We’ve officially passed the quarter-season mark, with five of 19 rounds complete. And, after five rounds, there are no undefeated teams left. Rugby United New York was outplayed by Seattle Seawolves on Sunday evening. Both Texas teams were thoroughly lashed at home. Utah Warriors and Glendale Raptors played to Major League Rugby’s first draw.

All told, there seems to be much more clarity about the bottom of the table than the top.

Sliced Rooster

With Seattle dispatching RUNY on Sunday night’s Game of the Week, the last undefeated team has fallen.

Seattle played their best game of the season. Their backs were able to find all the spaces, particularly in counter-attack. At one point, Shalom Suniula single-handedly carved up RUNY like a thanksgiving rooster. Their defense at the try line was all but impregnable, holding off several prolonged attacks from the visitors. Though they had some difficulties in the scrum, surprisingly, they managed to push New York off their own feed at a critical juncture in the second half.

RUNY, on the other hand, had a down week relative to their first two. One wonders if the constant cross country travel is taking a toll. The offense showed the same spark it had in New York’s two wins, but the execution at decisive moments always seemed to misfire. As a fitting epitaph for the match, RUNY was attacking on the last play and a try would have given them two crucial bonus points. They made it inside the Seattle 22 but were thrown back without scoring, as they had been so many times already.

Utah Draw

An entertaining battle in Utah ended in an unceremonious 26-26 draw. The draw was the first ever in the MLR. The anti-climactic finish followed a seesaw contest that saw the Warriors explode to a 21-0 lead, followed by a barnstorming Raptor comeback.

In the first half, Glendale played a conservative game, perhaps in response to a spate of handling errors that had plagued the team in the young season. Conservative, but also bland. They under-committed to the ruck, allowing Utah to recycle endlessly. They kept to routine attacking lines. Utah, on the other hand, played with flair and ambition. Josh Whippy was a much bigger factor in his second game, connecting several strong running lines. Tonata Lauti also had his best game of the year. But no one on Utah played better than Gannon Moore, who struggled in his last match with the Eagles. He was a force on both sides of the ball, and every time he came into the vicinity of action, things broke Utah’s way. He may very well be the MLR Player of the Week, even though his team did not win.

In the second half, Glendale opened up. They were much more dynamic and creative in attack, and it showed in their 21-point comeback, and also in increased handling errors. If they could have managed one without the other, they surely would have left Utah with a win instead of a draw.

When people debate rugby’s place in the American market, draws occasionally find their way into the conversation. For many, allowing games to end in a tie is strictly un-American. Alternatives include playing extra time or even kicking penalty goals.

I must say, I don’t mind the draw.

If two teams have played themselves even over 80 minutes, then they deserve even reward at the finish. I’ve always found penalty goals as a decider to be somewhat arbitrary in soccer. Penalty kicks in rugby would be even more arbitrary.

From an entertainment standpoint, extra time could work. From a practical standpoint, pitch availability may not support it. More importantly, the benefit of breaking the tie may not be worth it after accounting for player injuries and general player welfare. If we commit to endless extra time periods until the tie is broken, it adds considerable injury risk for players already fatigued from 80+ minutes of action. If we are going to cap extra time at ten more minutes, for example, then we’re comfortable with a drawn finish anyway, so why bother?

Come playoff time, ties will need to be broken. For now, draws are both fair and pragmatic.

Facebook Can’t Watch

Last year, all MLR games not on CBS Sports were available online at ESPN. This year, teams had the choice to be on ESPN or not. In true Texan fashion, the Elite and SaberCats opted out.

To watch Houston and Austin home games, one must catch them on Facebook Watch. Or, not catch them, as the case may be. The Houston feed this week started late and was riddled with technical issues. Watching on a TV, even a smart TV, is far more challenging and glitchy than it would be on ESPN+. Finding replays is unintuitive.

The financial implications are not known, and the Texans’ choices may have economic merit not plain on the surface. And, of course, Facebook Watch avoids the ESPN+ paywall. But from a pure watchability perspective, it’s a downgrade.

It doesn’t help to have both Texan games on Facebook Watch at the exact same time. As if the difficulty in using Facebook Watch wasn’t enough, putting them on simultaneously almost guarantees that only the most dedicated fans can watch both. This is probably all fairly obvious, and I suspect the decisions were made because they were viewed as the best option when weighing all factors. At least, I hope. But I also hope that weighing all factors doesn’t lead to many more double bookings of this kind, especially on Facebook Watch. It most certainly reduces total MLR viewership.

Of course, both Texan teams lost handily at home and they sit at a combined 1-7, so they may have bigger fish to fry.

Re-Start Me Up

When USA was emerging as a leading 7s team in the world, one thing they became known for was stealing restarts. Over time, other teams picked up on what the Eagles 7s were doing and it became a more wide spread practice and less of a competitive advantage.

Through five rounds of MLR 2019, we may be seeing something similar. Teams are stealing a lot of restarts. Not clear if that’s because receiving teams are not proficient in taking the kicks, or if it is some unique approach/attitude to restarts that is a uniquely American feature of the game. If it turns out to be the latter, the benefit may accrue up to the Eagles 15s, ultimately. That would be a pleasing and identifiable benefit to the national team.

Round 5 Results

Houston 27 – Toronto 44

Austin 17 – San Diego 45

Utah 26 – Glendale 26

Seattle 33 – New York 21

Standings