Anthem Opens MLR Account and We're There For It

Well, they did that. They lost, of course, but Anthem did get tries from Tyren Al-Jiboori and Mateo Gadsden and a penalty from Oscar Koller in a 44-13 loss. It was a real rugby game. Anthem played hard and had some real scoring opportunities. They were in trouble in the scrum and gave up an interception try that hurt them, but they were in the fight, as Coach Ieremia wanted.

So here at GRR we don't cover the MLR deeply. We talk about the draft and discuss the league periodically, but others cover it day-to-day. However, this Anthem team is a national team development project. It's a project that will provide much-needed professional minutes for young American rugby players.

Minutes on the field is a crucial component of building depth at the national team level. This was the first step, and it was a successful one. This group is only going to get better.

Oh, and one more thing. We at GRR keep talking about getting more American players on rosters in MLR, and we think it helps bring in fans. Anthem proved we weren't delusional (at least about this topic). Over 2,300 fans showed up to cheer a team they had never seen before. They were drawn to the game because Charlotte has a strong rugby community; they were drawn because these are American rugby players; they were drawn because local product Chase Suznevich was starting at scrumhalf. 

And that is all just step 1.