👉 NEED TO KNOW TODAY 👈

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Dancing With the Stars: Olympian Ilona Maher will compete in the finale of Dancing With the Stars next Tuesday.

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‍MLR: Don't be surprised if the recently announced 2025 season schedule under goes some tweaks after the United States Rugby Players Association and MLRPA voiced their concerns about midweek games and condensed recovery time between matches.

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📺 HOW TO WATCH RUGBY 📺

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RUGBY AFRICA CUP
MENS REPECHAGE  ‍

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‍🏉 Morocco vs. Botswana

‍⏰ 7 AM EST

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‍🏉 Madagascar vs. Cameroon

‍⏰ 9:30 AM EST

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💻 RugbyPass TV

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📰 HEADLINES 📰

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY‍

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‍Season Schedule: Major League Rugby unveils 2025 slate of matchups (Major League Rugby)

• Takeaway: The excitement for the 2025 season schedule quickly turned to consternation when fans, players, and the MLRPA noticed the frequency of midweek games and the condensed schedules for several teams.  

• Midweek Games:
  • At the moment, the Miami Sharks are the only MLR team without a midweek game on the schedule, while the Chicago Hounds, RFCLA, Seattle Seawolves, and the Utah Warriors each have two midweek games.  

• MLRPA:
  • The union representing the players "strongly condemned" the schedule, citing concerns over player welfare and safety - highlighting that the San Diego Legion are scheduled to play three games in nine days - and the lack of play consultation.

Venue Updates:

• Anthem RC: will play two home matches at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex, with one in support of Carolina Ruggerfest.  

• RFCLA: will play six of their eight home games at UCLA's Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The other two home matches are TBD.

• San Diego Legion: will return to Torero Stadium, home of the club for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

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‍Latest Player Moves:

• Chicago Hounds
  • Center Billy Meakes announced that he has left the club [likely headed to RFCLA].
• Houston SaberCats
  • Center Dom Akina
• Miami Sharks
  • Scrumhalf Martin Elias

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🏉 QUICK HITS 🏉

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British & Irish Lions: Lions to face indigenous-heritage team in Australia (BBC Sport)

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‍College Rugby: CSU Win Caps 5-0 Conference Run (Goff Rugby Report)

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‍Commentary: Global rugby revolution? More like Mickey Mouse leagues for the gullible (The Guardian)

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‍Maccabi USA Rugby: Men's Selections for the 2025 Maccabiah Games (Maccabi USA Rugby)

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‍Women’s Super Rugby Champions Final: Super Rugby Aupiki and Super W champions set to square off in 2025 (RugbyPass)