Seattle Seawolves

Seattle Seawolves
Founded	2017; 8 years ago
Location	Tukwila, Washington
Ground(s)	Starfire Sports (Capacity: 4,500)
Coach(es)	Allen Clarke
Captain(s)	Riekert Hattingh
Most caps	JP Smith (92)
Top scorer	AJ Alatimu (321)
Most tries	Riekert Hattingh (39)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2024	Conference champion ; 2nd (Western Conference)
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	seawolves.rugby

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 lost in the 2022 final and 2024 final. They play home matches at the 4,000-seat main stadium at Starfire Sports in Tukwila, a suburb south of Seattle.

History

The team was founded in 2017 by an investor group led by Adrian Balfour and Shane Skinner.^[1] The Seawolves won the inaugural MLR Grand Final in 2018,^[2] and defended the title in the 2019 Major League Rugby Championship. In the final on June 16, 2019, the Seattle Seawolves defeated San Diego Legion 26–23 at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego.^[3]

The Seawolves hired Kees Lensing as their head coach for the 2020 season and started with a 1–4 record. The season was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not resume.^[4]

Stadium

The Seattle Seawolves play at the main stadium at Starfire Sports, which has a seating capacity of 4,000, in the suburb of Tukwila.^[5] The team offered 1,800 season tickets for their inaugural season, which sold out prior to the first match.^[6] In 2024, Seawolves team president Tom Barden stated that the team was "in discussions" to move to the redeveloped Memorial Stadium on the Seattle Center campus. The stadium is planned to be rebuilt with a capacity of 6,500 to 8,000 seats.^[7]

Broadcasting

The local broadcasts for the Seawolves were carried by Root Sports Northwest, a regional AT&T SportsNet affiliate, from 2019 to 2021.^[4]^[6] Dan Power and Kevin Swiryn were the on-air talent for the first season.^{[citation needed]} As of the 2024 season, national broadcasts were shown on Fox, FS1, and FS2; regional broadcasts were available on Root Sports and Fox 13+.^[8]

Kit history

Home 2018–19

Away 2018

Away 2022–23

Home 2023–23

Kit sponsorship

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor	Other Shirt sponsor(s)
2018–2019	XBlades	None	None
2020	Paladin Sports	Krusteaz	None
2021–2022		WaFd Bank	None
2023			Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Tukwila City of Tukwila USI Envorso
2024	Kappa
2025	Macron

Players and personnel

Current squad

The Seattle Seawolves squad for the 2025 Major League Rugby season is:^[9]

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

Player	Position	Union
Dewald Kotze	Hooker	Canada
Jesse MacKail	Hooker	Canada
Kerron van Vuuren	Hooker	South Africa
Dewald Donald	Prop	South Africa
Njabulo Gumede	Prop	South Africa
Cameron Orr	Prop	Australia
Mason Pedersen	Prop	United States
Chance Wenglewski	Prop	United States
Connor Williams	Prop	Canada
Juan Pablo Zeiss	Prop	Argentina
Rhyno Herbst*	Lock	South Africa
Isaia Lotawa	Lock	United States
Taylor Krumrei	Lock	United States
Siaosi Mahoni	Lock	United States
Malembe Mpofu	Lock	South Africa
Charles Elton	Back row	New Zealand
Pago Haini	Back row	United States
Riekert Hattingh (c)	Back row	United States
OJ Noa	Back row	Samoa
Devin Short	Back row	United States
Huw Taylor	Back row	England

Player	Position	Union
Nick Boyer	Scrum-half	United States
Brock Gallagher	Scrum-half	Canada
JP Smith	Scrum-half	United States
Rhys Jones	Scrum-half	United States
Jamie Armstrong	Fly-half	Canada
Eddie Fouche	Fly-half	South Africa
Rodney Iona	Fly-half	Samoa
David Busby	Centre	Ireland
Dan Kriel	Centre	South Africa
Mika Kruse	Centre	United States
Calvin Liulamaga	Centre	United States
Lauina Futi	Wing	United States
Malachi Esdale	Wing	United States
Toni Pulu*	Wing	Niue
Jeremiah Sio	Wing	United States
Jade Stighling	Wing	South Africa
Duncan Matthews	Fullback	South Africa
Divan Rossouw	Fullback	Namibia

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

Tony Healy (2018) did not take up post due to visa difficulties
Phil Mack (2018) ^[10]
Anton Moolman (2019) did not take up post due to visa difficulties ^[11]
Richie Walker (2019)
Kees Lensing (2020–April 2021)
Pate Tuilevuka (May–June 2021)
Allen Clarke (May 2021–)

Captains

Riekert Hattingh (2018–present)

Records

Season standings

Season	Conference	Regular season										Postseason
Season	Conference	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/−	BP	Pts	Pld	W	L	F	A	+/−	Result
2018	—	2nd	8	6	0	2	232	188	+44	5	29	2	2	0	61	43	+18	Won Semifinal (San Diego Legion) 38–24 Won Major League Rugby final (Glendale Raptors) 23-19
2019	—	2nd	16	11	1	4	498	407	+91	12	58	2	2	0	56	40	+16	Won Semifinal (Toronto Arrows) 30–17 Won Major League Rugby final (San Diego Legion) 26-23
2020^[a]	Western	4th	5	1	0	4	138	162	-24	4	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	Cancelled
2021	Western	5th	16	4	0	12	343	461	-118	10	26	-	-	-	-	-	-	Did not qualify
2022	Western	4th	16	9	0	7	435	354	+73	6	46	3	2	1	104	76	+28	Won West Conference Eliminator (San Diego Legion) 43–19 Won West Conference Final (Houston SaberCats) 46–27 Lost Major League Rugby final (Rugby New York) 15-30
2023	Western	2nd	16	12	0	4	509	348	+161	11	59	1	1	1	69	36	+33	Won West Conference Eliminator (Houston SaberCats) 37–26 Lost West Conference Final (San Diego Legion) 32-10
2024	Western	2nd	16	11	0	5	498	373	+125	13	57	3	2	1	69	73	-4	Won West Conference Eliminator (San Diego Legion) 30–28 Won West Conference Final (Dallas Jackals) 28-25 Lost Major League Rugby final (New England Free Jacks) 11-20
Totals			93	54	1	38	2,653	2,106	+547	61	283	12	9	3	359	268	+91	5 postseason appearances

Notes

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

Honors

Major League Rugby
- Champions: 2018, 2019
- Playoff appearances: 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
- Western Conference Championship (playoffs): 2022, 2024^[12]

2018 season

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
April 22	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 39–23
April 28	Glendale Raptors	Home	Lost, 15–19
May 12	New Orleans Gold	Away	Won, 31–29
May 20	Utah Warriors	Home	Won, 41–32
May 27	New Orleans Gold	Home	Won, 55–26
June 2	Houston SaberCats	Away	Won, 20–7
June 8	Austin Elite	Away	Won, 20–19
June 16	Glendale Raptors	Away	Lost, 11–33

Postseason

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
June 30	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 38-24
June 16	Glendale Raptors	Neutral	Won, 23–19

2019 season

Exhibition

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
December 22 (2018)	Crimson Tide	Away	Won, 48–7
January 5	SFGG	Away	Won, 45–0
January 17	Seattle Saracens	Home	Won, 74–3

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
January 27	Glendale Raptors	Home	Won, 20-18
February 2	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 13-17
February 10	New Orleans Gold	Away	Lost, 31-41
February 17	Toronto Arrows	Home	Won, 35–30
February 24	Rugby United New York	Home	Won, 33-21
March 10	Houston SaberCats	Home	Won, 27-14
March 16	Austin Elite	Away	Won, 29-17
March 31	San Diego Legion	Home	Lost, 22-28
April 5	Utah Warriors	Away	Won, 48-36
April 13	Houston SaberCats	Away	Won, 52–10
April 21	New Orleans Gold	Home	Won, 25–24
April 28	Toronto Arrows	Away	Lost, 7-29
May 11	Rugby United New York	Away	Won, 38-31
May 18	Glendale Raptors	Away	Won, 53-36
May 26	Utah Warriors	Home	Draw, 27-27
June 2	Austin Elite	Home	Won, 38–26

Postseason

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
June 9	Toronto Arrows	Home	Won, 30-17
June 16	San Diego Legion	Away	Won, 26–23

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.^[13] It was cancelled the following week^[14]

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 9	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 24–33
February 16	Old Glory DC	Away	Lost, 22–28
February 22	Toronto Arrows	Home	Lost, 17–39
February 29	New England Free Jacks	Home	Won, 44–29
March 7	Utah Warriors	Home	Lost, 31–33
March 15	Rugby United New York	Away	Cancelled
March 21	Houston SaberCats	Home	Cancelled
March 29	Colorado Raptors	Home	Cancelled
April 4	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Cancelled
April 12	San Diego Legion	Home	Cancelled
April 25	Utah Warriors	Away	Cancelled
May 2	Houston SabreCats	Away	Cancelled
May 10	Rugby ATL	Away	Cancelled
May 17	New Orleans Gold	Home	Cancelled
May 24	Colorado Raptors	Away	Cancelled
May 31	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Cancelled

2021 season

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
March 20	Houston SaberCats	Away	Lost, 24–30
March 28	LA Giltinis	Away	Lost, 26–57
April 10	Utah Warriors	Away	Won, 20–15
April 17	Toronto Arrows	Away	Lost, 7-52
April 25	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Lost, 15-42
May 2	Rugby United New York	Home	Lost, 23-21
May 9	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 21-15
May 16	Old Glory DC	Away	Lost, 18-22
May 23	Rugby ATL	Home	Lost, 6-25
June 6	Utah Warriors	Home	Lost, 28-29
June 13	New England Free Jacks	Away	Lost, 21-25
June 20	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Lost, 31-36
June 27	LA Giltinis	Home	Lost, 14-29
July 3	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 21-34
July 11	New Orleans Gold	Home	Won, 30-6
July 15	Houston SaberCats	Home	Won, 40-21

2022 season

Exhibition

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
January 22	Seattle Rugby Club	Home	Won, 76-8
January 28	Hartford Harpooners	Home	Won, 50-0

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 6	Toronto Arrows	Home	Won, 21-8
February 10	Utah Warriors	Home	Won, 20-17
February 20	San Diego Legion	Away	Won, 31-28
February 26	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Lost, 25-18
March 4	New Orleans Gold	Home	Lost, 25-24
March 12	Houston SaberCats	Away	Lost, 21-19
March 19	Dallas Jackals	Away	Won, 34-12
March 26	LA Giltinis	Home	Lost, 12-31
April 9	New England Free Jacks	Away	Lost, 22-24
April 16	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 34-32
April 23	Utah Warriors	Away	Won, 20-14
May 1	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Lost, 6-17
May 8	Dallas Jackals	Home	Won, 74-7
May 15	Rugby United NY	Away	Lost, 22-30
May 27	Houston SaberCats	Home	Won, 43-36
June 5	LA Giltinis	Away	Won, 35-27

Post season

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
West Eliminator	June 12	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 43–19
West Conference Finals	June 18	Houston SaberCats	Away	Won, 46–27
MLR Championship	June 25	Rugby United NY	Away	Lost, 15–30

2023 season

Exhibition

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 5	American Raptors	Home	Won, 47-0
February 8	Seattle Rugby Club	Home	Won, 49-0

Regular Season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 18	New York Ironworkers	Home	Won, 25-11
February 24	Rugby ATL	Home	Won, 28-22
March 4	Dallas Jackals	Away	Won, 35-10
March 11	Houston Sabercats	Home	Won, 24-12
March 24	Chicago Hounds	Away	Won, 27-5
April 2	New Orleans Gold	Away	Won, 36-35
April 8	San Diego Legion	Home	Lost, 20-23
April 14	Utah Warriors	Away	Lost, 35-41
April 22	Toronto Arrows	Away	Won, 36-27
April 28	Dallas Jackals	Home	Won, 61-19
May 13	Houston Sabercats	Away	Won, 34-17
May 20	Chicago Hounds	Home	Won, 35-13
May 27	Old Glory DC	Away	Won, 41-19
June 4	Utah Warriors	Home	Won, 27-20
June 11	New England Free Jacks	Home	Lost, 26-34
June 18	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 19-40

Post-Season

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
West Conference Playoff	June 24	Houston SaberCats	Home	Won, 37-26
West Conference Final	July 2	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 19–40

2024 season

Exhibition

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 16	Pacific Pride	Home	Won, 79-7
February 21	Canada Selects	Home	Won, 54-7

Regular Season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
March 2	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 25–19
March 9	Miami Sharks	Home	Won, 29–18
March 16	Utah Warriors	Away	Won, 23–13
March 23	Houston SaberCats	Home	Lost, 40–42
March 30	Chicago Hounds	Away	Won, 32–26
April 6	Dallas Jackals	Home	Won, 34–32
April 13	RFC Los Angeles	Away	Won, 36–5
April 20	New England Free Jacks	Away	Won, 29–21
April 27	Anthem Rugby Carolina	Home	Won, 29–13
May 4	NOLA Gold	Away	Lost, 31–32
May 11	Dallas Jackals	Away	Lost, 7–14
May 18	Old Glory DC	Home	Won, 26–24
May 25	Utah Warriors	Home	Won, 68–29
June 1	Houston SaberCats	Away	Lost, 25–28
June 8	RFC Los Angeles	Home	Won, 29–12
June 15	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 33–45

Post-Season

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
West Conference Semi-Final	July 21	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 30-28
West Conference Final	July 28	Dallas Jackals	Home	Won, 28-25
MLR Championship	August 4	New England Free Jacks	Away	Lost, 11–20