearing #23. Chicago have three Canada players, Mason Flesch starts at blindside flanker, Lucas Rumball at openside flanker, Jason Higgins is in the reserves wearing #21.
Anthem Carolina 13 v New England 46
Anthem have one Canada eligible player, Logan Weidner, and he’s in the reserves wearing #19.
New England have twelve Canada players, Foster Dewitt is starting loosehead prop, Andrew Quattrin is hooker, Josh Larsen and Conor Keys are the second row, Ben Lesage is outside centre. In the reserves are Kyle Baillie #19, Piers von Dadelszen #20, Gabe Casey #22, Isaac Olson #23, Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti #21 . Not dressing are Cole Keith, Ethan Fryer.
LA 29 v Dallas 32
LA have seven Canada eligible players, Matt Heaton starts at openside flanker, Andrew Coe and Jack Shaw on the wings. Conor Young is in the reserves at #18. Not dressing are Connor Grindal, Reegan O’Gorman, Seth Purdey. Dallas have seven Canadian players, Dewald Kotze starts at hooker, Nic Benn on the wing, Mitch Richardson at outside centre, in the reserves Liam Murray is #16, Kyle Steeves is #18, Brock Gallagher is #22. Not dressing is Karl Hunger.