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American Raptors

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American Raptors
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
LocationGlendale, Colorado, U.S.
Ground(s)Infinity Park
Coach(es)Mose Timoteo
Captain(s)TBA
League(s)Super Rugby Americas
Team kit
Official website
americanraptors.com

The American Raptors are a professional rugby union team based in the municipality of Glendale in Colorado. The team plays in the transcontinental Super Rugby Americas competition. Established as the amateur "Glendale Raptors" in 2006, the team became a professional club upon joining Major League Rugby as a founding member in 2017,[1] but they played there only three years, competing as the "Colorado Raptors" in their final shortened season of 2020 before withdrawing from the league.[2]

Following withdrawal from Major League Rugby, the team renamed themselves the "Colorado XOs" turning their attention to player development of players originally playing other sports, before becoming the "American Raptors" in 2021.[3]

History

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The Glendale Raptors were founded as an amateur rugby club in 2006.[4][5] They won the national Division I Championship in 2011,[6] and were back-to-back winners of the Pacific Rugby Premiership in 2015 and 2016.

Glendale Raptors kit and logo in 2018.

In 2017, the Raptors were accepted into the professional Major League Rugby competition. The amateur Glendale teams were renamed the Glendale Merlins before the inaugural MLR season in 2018. The Raptors finished the MLR regular season in first place in 2018, but lost the Championship final to Seattle.[7] In 2019, the Raptors finished the regular season in sixth place and did not play in the finals.

The team was renamed the Colorado Raptors ahead of the 2020 season [8] but the season was shortened and eventually cancelled due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Withdrawal from Major League Rugby

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Colorado Raptors logo (2019–20)

On April 9, 2020, the Raptors announced that they would withdraw from Major League Rugby, effective May 2, 2020,[9] the first team to do so. Their announcement explained their withdrawal by saying that "our greater responsibility lies in the development of American players who can win the World Cup for the United States."[9] Asked to explain how the Raptors withdrawing from the league would help to develop American rugby players, Glendale City Manager Linda Cassaday said that MLR had been founded with a core mission of developing American rugby players and originally had limited teams to three foreign players, although this expanded to five players before the first season began in 2018.[9] MLR had expanded from seven teams in 2018 to 12 in 2020 without having enough American players to fill out rosters and had raised the ceiling on foreign players to 10 per team.[9] The Raptors believed that both this overall number of foreign players and the higher proportion of foreign to American players no longer best served the goal of developing American players who could compete successfully in the Rugby World Cup, and therefore chose to withdraw from the league to better focus their efforts on the development of American players who could compete on an international stage.[9]

In June 2022 Raptors played in the "Challenge Cup of the Americas" against Canadians UBC Old Boys Ravens and South Americans Peñarol Rugby and Jaguares XV.[10]

Team names

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Name Period
Glendale Raptors [4] 2006–2019
Colorado Raptors [4] 2019–2020
Colorado XOs [4] 2020–2021
American Raptors [4] 2021–present

Current squad

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The American Raptors squad for the 2024 Super Rugby Americas season is:[11]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union
Diego Fortuny Hooker Argentina Argentina
Gabriel Mahu'inga Hooker United States United States
Jackson Zabierek Hooker United States United States
Koby Baker Prop United States United States
Zack Jessell Prop United States United States
Isikeli Kava Prop United States United States
Clay Markoff Prop United States United States
Ma'ake Muti* Prop Tonga Tonga
Facundo Pomponio Prop Argentina Argentina
Javon Camp Lock United States United States
Will Crawford Lock United States United States
Mikey Grandy Lock United States United States
Tavius Sykora-Matthess Lock United States United States
Aidan Christians* Back row New Zealand New Zealand
Shawn Clark Back row United States United States
Tommy Clark* Back row Samoa Samoa
Diego Magno Back row Uruguay Uruguay
DJ Martin Back row United States United States
Sione Talisa* Back row New Zealand New Zealand
Mo Vainikolo Back row United States United States
Player Position Union
Cian Barry* Scrum-half England England
Devereaux Ferris Scrum-half United States United States
John LeFevre Scrum-half United States United States
Patrick Madden Fly-half United States United States
Ignacio Mieres Fly-half Argentina Argentina
Francisco Quinn* Fly-half Argentina Argentina
Watson Filikitonga* Centre Tonga Tonga
Zach Hall Centre United States United States
Thomas Morani Centre United States United States
Aki Pulu Centre United States United States
Ethyn Baker Wing United States United States
Jax Hidalgo Wing United States United States
Luke Mallette Wing United States United States
Daytwon Sheridan Wing United States United States
Rufus McLean Fullback Scotland Scotland
  • Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold.
  • * denotes players qualified to play for United States on dual nationality or residency grounds.

Head coaches

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Captains

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Records

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Season standings in Major League Rugby

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Season Conference Regular season Postseason
Pos Pld W D L F A +/− BP Pts Pld W L F A +/− Result
Glendale Raptors
2018 — 1st 8 7 0 1 249 165 +84 6 34 2 1 1 53 44 +9 Won Semifinal (Utah Warriors) 31–21
Lost final 23–19 (Seattle Seawolves)
2019 — 6th 16 7 2 7 456 463 −7 11 43 — — — — — — Did not qualify
Colorado Raptors
2020[a] Western 8th 5 2 0 3 98 130 -32 1 9 - - - - - - Cancelled
Totals 29 16 2 11 803 758 +45 18 86 2 1 1 53 44 +9 1 postseason appearance

Season standings in Super Rugby Americas

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Season Regular season Postseason
Pos Pld W D L F A +/− BP Pts Pld W L F A +/− Result
American Raptors
2023 6th 12 2 0 10 282 458 –176 8 16 — — — — — — Did not qualify
2024 6th 12 3 0 9 222 443 –221 5 17 — — — — — — Did not qualify
Totals 24 5 0 19 504 901 –397 13 33 — — — — — — —

Home field

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Raptors home field, Infinity Park

The team plays at Infinity Park,[14] the first rugby-specific, municipally-owned stadium in the United States.[15]

Sponsorship

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Season Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2018–2019 XBlades None
2020 Paladin Sports

Honors

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2018 season

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Date Opponent Home/Away Result
March 10 New Orleans Gold° Home Won, 38–14
March 30 Utah Warriors° Away Won, 42–15
April 7 New York Athletic Club RFC° Away Won, 35–22
April 21 Austin Elite Home Won, 41–26
April 28 Seattle Seawolves Away Won, 19–15
May 5 Utah Warriors Away Won, 36–29
May 13 San Diego Legion Home Won, 31–27
June 3 New Orleans Gold Away Won, 41–10
June 8 Houston SaberCats Home Won, 37–24
June 16 Seattle Seawolves Home Won, 33–11
June 23 San Diego Legion Away Lost, 5–23
June 30 Utah Warriors°° Home Won, 34–21
July 7 Seattle Seawolves°°° Neutral Lost, 19–23

° = Preseason game
°° = Playoff Semifinal
°°° = Final at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California

2019 season

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Exhibition

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Date Opponent Home/Away Location Result
August 17, 2018 USA Collegiate All-Americans Home Infinity Park Lost, 10–55
September 16, 2018 Ontario Arrows Away York Lions Stadium Lost, 18–40
October 6, 2018 Denver Barbarians Home Infinity Park Won, 81–7
October 13, 2018 Utah Warriors Home Infinity Park Postponed
October 20, 2018 Utah Warriors Away Postponed
October 27, 2018 Rugby Americas team Home Infinity Park Lost, 31–50
January 13, 2019 San Diego Legion Away Torero Stadium Won, 38–31
January 19, 2019 Houston SaberCats Away Constellation Field Won, 36–21

Regular season

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Date Opponent Home/Away Location Result
January 27 Seattle Seawolves Away Starfire Stadium Lost, 18–20
February 2 New Orleans Gold Away Archbishop Shaw Stadium Lost, 31–40
February 17 Austin Elite Away Dell Diamond Won, 24–13
February 23 Utah Warriors Away Zions Bank Stadium Draw, 26–26
March 2 Toronto Arrows Home Infinity Park Won, 22–0
March 9 Austin Elite Home Infinity Park Won, 38–19
March 16 San Diego Legion Home Infinity Park Draw, 28–28
March 24 Rugby United New York Away MCU Park Lost, 19–31
March 30 New Orleans Gold Home Infinity Park Won, 34–33
April 6 Houston SaberCats Home Infinity Park Won, 52–44
April 20 San Diego Legion Away Torero Stadium Lost, 15–46
April 26 Rugby United New York Home Infinity Park Won, 20–16
May 4 Utah Warriors Home Infinity Park Won, 64–22
May 18 Seattle Seawolves Home Infinity Park Lost, 36–53
May 26 Toronto Arrows Away Lamport Stadium Lost, 12–40
May 29 Houston SaberCats Away Aveva Stadium Lost, 17–32

2020 season

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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]

Regular season

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Date Opponent Home/Away Location Result
February 8 Houston SaberCats Away Aveva Stadium Lost, 12–21
February 16 San Diego Legion Neutral Las Vegas Ballpark Lost, 22-49
February 22 New Orleans Gold Home Infinity Park Lost, 20-27
February 29 Utah Warriors Home Infinity Park Won, 22-14
March 6 Toronto Arrows Won, 22-19
March 15 Old Glory DC Away Cardinal Stadium Cancelled
March 21 Austin Gilgronis Home Infinity Park
March 29 Seattle Seawolves Away Starfire Sports Complex
April 4 New England Free Jacks Away Union Point Sports Complex
April 18 Houston SaberCats Home Infinity Park
April 25 Rugby United New York Away MCU Park
May 2 Rugby ATL Home Infinity Park
May 8 Utah Warriors Away Zions Bank Stadium
May 17 Austin Gilgronis Round Rock Multipurpose Complex
May 24 Seattle Seawolves Home Infinity Park
May 30 San Diego Legion

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ 2020 regular season shortened and playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

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  1. ^ "Major League Rugby nears kick-off as next attempt to make US a union power". The Guardian. UK. 2017-11-17. Archived from the original on 2017-11-19. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  2. ^ Petersen, Will (9 April 2020). "Colorado Raptors withdraw from Major League Rugby". 9News.
  3. ^ "Raptors History". American Raptors. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Raptors History". americanraptors.com. 9 August 2022. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Major League Rugby, featuring Colorado team, signs TV deal with CBS". Denver Business Journal. 2017-10-10. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05.
  6. ^ "Glendale Signs Original Raptor Casey Rock". DJ Coil Rugby. 9 January 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  7. ^ "Seawolves stun Raptors to win inaugural MLR title". Americas Rugby News. 2018-07-08. Archived from the original on 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  8. ^ "Glendale Raptors are now the Colorado Raptors". 9News KUSA. 2019-11-08.
  9. ^ a b c d e Petersen, Will, "Updated: Colorado Raptors withdraw from Major League Rugby," 9news.com, April 10, 2020 Accessed March 27, 2021
  10. ^ "Two SLAR teams to play North American opponents in Colorado". June 2022.
  11. ^ "American Raptors Announce 2024 Roster". American Raptors. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  12. ^ "City of Glendale made rugby its brand, a move that's paying off with a professional team". The Denver News. 2017-06-02. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05.
  13. ^ "Glendale Raptors Coaches and Staff". Glendale Raptors. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  14. ^ "Glendale Raptors announce 2018 schedule". 9 News. 2017-12-01. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  15. ^ "Site report" (PDF). www.rainbird.com. 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  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. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
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