Rugby ATL

Rugby ATL

Nickname(s)	Rattlers
Founded	2018
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Ground(s)	Silverbacks Park
Coach(es)	Stephen Brett
Captain(s)	Matt Heaton Ryan Nell
League(s)	Major League Rugby
Official website
www.rugbyatl.rugby

Rugby ATL is a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) from Atlanta, that began play in 2020.

History[]

On September 21, 2018, Major League Rugby announced that Atlanta was one of the expansion teams joining the league for the 2020 season.^[1] The team name Rugby ATL was revealed on February 26, 2019.^[2]

Sponsorship[]

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2019	Canterbury	None
2020–present		Barbour Orthopedics and Spine

Roster[]

The Rugby ATL squad for the 2022 Major League Rugby season is:^[3]

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 Isaac Bales Hooker United States Tiaan Eramsus Hooker South Africa Marko Janse van Rensburg Hooker South Africa Will Burke Prop United States Wikus Groenewald Prop South Africa John-Roy Jenkinson Prop South Africa Alex Maughan Prop United States Jonas Petrakopoulos* Prop Netherlands Lincoln Sii Prop United States John Sullivan Prop United States Justin Basson Lock South Africa Conor Keys Lock Canada Evan Mintern Lock Ireland Johan Momsen Lock South Africa Connor Cook Back row United States Jason Damm Back row United States Ross Deacon Back row United States Matt Heaton (cc) Back row Canada Vili Helu Back row United States Daemon Torres Back row United States

Player Position Union Rowan Gouws Scrum-half South Africa Eamonn Matthews Scrum-half United States Ryan Rees Scrum-half United States Duncan van Schalkwyk* Scrum-half South Africa Kurt Coleman Fly-half South Africa Joaquín de la Vega Mendía Fly-half Argentina George Barton Centre Canada Will Leonard Centre Ireland Ryan Nell (cc) Centre South Africa Martini Talapusi* Centre New Zealand Harley Davidson Wing United States Jalen Tatum Wing United States Nolan Taumoheloa Wing United States Te Rangatira Waitokia Wing New Zealand Austin White Fullback United States

• Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold.
• * denotes players qualified to play for the United States on dual nationality or residency grounds.
• MLR teams are allowed to field up to ten overseas players per match.

Head coaches[]

• Stephen Brett (2022-Present)
• Scott Lawrence (2020–2022)

Captains[]

• Matt Heaton (2020–present) (co-captain)
• Ryan Nell (2020–present) (co-captain)

Records[]

Season standings[]

Year	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/−	BP	Pts	Playoffs
2020	6th	5	2	0	3	116	110	+3	4	12	Season cut short due to Coronavirus Pandemic
2021	2nd	16	11	0	5	420	321	+99	13	57	Lost MLR Championship to LA Giltinis 17-31

404 Rugby (2019)[]

Rugby ATL started with an exhibition side, called 404 Rugby. From September to November 2019, 404 Rugby played exhibition matches against Mystic River, NYAC, Old Blue, and USA Rugby men's club championsLife University.^[4]

2019 roster[]

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 Alex Maughan Hooker United States Amro Gouda Hooker United States Barrington McNutt Hooker United States Sam Chaney Prop United States Nick Towns Prop United States Cullen Barelka Prop United States Sam Peri Lock United States Michael Young Lock United States Paris Hollis Flanker United States Josh Rieser Flanker United States Andre Potgieter Flanker South Africa Lordan Hinojosa Flanker United States Marthinus van Zyl Number 8 South Africa

Player Position Union Kurtis Werner Scrum-half United States Sam Christmann Scrum-half United States Lucas Baistrocchi Fly-half United States Ryan Britain Centre United States Martini Talapusi Centre United States Richard Shore Centre United States Drew Moyes Wing United States Eamonn Mathews Wing United States Sam Trammel Wing United States Tom Wallace Wing United States John Truax Wing United States Robert Mattison Fullback South Africa

2019 season[]

All games in the 2019 season were exhibition games and did not count in the MLR standings.

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
September 7	Mystic River	Away	Pine Banks	50-25
September 14	Old Blue	Home	Lupo Family Field	45-6
September 28	New York Athletic Club	Away	Travers Island	42-17
October 5	Life University	Away	Lupo Family Field	22-21
October 12	New Orleans	Away	Gretna Park	55-24
October 19	Old Blue	Away	Columbia Soccer Stadium	17-25
November 2	New York Athletic Club	Home	Lupo Family Field	66-7
November 9	Life University	Home	Lupo Family Field	30-18

2020 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.^[5] It was cancelled the following week^[6]

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
February 9	Utah Warriors	Home	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Won, 28–19
February 16	New Orleans Gold	Away	Gold Mine	Won, 22–10
February 23	Rugby United New York	Home	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Lost, 19–22
March 1	Toronto Arrows	Home	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Lost, 18–28
March 8	Old Glory DC	Away	Cardinal Stadium	Lost, 29–31
March 22	New England Free Jacks	Home	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Cancelled
March 28	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Round Rock Multipurpose Complex	Cancelled
April 5	New Orleans Gold	Home	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Cancelled
April 10	Rugby United New York	Away	MCU Park	Cancelled
April 19	Toronto Arrows	Away	Lamport Stadium	Cancelled
April 26	San Diego Legion	Home	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Cancelled
May 2	Colorado Raptors	Away	Infinity Park	Cancelled
May 10	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Cancelled
May 17	Old Glory DC	Home	Life University Running Eagles Stadium	Cancelled
May 23	Houston SaberCats	Away	Aveva Stadium	Cancelled
May 30	New England Free Jacks	Away	Union Point Sports Complex	Cancelled

2021 season[]

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
March 20	Toronto Arrows	Home	Won, 21–14
March 27	Old Glory DC	Away	Lost, 23–30
April 3	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 41–22
April 11	Rugby United New York	Home	Lost, 17–27
April 17	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Lost, 15-17
April 24	New Orleans Gold	Home	Won, 38-28
May 9	Toronto Arrows	Away	Won, 33-29
May 15	New England Free Jacks	Home	Won, 33-18
May 23	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Won, 25-6
May 29	LA Giltinis	Home	Won, 17-12
June 5	New Orleans Gold	Away	Won, 8-7
June 13	Rugby United New York	Away	Lost, 24-31
June 19	Houston SaberCats	Home	Won, 33-15
June 26	Old Glory DC	Home	Won, 32-12
July 10	Utah Warriors	Away	Won, 41-31
July 18	New England Free Jacks	Away	Lost, 19-22

Post season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
July 24	Rugby United New York	Home	Won, 10-9
August 1	LA Giltinis	Away	Lost, 17-31

2022 season[]

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 5	Old Glory DC	Home
February 12	New Orleans Gold	Away
February 19	Rugby United NY	Home
March 5	Houston SaberCats	Home
March 12	Austin Gilgronis	Home
March 20	Old Glory DC	Away
March 26	New England Free Jacks	Home
April 2	Toronto Arrows	Away
April 9	New Orleans Gold	Away
April 24	San Diego Legion	Away
April 30	LA Giltinis	Home
May 7	Utah Warriors	Away
May 13	New England Free Jacks	Away
May 22	Rugby United NY	Away
May 28	Toronto Arrows	Home
June 3	New Orleans Gold	Home

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Rugby Atl website
• 404 Rugby website