Toronto Rush Versus Montreal Royal: An Unlikely AUDL Rivalry

Is Toronto Rush and Montreal Royal the best rivalry in the AUDL East?

In the 9 games between Toronto and Montreal, the Rush have won 5 times and the Royal have won 4 times.  Toronto won the first three matchups while the Royal have won the 4 of 6 from the Rush. In the Royal's 4 wins, their average margin of victory = 2.25; the Rush's average margin of victory = 8.6 (5 games). Of note, Montreal's first win against Toronto stopped the Rush's incredible 30-game consecutive win streak.

What makes this series so fascinating is how unbeatable the Rush are against all other AUDL East teams since 2013 when Toronto went undefeated. Ottawa Outlaws have never beaten Toronto. Philadelphia Phoenix, never. New York Empire, never. Montreal, who joined the AUDL in 2014, now has 4 wins versus Toronto.

Toronto has an absurdly impressive (55-6) regular season record in the AUDL East since 2013. The D.C. Breeze (2 wins) are the only other AUDL East team besides Montreal Royal (4 wins) to claim a victory against the 4-time AUDL East Division Champion Toronto Rush.

The Rush-Royal series, which is dubbed the "Rumble Cup," has a trophy at stake which looks like:

Rumble Cup [via]

The Rush and Royal match up two more times in the 2017 AUDL season.

[chart inspired by Montreal Royal]