Rugby United New York

Rugby United New York, known as RUNY, is a professional rugby union team based in New York City that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR). The team played an exhibition season in spring 2018 and joined MLR for its second full season in 2019.[1][2] The team was founded by James Kennedy.[3]

Rugby United New York

Founded	2018 (2018)
Location	Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Ground(s)	MCU Park (Capacity: 7,000)
Chairman	James Kennedy
Coach(es)	Greg McWilliams (Head Coach) Marty Veale (Forwards) Simon Gillespie (Skills)
Captain(s)	Mike Petri
Top scorer	Cathal Marsh (69)
Most tries	Dylan Fawsitt (13)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2019	4th placed (regular season)
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.rugbyunitedny.com

History

In its 2018 exhibition season, RUNY was led by former USA men's national team coach Mike Tolkin, and assistant coaches Bruce McLane (former coach of New York Athletic Club RFC), Andrew Britt, and Vili Vakasisikakala.[1] The team's 2018 spring season consisted of matches against the Ontario Arrows and the Mystic River Rugby Club of Boston.[1] The team played its home matches at Gaelic Park in The Bronx.[4] The team played its first match on March 17, 2018, at Mazzella Field in New Rochelle, New York.[5] New York defeated the Ontario Arrows by a score of 36–19.[5] RUNY played its first match in New York City against Mystic River on March 24 before a sold-out crowd at Gaelic Park.[6] New York defeated Mystic River by a score of 50–0.[6]

Ahead of the 2019 season, RUNY announced that they had retained Mike Tolkin as the team's head coach,[7] signed Kees Lensing as the team's forwards coach,[8] and named James English as general manager.[9]

On November 7, 2018, RUNY announced that MCU Park in Brooklyn would be their home field for their first full season.[10]

Broadcasts

2019 home games were shown on SportsNet New York (SNY). Matt McCarthy, John Broker and Steve Lewis were the on air talent.

Sponsorship

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2018	Paladin Sports	Murphy Kennedy Group
2019	XBlades
2020–present	Paladin Sports

Roster

For player movements before and during the 2020 season, see List of 2019–20 Major League Rugby transfers § Rugby United New York.

The following players have been reported for New York for the 2020 season:[11][12]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Mike Brown Hooker United States Rob Irimescu Hooker United States Dylan Fawsitt Hooker United States Kirkland Hamilton Prop United States Jonas Petrakopoulous Prop Netherlands Alec McDonnell Prop United States Will Burke Prop United States Anthony Parry Prop United States Brian McKellar Prop United States James Rochford Prop Ireland Paddy Ryan Prop United States Nate Brakeley Lock United States Trevor Cassidy Lock United States Charlie Hewitt Lock England Cormac Daly Lock Ireland Matt Wirken Lock United States James Denise Flanker United States Hanco Germishuys Flanker United States Kara Pryor Flanker New Zealand Alex MacDonald Flanker United States Julio Cesar Giraldo Flanker Colombia Kyle Sumsion Number 8 United States Evan Mintern Number 8 Ireland

Player Position Union Jason Higgins Scrum-half Ireland Mike Petri Scrum-half United States Marcus Walsh* Scrum-half Ireland Harry Bennett* Fly-half Australia Cathal Marsh Fly-half Ireland JP Aguirre* Centre Argentina Mathieu Bastareaud Centre France Will Leonard Centre Ireland Jake Feury Centre United States Quentin Pradere Centre England Chris Mattina Centre United States Mark O'Keeffe Wing Ireland Derek Lipscomb Wing United States Mike St. Claire Wing Jamaica Connor Wallace-Sims Wing United States Erik Tack Wing United States Ben Foden Fullback England Troy Lockyear Fullback England

• Senior 15s and senior 7s internationally capped players in bold
• Players qualified to play for United States on dual nationality or residency grounds*

Records

Season standings

Year	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/−	BP	Pts	Playoffs
2019	4th	16	11	0	5	411	320	+91	10	54	Lost semi-final 22-24 to San Diego Legion

Honors

• Major League Rugby
  • Playoff appearances: 2019

2018 season

All games in the 2018 season were exhibition games and did not count in the league standings.

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Venue	Location	Result
March 17	Ontario Arrows	Home	Mazzella Field	New Rochelle, New York	Won, 36–19[13]
March 24	Mystic River Rugby Club	Home	Gaelic Park	Riverdale, Bronx, New York	Won, 50–0[14]
March 31	Mystic River Rugby Club	Away	Mignone Field	Allston, Massachusetts	Won, 42–24[15]
April 14	Ontario Arrows	Away	York Lions Stadium	Toronto, Ontario	Game cancelled due to weather

2019 season

Exhibitions

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
December 1, 2018	New England Free Jacks	Away	Union Point Sports Complex	Won, 38–35
December 15, 2018	Capital Selects	Home	Mazzella Field	Won, 100–0
January 12, 2019	Toronto Arrows	Neutral	Buffalo Bills Fieldhouse	Cancelled

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
January 27	San Diego Legion	Away	Torero Stadium	Won, 25-23
February 16	New Orleans Gold	Away	Archbishop Shaw	Won, 27–24
February 24	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Starfire Stadium	Lost, 21-33
March 2	Houston SaberCats	Away	Constellation Field	Won, 35-8
March 9	Utah Warriors	Away	Zions Bank Stadium	Won, 47-21
March 15	Toronto Arrows	Home	MCU Park	Won, 24–21
March 24	Glendale Raptors	Home	MCU Park	Won, 31-19
March 30	Austin Elite	Away	Toyota Field	Won, 19-11
April 14	San Diego Legion	Home	MCU Park	Lost, 19–29
April 20	Utah Warriors	Home	MCU Park	Won, 24–22
April 26	Glendale Raptors	Away	Infinity Park	Lost, 16–20
May 5	Houston SaberCats	Home	MCU Park	Won, 21–0
May 12	Seattle Seawolves	Home	MCU Park	Lost, 31–38
May 19	Austin Elite	Home	MCU Park	Won, 27-7
May 26	New Orleans Gold	Home	MCU Park	Won, 24–22
June 2	Toronto Arrows	Away	Lamport Stadium	Lost, 20-22

Post season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
June 9	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 22-24

2020 season

Exhibition

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
January 25	Toronto Arrows	Neutral	Orchard Park	scrimmage no score recorded
February 1	New York Barbarians	Home	Wagner College Football Stadium	Won 77-5

Regular season

On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.[16] It was cancelled the following week[17]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
February 8	New England Free Jacks	Away	Sam Boyd Stadium	Lost 14-34
February 15	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Sam Boyd Stadium	Won 49-31
February 23	Rugby ATL	Away	Lupo Family Field @ Life University	Won 22-19
March 1	Houston SaberCats	Away	Aveva Stadium	Won 31-23
March 8	San Diego Legion	Away	Torero Stadium	Lost 20-24
March 14	Seattle Seawolves	Home	MCU Park	Cancelled
March 22	Toronto Arrows	Home	MCU Park	Cancelled
March 29	Old Glory DC	Away	Cardinal Stadium @ Catholic University	Cancelled
April 10	Rugby ATL	Home	MCU Park	Cancelled
April 18	NOLA Gold	Away	The Gold Mine	Cancelled
April 25	Colorado Raptors	Home	MCU Park	Cancelled
May 1	New England Free Jacks	Home	MCU Park	Cancelled
May 9	Old Glory DC	Home	MCU Park	Cancelled
May 16	Utah Warriors	Away	Zions Bank Stadium	Cancelled
May 22	Toronto Arrows	Away	Lamport Stadium	Cancelled
May 30	NOLA Gold	Home	MCU Park	Cancelled

Sponsorship

During the inaugural season, RUNY signed a partnership deal with Magners Irish Cider,[18] the official drink partner and Bawnmore Irish Beef Jerky[19] as the official snack partner for the 2019 season. They also partnered up with EVF Performance,[20] the team's official gym and Motion PT Group, named the official physical therapy partner for the team.[21]

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2019	XBlades	Murphy Kennedy Group
2020–present	Paladin Sports	TBD

References

1. "MLR announces New York team for 2019". www.usmlr.com. Major League Rugby. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
2. Pengelly, Martin (March 26, 2018). "Firefighters and cops face off as New York's pro rugby team debuts". The Guardian. New York, NY. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
3. Melanson, Jack (March 30, 2018). "Packed house welcomes pro rugby to Gaelic Park". Riverdale Press. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
4. Mitchell, Alex (March 19, 2018). "New York's first professional rugby team is coming to the Bronx". Bronx Times-Reporter. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
5. "New York win historic first match over Ontario". Americas Rugby News. March 17, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
6. "New York blank Boston on historic night in the Bronx". Americas Rugby News. March 25, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
7. "Tolkin confirmed as New York MLR coach". Americas Rugby News. August 7, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
8. "Rugby United New York Signs Forwards Coach Kees Lensing". www.rugbyunitedny.com. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
9. "Rugby United New York Announces James English as GM". www.rugbyunitedny.com. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
10. Rugby United NY (2018-11-07), Rugby United New York's Stadium Announcement, retrieved 2018-11-08
11. "2018 Major League Rugby – Rugby United New York". Americas Rugby News. 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
12. "MLR Off-Season Update - December 13, 2018". Americas Rugby News. 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
13. "Rugby United New York defeat Ontario Arrows 36-19 in first MLR match". djcoilrugby. 2018-03-18. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
14. "Rugby United New York hosts Boston Mystic River March 24". djcoilrugby. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
15. "Boston Mystic River hosts Rugby United New York in a rematch at Harvard". djcoilrugby. 2018-03-31. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
16. Anonymous, "MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY SUSPENDS 2020 SEASON FOR 30 DAYS," www.majorleague.rugby, March 12, 2020 Retrieved March 14, 2020
17. "Major League Rugby cancels remainder of 2020 campaign". Yahoo! Sports. AFP. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
18. https://www.rugbyunitedny.com/news/magners-becomes-official-hard-cider-of-rugby-united-new-york-2/
19. https://www.rugbyunitedny.com/news/bawnmore-becomes-official-snack-partner-of-rugby-united-new-york/
20. https://www.rugbyunitedny.com/news/evf-performance-becomes-official-gym-partner-of-rugby-united-new-york/
21. https://www.rugbyunitedny.com/news/motion-pt-group-partners-with-rugby-united-new-york/

External links

• Rugby United New York Official Web site