Here today, gone tomorrow. That’s the story for the NOLA Gold this week, who finally cracked the number one spot in last week’s rankings and who have so quickly turned it over. Rugby United New York is the new top dog, having already taken down both NOLA and the San Diego Legion on the road.

With the hot ticket matchup next week featuring RUNY traveling to the Seattle Seawolves, we’ll see if they can hold it longer than NOLA did.

#1 RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK (Record: 2-0; Last Week: #4)

To be the best you have to beat the best. And that’s exactly what RUNY has done. Even going back to their exhibition season in 2018, the birds from the Big Apple have yet to lose a single contest.

The scariest part, perhaps, is that they still look like a team with minimal Major League Rugby experience. They’ve won and they’ve impressed, but they’ve done it largely through individual talent and thoughtful play. They aren’t yet working off each other like a seasoned team is apt to do. When they get to that level, watch out.

In the meantime, another big road fixture awaits. A win visiting Seattle, something only managed once thus far in the history of MLR, would put RUNY into a commanding position for a playoff run. But that’s a big lift.

#2 NOLA GOLD (Record: 3-1; Last Week: #1)

NOLA lost, but they still did themselves proud. Having run through a vicious opening schedule with a 3-1 record, NOLA has earned some breathing room at the top of the table. And they’ve done it while missing significant pieces to the Americas Rugby Championship.

Things get easier from here out. They get a bye week and then face Utah Warriors, Houston SaberCats, and Austin Elite Rugby as their next three opponents. A 6-1 record looks within reach. To do it, though, they’ll have to win on the road. Utah and Houston are both road games. But if they can manage to keep their play quality up away from home, it will be hard to unseat them from the top of the table any time soon.

#3 SEATTLE SEAWOLVES (Record: 2-2; Last Week: #2 tie)

It was looking pretty frightening there for a second. With the Toronto Arrows ahead 13 and the Seawolves staring a 1-3 record in the face, the bottom half of these rankings was calling. But, as they so often did last year, the Seawolves rallied when they needed it.

The defensive passion they brought to bear totally turned the game around and the Seawolves pulled off the comeback victory. It was as if someone hit their turbo button. They’ll need that again when they host the undefeated RUNY side in Sunday’s CBS Game of the Week. We’ll see how much juice that turbo button has in it.

#4 SAN DIEGO LEGION (Record: 3-1; Last Week: #2 tie)

Fortune can be a cruel mistress. She was unkind to San Diego this week, as the Legion drop two spots despite a cruising victory. Sometimes, that’s the way the dice rolls. Joe Pietersen has been marvelous and the Legion scrum has been the best in the MLR through four weeks behind the effort of Aussie Paddy Ryan. But their schedule hasn’t been quite as difficult as, say, NOLA.

They’ve hosted and lost to RUNY. They’ve hosted and eeked out a win against Seattle in the rain. They also eeked out a victory against Houston, which was an underperformance relative to the other teams near the top of these rankings. Their win against Utah was their most complete output of the year. If they can stay at that level consistently, they will be headed upwards in the coming weeks.

#5 GLENDALE RAPTORS (Record: 1-2; Last Week: #5)

Last year’s regular season champs officially have their first win of the 2019 campaign. It was a solid win. It was an angry win. Weeks of frustration came pouring forth on the unwitting heads of Austin Elite. And it happened without Shaun Davies, Will Magie, or Hanco Germishuys. Nicely done.

But it can’t be overlooked that they were playing in Austin. Like everyone else who has traveled to Austin this year, they won. True, their win was more convincing than the rest. But it could very well be more a testament to where the Elite stand these days than to any untapped power in Glendale.

They travel to Utah this week, potentially still absent those key starters. Honestly, I don’t know what to expect. That may tell the story in its own way.

#6 TORONTO ARROWS (Record: 1-2; Last Week: #6)

So I picked Toronto to win this week. For a while there, I was congratulating myself on how smart I was. It wouldn’t last. Toronto coughed up a 13-point lead in the second half. The tide turned so quickly it is hard to really understand. They had played a well-rounded game, doing all the small things right. They had meticulously built a lead. And then, in a snap of the fingers, the Seawolves hit a higher gear and the Arrows had nothing to offer.

They’re still missing a lot of their key players, who remain with the Canadian national team. Doing as well as they did despite that limitation should give them confidence. But I sure hope that one of those Canadian international players will be able to gather and lead the team when the going gets tough. Because it will get tough again. Next time, the response needs to be better than the old deer in headlights routine.

#7 – Tie UTAH WARRIORS (Record: 1-1; Last Week: #7)

Give Utah credit. They never capitulated in San Diego this weekend, despite falling behind quickly. All told, the team played alright. They were just outplayed by the Legion. The set piece that looked so powerful against Austin had a tougher time this week. Though they did run in a nice looking maul from 22 meters out, they otherwise couldn’t use it as much of a platform to gain an advantage. And without that, they didn’t have much else to offer.

They may need more production from their fly half position. Joshua Reeves played fine, but the teams that have looked the best early on have largely done it with the help of stand out play from their #10s. Josh Whippy was back but was mostly invisible. If the Warriors aren’t going to be able to push people around in the set-piece, they’ll need more out of the backfield to win against good competition.

#7 – Tie HOUSTON SABERCATS (Record: 1-1; Last Week: #8)

The SaberCats were the only idle team this week. A Utah loss helped them edge up a spot into a tie with the Warriors. But I’m sure it was a long week off, knowing how they lost in San Diego during Round 3.

Hopefully, the time off allowed for Osea Kolinisau to get fit and for Josua Vici to continue reintegrating into the lineup. If so, Houston may have a little more talent than their seventh place rank suggests. Of course, they had more talent than a last-place finish last year, but it never translated into wins.

They host a 1-2 Arrows side this week. Another long trip into the warm southern climate for Toronto. Canadian player availability is uncertain. This will be a good opportunity for Houston to showcase that it deserves more respect in 2019. We’ll see if they take it.

#9 AUSTIN ELITE RUGBY (Record: 0-4; Last Week: #9)

Can we get these guys a bye week? Austin plays their fifth straight contest, all at home. This time, San Diego will be playing the monster of the week. If the previous four contests have anything to say about it, it isn’t going to go well for the Elite. An 0-5 home record to start the season would be heartbreaking, especially for a team that played so well at home last year.

Bad performance and bad weather threaten to tank this Austin season. Let’s hope they do enough to keep the fan base invested while they sort out their on-field issues.