MLR Kickoff

Heading into Round 14, Dan and Pete sit down to break down how week 13 of Major League Rugby continues to shape the ever tightening playoff picture in the East. The West, even with the Giltinis on a Bye seems to have a mostly cleared up with the Warriors and the Gilgronis looking to secure the last remaining spot. Yet San Diego even in a loss to Utah will still be pushing to return to the playoffs for the third time.

Dom Akina, is from Hawai'i but grew up while being raised in Oregon by his grandmother. While a stand out Football Player at Division II Western Oregon he found Rugby. His exposure and time knowing the game of Rugby has been limited, he has made a dramatic impact for the Austin Gilgronis in his two seasons with the club.

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Through 12 weeks of the season, Major League Rugby remains the most competitive league on the field globally. The parity from the top to the bottom of the Eastern Conference will take a Battle Hardened team into the final. A healthy and resurgent San Diego is putting pressure on Austin and Utah. The Warriors find a way to win and hold onto second place in the West ahead of their showdown with the Legion.

Commissioner George Killebrew joins the show to discuss the progress of Major League Rugby over the past twelve weeks and how the league continues to make massive gains commercially off the field. He discusses the purpose of connecting the pathway between collegiate rugby and MLR in the United States as two first round picks have been called into Gary Gold's Eagles squad.

Joe Pietersen, the veteran fly-half who's been around the world has marshalled the San Diego attack around the park for the past three seasons. In 2019 he was runner up to both Player of the Year and Back of the Year awards. He sits down to discuss what keeps him coming back to play for San Diego and about their season so far. At first struggling with injuries and fitness, San Diego are now charging towards the second playoff spot in the West.

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Following week 11 the race for the playoffs in the East continues to tighten as every team remains in the hunt. Dan and Pete break down this past week's action while taking a close examination of the Eastern Conference playoff outlook.

Mike Te'o has been a fixture of US Rugby since he burst onto the scene as a teenager making the USA 7s pool at 19 in 2012. He would become a solid member of the squad during the 2016-2017 HSBC Seven's Series while also entrenching himself as a key member of the USA Eagles XV in the 2016 ARC. Since then he's been featured in every season of Major League Rugby as well as a short stint in the RFU Championship with London Scottish in the COVID-19 Pandemic shortened season of 2020.

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The Major League Rugby Eastern Conference remains the most competitive race in MLR with only ten points separating last place Old Glory and first place Rugby ATL. The East continues to show it is the dominant conference with Eastern teams traveling and winning against their Western conference opponents. LA Continues to ride high in the Western Conference, but the Austin Gilgronis certainly didn't make it easy in their mid-week match.

Jason Robertson joins the show for his second player of the week appearance in his two seasons in Major League Rugby. Early on in the season he suffered a thumb injury which sidelined him for three weeks. He discusses the difficulty of the injury and how he's come into form over the past two weeks.

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Week 9 of Major League Rugby action ends as San Diego Legion and Old Glory DC find new leases on life in their respective wins at the mid-way point. Major League Rugby sees the first Rugby match played in SoFi Stadium in a grudge match between the Los Angeles Giltinis and the Utah Warriors, with the Giltinis proving victorious. Dan and Pete break down week 9's action and look forward to week 10.

Angus Cottrell of the Los Angeles Giltinis joins Dan Power to discuss his season in Los Angeles after his Player of the Week performance. Cottrell a veteran of the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels discusses that he was looking to play overseas after falling out of the Wallabies selection picture and was keen to play in the great city of Los Angeles and explore the United States.

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Dan and Pete break down Week 8's action with New York proving victorious over the Giltinis in a hard effort. The East showed how strong it could be over the west in week 8 with only the Utah Warriors in the inter conference play coming away unscathed.

Aston Fortuin joins Dan Power to discuss his time as a young player in South Africa. He discusses the size of the Varsity Cup competition which he won while playing for the University of Pretoria. He then discusses his love of travel which he got to fulfill first playing for the EP Kings in the Pro 14 and now with the Utah Warriors.

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Week 7 is over and the playoff picture in the West is setting up for the Giltinis. Their fitness, their quickness, their physicality, has made them the outright contender for the MLR Shield. But in the East, it's a tough division, it's unknown who will come out on top. But New York sits above the rest. Dan and Pete break down the performances from week 7 and how that will effect week 8s match ups.

John Poland, scrum-half for the New England Free Jacks joins the show following his outstanding performance against the San Diego Legion. John came through the Munster Academy, unsure of what he would do when he graduated from the University College Cork he got a call from Conor Kindregan to see if he would be interested in helping stand up an expansion franchise. After some thought, Poland felt that this would be a way to re-ignite his love of the game while still accomplishing his goal of being a professional rugby player.

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With week 6 wrapped up in the books and teams have settled. Dan and Pete look back on the performances and how they could have gotten them right or wrong. The Toronto Arrows show how hard the Eastern Conference is. The Gilgronis continued their longest winning streak in the history of the franchise by demolishing the back to back champion Seattle Seawolves. But when it comes to picks, Gorgeous Dan and the MLR Professor needed to check in with the current global leader in SuperBru @ScaryLarryRugby.

Adriaan Carelse was a late arrival due to the complications of the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, in his three appearances with two of them being starts at fullback he has shown an innate sense of being able to sit back and control the game with his wide skill set. We learn about the beginning of his career and being able to come full circle and play for one his idols in Rugby ATL Attack Coach Steve Brett.

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With the limited run up to the season due to various constraints, Dan and Pete knew that the first five weeks of the season would have a "pre-season flair" to them. Now as every side has had the chance to get into Rugby shape we're starting to know some things about where the 2021 season is going.

Patrick Parfrey, Canadian International, and PhD Candidate joins the show. Following the 2019 World Cup he took some time off to pay attention to his studies in Clinical Epidemiology and like the COVID-19 Pandemic cut short the 2020 MLR season it also postponed his return to an Arrows shirt. He joins the show following his Player of the Week performance against the Seattle Seawolves to discuss the season and the Arrows adjustment to life in Atlanta.

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In week four of the 2021 season, things started to shake out. Coaches made key selections that drove the performance of their sides. The Professor discusses selections in his tactics session and how important those decisions were. Teams that needed wins to right the ship and get back on course did so. Whilst others still had questions.

Dan Hollinshead following his dominating performance against Rugby ATL joins the show to discuss his first few matches in MLR and how Rugby United New York took and won their bye week to build towards that performance. He also chats how facing Old Glory will be the battle of old teammates as he faces off against Mungo Mason and Jason Robertson this coming Sunday.

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