On Saturday night, the San Diego Legion beat Los Angeles 19-18 at Snapdragon Stadium. While the game was closer than expected, the result has become all to familiar to the rest of Major League Rugby:
It does not go well for opposing teams who enter the Dragon. With the win the Legion improve to 10-0 all-time in their new Mission Valley home.
Obviously the Legion, who went to the MLR championship a year ago, are immensely talented. But there's another reason for their success at home: the playing field itself.
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"The beauty of Snapdragon Stadium is we've got a full-size rugby field, which is quite rare in the U.S.," says David Haigh, general manager of the Legion.
Interestingly, rugby pitches are not like pro football fields that are all uniform in length and width. Rugby rules allow for variations in size. Snapdragon's pitch is bigger than most of their opponents by, in some cases, 17-hundred square feet and Haigh built the roster with that extra space in mind.
"What it means is the field is much wider than the ones we play on in Major League Rugby from week to week. You'll see us play a lot more width, a lot more expansive," says Haigh. "The ball moves a lot more in our games."
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Add that additional green grass to the fact the Legion draw more fans per game than anyone else in the league (the MLR single-game attendance record was set at Snapdragon) and you have the formula for home dominance.
"One hundred percent. It's the field, but it's also the stadium and the crowd that comes out," says Haigh. "It is a fortress for us to come out and play here at Snapdragon Stadium."
Their next two matches are on the road but you can join the fortress fun on Sunday, April 14 when the Legion host NOLA Gold in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. For tickets, click here.
