The San Diego Legion are a Major League Rugby team. They currently use the University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium. Legion games provide a high quality fan experience with an engaged fanbase, play-by-play announcers, branded signage, halftime entertainment, and great food and merch available for purchase.

Rugby players in a pile battling as one team is just a few feet from the goal line.

My introduction to rugby was primarily through my brother, who played in college but generally the sport is a lot of fun to watch. If you trust what one of the fan’s I overheard said, it’s the fastest growing sport in the country (citation need 😅) The team is actively trying to bring new fans to the sport, giving Rugby 101 packets with the game day programs.

If you’ve never watched rugby, the sport has similarities to football, but less stoppage time, few substitutions, and the players not wearing pads. The action is mostly continuous outside of scoring, a couple stoppage times, and gameplay violations. It’s an intense sport, with muscular players running full speed into each other and bodies often bloodied by the end of the match. The team branding and announcements lean into this atmosphere with “We are legion” chants and people dressing up in Roman soldier costumes. But the environment was still family friendly and respect for the players shown by the crowd quietly giving a thumbs up or down during extra point attempts depending on which team was kicking.

We had seats on the end of the field, but I’d recommend sitting closer to the midline if possible to get a better view of action on both sides of the field. But no matter where you are in Torero stadium you shouldn’t be that far from the field, even with the playing surface dropping off quite a bit below the front row seats.

Men and women in traditional Polynesian dress in organized lines on the rugby pitch for a dance routine.

The team also does a good job of connecting with related organizations. The night we went, the USA Women’s National Rugby team was there to make an appearance. We arrived early to meet the women and there was such a line that we almost didn’t get a chance to meet them. There was also a showcase of a local Polynesian dance group both before the match and at halftime. Many of the Legion’s players are Polynesian and it was cool to see the team celebrating the cultural roots of such a prominent contingent of the sport.