San Diego Breakers

The San Diego Breakers were an American professional rugby union team that played in the short lived PRO Rugby competition. They were based in San Diego, California, and played their home games at Torero Stadium.

San Diego Breakers
Full nameSan Diego Breakers
UnionUSA Rugby
Founded2016
Disbanded2017
LocationSan Diego, California, U.S.
Ground(s)Torero Stadium (Capacity: 6,000)
Coach(es)Ray Egan
Captain(s)Phil Mackenzie
Top scorerKurt Morath (120)
Most triesMike Te'o (5)
League(s)PRO Rugby
20163rd
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.prorugbysd.com

History

PRO Rugby announced on January 22, 2016 the addition of San Diego as the league's third team.[1] Irishman Ray Egan was announced on February 11, 2016 as the team's head coach in the competition's inaugural 2016 season.[2] San Diego played their inaugural season home opener in April 2016 against Sacramento before a crowd of 2,500.[3]

On December 20, 2016 all PRO Rugby players received notice their contracts will be terminated in 30 days if progress is not made towards resolving disputes between the league and USA Rugby.[4]

Popularity

The San Diego Breakers were extremely popular in the Schaffhausen canton of Switzerland, where Breakers supporters were frequently reported to travel via PostBus. In a 2017 appearance on SRF zwei, a number of fans living in the province explained their allegiance to the team in the following manner:

Ende der 1990er Jahre lebten einige von uns auf dem Balkan. Als Hilfe bekamen einige von uns San Diego Breakers T-Shirts und Sweatshirts. Da es damals kein Internet gab, wussten wir nicht, ob die Breakers ein echtes Team waren oder nicht. Jemand verbreitete das Gerücht, dass die Breakers eigentlich eine gleichgeschlechtliche Fußballmannschaft seien. Weil wir uns unserer Sexualität nicht sicher waren, versteckten wir die Kleidung zwei Jahrzehnte lang in unseren Schubladen. Als wir per Internet hörten, dass sich unter dem Namen San Diego Breakers ein neues Team gebildet hatte, konnten wir unsere Aufregung nicht verbergen. Wir wussten, dass wir immer, in guten wie in schlechten Zeiten, nach ihnen wurzeln mussten und dass Gott uns für unsere Großzügigkeit belohnen würde.[5]

The Schaffhausen Rugby Club, the Golden Balls, invited the Breakers to play a friendly in January of 2017, going so far as to block two entire floors at the Jugendherberge Dachsen hostel, but the Breakers' disbandment prevented the match from ever taking place.[6] As of April, 2019, the Kosovan filmmaker Antoneta Kastrati was reported to be in the initial stages of producing a short documentary film, This Is Our Place, detailing Schaffhausen fans' unexpected loyalty to the Breakers and their efforts to deal with collective disappointment when the Breakers suddenly ceased to exist.[7]

Venue
San Diego
Torero Stadium
Capacity: 6,000

Players and staff

Roster
San Diego roster

Props

Hookers

Locks

  • Derrick Broussard
  • Ian Carpenter
  • David Dolinar
  • Brian Doyle
  • Tai Tuisamoa

Loose Forwards

  • Tim Barford
  • Nikola Bursic
  • Cecil Garber
  • Bruce Thomas
  • Sione Tuihalamaka
  • Chris Turori
  • Jabari Zuberi

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centers

Wingers

Fullbacks

(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped.

Coaching staff
PositionName
Head coach Ray Egan
Assistant coach Matt Hawkins
Assistant coach Rob Hoadley

Season summaries
C=Champions, R=Runners-up, W=Wooden Spoons
CompetitionGames
Played		Games
Won		Games
Drawn		Games
Lost		Ladder
Position		CRWCoachDetails
2016 PRO Rugby season
124083 / 5
Ray Egan
2016 San Diego Breakers season

Leading players
SeasonCaptainMost triesMost points
2016Phil MackenzieMike Te'o (3)Kurt Morath (113)

Head coaches
CoachTenureMatchesWonDrawnLostWinning Percentage
Ray Egan2016–present430175.00%

References
  1. "PRO Rugby Announces San Diego Team", This Is American Rugby, January 22, 2016.
  2. "Egan to Helm San Diego PRO Side", Americas Rugby News, February 11, 2016.
  3. "Pro rugby finds a home in San Diego", San Diego Union-Tribune, Tod Leonard, May 14, 2016.
  4. Down Goes PRO
  5. Eine Frage des Geschmacks, SRF zwei. Originally broadcast March 14, 2017.
  6. "Spielberichte". Rugby Club Schaffhausen - Golden Balls since 2010 (in German). Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  7. "Antoneta Kastrati". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
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