Rugby FC Los Angeles (RFCLA) is an American professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, that competes in

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). The team began play in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

as Rugby ATL, based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, but announced they would relocate to Los Angeles for the 2024 season, under new ownership.

History

Rugby ATL

On September 21, 2018,

announced that Atlanta was one of the expansion teams joining the league for the 2020 season. The team name "Rugby ATL" was revealed on February 26, 2019. The team was unofficially known as the Rattlers and in 2021 an alternate logo with a rattlesnake was unveiled. Rugby ATL played its first three seasons at Lupo Family Field on the campus of Life University in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta. The field was damaged by flooding in September 2021 and the team moved to Silverbacks Park ahead of the 2022 season. Following the death of their original team owner, S. Marcus Calloway, the ownership of the team was placed into an investment group, acquiring control of the franchise on an interim basis. The move kept Rugby ATL operational, until a permanent ownership group was acquired in 2023.

Rugby FC Los Angeles

On August 2, 2023,

announced that Rugby ATL would be relocating to a yet-to-be announced location for the 2024 season. On August 17, it was announced the team would relocate to

. On December 21, it was announced that the team would be renamed to Rugby FC Los Angeles, abbreviated to RFCLA. This marked the return of Major League Rugby back to Los Angeles since the removal of the former LA Giltinis in October 2022. On the same day, it was announced that RFCLA would play out of

Dignity Health Sports Park Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

in Carson, CA.

Sponsorship

Roster

The Los Angeles squad for the 2025 Major League Rugby season is: * Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold. * * denotes players qualified to play for the on dual nationality or residency grounds. * MLR teams are allowed to field up to ten overseas players per match.

Head coaches

Scott Lawrence Scott Lawrence (born September 27, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role as Cmdr. Sturgis Turner on the CBS series '' JAG''. Lawrence played the role from 2001 until 2005, when the series ended. He is also known for being a majo ...

(2020-2022) * Stephen Brett (2022–2024) * Stephen Hoiles (2025-)

Assistant coaches

* Stephen Brett (Attack, 2020–2021) * Blake Bradford (2022–)

Captains

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

Records

Season standings

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%" , - ! rowspan="2", Season ! rowspan="2", Conference ! colspan="10", Regular season ! colspan="8", Postseason , -{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" , - border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0 ! style="width:20px;", Pos ! style="width:20px;", Pld ! style="width:20px;", W ! style="width:20px;", D ! style="width:20px;", L ! style="width:20px;", F ! style="width:20px;", A ! style="width:25px;", +/− ! style="width:20px;", BP ! style="width:20px;", Pts ! style="width:20px;", Pld ! style="width:20px;", W ! style="width:20px;", L ! style="width:20px;", F ! style="width:20px;", A ! style="width:25px;", +/− ! style="width:30em; text-align:centre;", Result , - , colspan="19", Rugby ATL , - ,

, Eastern , 5th, , 5 , , 2 , , 0 , , 3 , , 116 , , 110 , , +6 , , 4 , , 12 , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , Cancelled , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, Eastern , 2nd, , 16 , , 11 , , 0 , , 5 , , 420 , , 321 , , +99 , , 13 , , 57 , , 2 , , 1, , 1, , 27, , 40, , -13, , Won East Conference Final ( Rugby United New York) 10–9
Lost Major League Rugby final ( LA Giltinis) 17–31 , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Eastern , 2nd, , 16 , , 11 , , 0 , , 5 , , 468 , , 340 , , +128 , , 11 , , 57 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , , 19 , , 26 , , -7 , , Lost East Conference Eliminator ( Rugby New York) 19–26 , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, Eastern , 5th, , 16 , , 5 , , 1 , , 10 , , 355 , , 428 , , -73 , , 6 , , 28 , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , Did not qualify , - , colspan="19", Rugby Football Club Los Angeles , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Western , 6th, , 16 , , 5 , , 1 , , 10 , , 367 , , 473 , , -106 , , 10 , , 32 , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , Did not qualify , - align="center" ! colspan="3", Totals !! 69 !! 34 !! 2 !! 33 !! 1,726 !! 1,672 !! +54 !! 38 !! 158 !! 3 !! 1 !! 2 !! 46 !! 66 !! -20 !! 2 postseason appearances

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 champions Life University.

2019 roster

2019 season

All games in the 2019 season were exhibition games and did not count in the MLR standings. {, class="wikitable" , - ! Date !! Opponent !! Home/Away !! Location !! Result , - style="background:#cfc;" , September 7 , , Mystic River , , Away , , Pine Banks , , 50–25 , - style="background:#cfc;" , September 14 , , Old Blue , , Home , , Lupo Family Field , , 45–6 , - style="background:#cfc;" , September 28 , , New York Athletic Club , , Away , ,

Travers Island Travers Island is a former island in Long Island Sound, located in the city of New Rochelle, New York. The island, originally united by a causeway to the mainland, comprises a tract of thirty acres in the Lower Harbor of New Rochelle, situated be ...

, , 42–17 , - style="background:#cfc;" , October 5 , , Life University , , Away , , Lupo Family Field , , 22–21 , - style="background:#cfc;" , October 12 , ,

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, , Away , , Gretna Park , , 55–24 , - style="background:#fcc;" , October 19 , , Old Blue , , Away , ,

Columbia Soccer Stadium The Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium is a 3,500 seat soccer-specific stadium located in Inwood, Manhattan, Inwood, on the northernmost tip of the island of Manhattan, New York City, within the Baker Athletic Complex. The stadium is named in hono ...

, , 17–25 , - style="background:#cfc;" , November 2 , , New York Athletic Club , , Home , , Lupo Family Field , , 66–7 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 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. It was cancelled the following week

Regular season

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Date !! Opponent !! Home/Away !! Location !! Result , - style="background:#cfc;" , February 9 , , Utah Warriors , , Home , , Life University Running Eagles Stadium , , Won, 28–19 , - style="background:#cfc;" , February 16 , , New Orleans Gold , , Away , ,

Gold Mine Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to more comple ...

, , Won, 22–10 , - style="background:#fcc;" , February 23 , , Rugby United New York , , Home , , Life University Running Eagles Stadium , , Lost, 19–22 , - style="background:#fcc;" , March 1 , , Toronto Arrows , , Home , , Life University Running Eagles Stadium , , Lost, 18–28 , - style="background:#fcc;" , March 8 , , Old Glory DC , , Away , , Cardinal Stadium , , Lost, 29–31 , - style="background:#ccf;" , March 22 , ,

New England Free Jacks The New England Free Jacks are an American professional rugby union team based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They co ...

, , Home , , Life University Running Eagles Stadium , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , March 28 , , Austin Gilgronis , , Away , , Round Rock Multipurpose Complex , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , April 5 , , New Orleans Gold , , Home , , Life University Running Eagles Stadium , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , April 10 , , Rugby United New York , , Away , ,

MCU Park Maimonides Park (formerly MCU Park and KeySpan Park) is a minor league baseball stadium on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. The home team and primary tenant is the New York Mets-affiliate ...

, , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , April 19 , , Toronto Arrows , , Away , , Lamport Stadium , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , April 26 , , San Diego Legion , , Home , , Life University Running Eagles Stadium , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , May 2 , , Colorado Raptors , , Away , , Infinity Park , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , May 10 , ,

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2017. The Seawolves won two MLR championships in 2018 and 2019, and los ...

, , Home , , Life University Running Eagles Stadium , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , May 17 , , Old Glory DC , , Home , , Life University Running Eagles Stadium , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , May 23 , , Houston SaberCats , , Away , , Aveva Stadium , , Cancelled , - style="background:#ccf;" , May 30 , , New England Free Jacks , , Away , , Union Point Sports Complex , , Cancelled

2021 season

Regular season

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Date !! Opponent !! Home/Away !! Result , - style="background:#cfc;" , March 20 , , Toronto Arrows , , Home , , Won, 21–14 , - style="background:#fcc;" , March 27 , , Old Glory DC , , Away , , Lost, 23–30 , - style="background:#cfc;" , April 3 , , San Diego Legion , , Home , , Won, 41–22 , - style="background:#fcc;" , April 11 , , Rugby United New York , , Home , , Lost, 17–27 , - style="background:#fcc;" , April 17 , , Austin Gilgronis , , Away , , Lost, 15–17 , - style="background:#cfc;" , April 24 , , New Orleans Gold , , Home , , Won, 38–28 , - style="background:#cfc;" , May 9 , , Toronto Arrows , , Away , , Won, 33–29 , - style="background:#cfc;" , May 15 , ,

, , Home , , Won, 33–18 , - style="background:#cfc;" , May 23 , ,

, , Away , , Won, 25–6 , - style="background:#cfc;" , May 29 , , LA Giltinis , , Home , , Won, 17–12 , - style="background:#cfc;" , June 5 , , New Orleans Gold , , Away , , Won, 8–7 , - style="background:#fcc;" , June 13 , , Rugby United New York , , Away , , Lost, 24–31 , - style="background:#cfc;" , June 19 , , Houston SaberCats , , Home , , Won, 33–15 , - style="background:#cfc;" , June 26 , , Old Glory DC , , Home , , Won, 32–12 , - style="background:#cfc;" , July 10 , , Utah Warriors , , Away , , Won, 41–31 , - style="background:#fcc;" , July 18 , , New England Free Jacks , , Away , , Lost, 19–22

Post season

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Date !! Opponent !! Home/Away !! Result , - style="background:#cfc;" , July 24 , , Rugby United New York , , Home , , Won, 10–9 , - style="background:#fcc;" , August 1 , , LA Giltinis , , Away , , Lost, 17–31

2022 season

Regular season

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Date !! Opponent !! Home/Away !! Result , - style="background:#cfc;" , February 5 , , Old Glory DC , , Home , , Won, 55–22 , - style="background:#cfc;" , February 12 , , New Orleans Gold , , Away , , Won, 14–9 , - style="background:#fcc;" , February 19 , , Rugby New York , , Home , , Lost, 31–36 , - style="background:#cfc;" , March 5 , , Houston SaberCats , , Home , , Won, 29–22 , - style="background:#cfc;" , March 12 , , Austin Gilgronis , , Home , , Won, 29–14 , - style="background:#cfc;" , March 20 , , Old Glory DC , , Away , , Won, 27–13 , - style="background:#fcc;" , March 26 , ,

, , Home , , Lost, 27-41 , - style="background:#cfc;" , April 2 , , Toronto Arrows , , Away , , Won 20-14 , - style="background:#cfc;" , April 9 , , New Orleans Gold , , Away , , Won, 34-17 , - style="background:#cfc;" , April 24 , , San Diego Legion , , Away , , Won, 30-17 , - style="background:#fcc;" , April 30 , , LA Giltinis , , Home , , Lost, 19-31 , - style="background:#fcc;" , May 7 , , Utah Warriors , , Away , , Lost, 26-44 , - style="background:#fcc;" , May 13 , , New England Free Jacks , , Away , , Lost, 10-15 , - style="background:#cfc;" , May 22 , , Rugby New York , , Away , , Won, 38-3 , - style="background:#cfc;" , May 28 , , Toronto Arrows , , Home , , Won, 34-23 , - style="background:#cfc;" , June 3 , , New Orleans Gold , , Home , , Won, 45-19

Postseason

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Round !! Date !! Opponent !! Home/Away !! Result , - style="background:#fcc;" , East Eliminator , , June 11 , , Rugby New York , , Home , , Lost, 19–26

2023 season

Regular season

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Date !! Opponent !! Home/Away !! Location !! Result , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , February 17 , , Toronto Arrows , , Home , , Silverbacks Park , , Won, 17–10 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , February 24 , ,

, , Away , , Starfire Sports Complex , , Lost, 28–22 , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , March 4 , , NOLA Gold , , Home , , Silverbacks Park , , Won, 29–16 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , March 18 , , San Diego Legion , , Home , , Silverbacks Park , , Lost, 10–35 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , March 25 , , Houston SaberCats , , Away , , SaberCats Stadium, , Lost, 40–28 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , April 2 , , New York Ironworkers , , Away , , Memorial Field , , Lost, 31–20 , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , April 8 , , Old Glory DC , , Home , , Silverbacks Park , , Won, 35–27 , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , April 15 , , NOLA Gold , , Away , , The Gold Mine , , Won, 23–7 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , April 22 , ,

, , Away , , Veterans Memorial Stadium , , Lost, 23–13 , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , May 6 , , Chicago Hounds , , Home , , Silverbacks Park , , Won, 27–12 , - bgcolor="#FFFFCC" , May 12 , , Toronto Arrows , , Away , , York Lions Stadium , , Draw, 34–34 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , May 20 , , Dallas Jackals , , Home , , Silverbacks Park , , Lost, 27–19 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , May 27 , , Utah Warriors , , Away , , Zions Bank Stadium , , Lost, 28–12 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , June 2 , , New England Free Jacks , , Home , , Silverbacks Park , , Lost, 35–14 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , June 10 , , New York Ironworkers , , Home , , Silverbacks Park , , Lost, 39–24 , - bgcolor="#FFCCCC" , June 17 , , Old Glory DC , , Away , ,

Segra Field Segra Field is a soccer-specific stadium in Leesburg, Virginia, and the home of Loudoun United FC of the USL Championship and previously Old Glory DC of Major League Rugby. The stadium is located within Phillip A. Bolen Park, and adjacent to ...

, , Lost, 36–28

Notes

References

External links

*
Rugby United New York 31-24 Rugby ATL (photo gallery)
at Rugbychampagneweb {{Los Angeles Sports Major League Rugby teams Rugby clubs established in 2018 Sports clubs and teams in Los Angeles Rugby union teams in California 2018 establishments in California