When Will Hooley announced his impending retirement on June 13, the San Diego Legion fly half thanked everyone who has supported him along the way but also made it clear that he wasn’t quite finished.Said “business” gets serious this afternoon when the Legion host the Seattle Seawolves in the Major League Rugby Western Conference Final at Snapdragon Stadium.The winner advances to next Saturday’s MLR final at SeatGeek Stadium outside of Chicago to face the New England Free Jacks.
“It’s a major opportunity,” said Hooley, who is completing his second season with San Diego after a long run playing in England. “We’ve accomplished so much. A great record. Undefeated at home. All of that has been great but this is when it really matters. The playoffs. The goal is to bring a championship back to San Diego.”
The Legion have won 13 straight games, and each of the last seven victories have come by double digits, including the last one, a 40-19 drilling of Seattle at Snapdragon on June 18. Seattle has two of MLR’s top 10 scorers in AJ Altimu and Jordan Chait , two players who rank in the top five in tries and the league’s top tackler in Charles Elton .