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Eastern Conference Final Preview | New England vs Chicago

Written by Joe Harvey

Saturday’s Eastern Conference Final promises to deliver much when the New England Free Jacks host the Chicago Hounds at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.

The rivals have played each other twice in the regular season before entering the Major League Rugby Playoffs presented by sportsbreaks.com.

So far, the series between the clubs is tied.

In Week 4, the Free Jacks went to the Midwest and walked away with a 22-17 victory. Six weeks later, Chicago turned over the defending champions 26-20 in Massachusetts.

Saturday’s game will be another chapter in a contest that is due to be fierce, physical, and relentless.

Coming into the clash, both teams were forced to dig deep.

New England weathered a Connor Buckley-shaped storm to progress to the Eastern Conference Final.

Photo by Ed Moran

The scrum-half registered a trio of tries in the Playoff Semifinal and kept his team firmly in the game until the very end.

After finishing the contest with a 33-29 win, influential center Wayne van der Bank and his team have gained confidence.

“To get the win over DC, they are a strong team, we enjoyed the victory, and the team feels good about it,” van der Bank said.

“We know small things we can fix, but in general, we felt good about the game.

“We know we have that extra we can give in a game, so the team is happy about that.

“This year, we have left every game to the end and had to dig deep. We are used to that feeling now.

Photo by Ed Moran

“We have matured over this season regarding that. We will definitely be ready for it this weekend.

“We have been in this situation, so we know how to navigate those difficult games. It is good preparation.”

A day later, in Louisiana, the Chicago Hounds were playing their first-ever Playoff game.

Luke Carty kicked 15 points in the Midwesterners’ 45-21 win over a NOLA Gold side that made life difficult at times.

To prepare, Hounds players wore trash bags under their jerseys to replicate the heat and humidity of playing in the Deep South.

“I felt that training throughout the week. I was a bit more out of breath and more hot and bothered,” Carty said.

“Even if it is just a placebo and there is not much benefit, we all felt like we did it together.

“Maybe there is something in that regard. Then maybe the heat just didn’t throw it as much as it could have.

“We always knew NOLA was a good team, but especially at home, we knew they would come out and have a purple patch.

“They were on fire for the first 20 minutes, got a few early scores, and we had a few individual errors. Myself included.

“We bounced back from that and in the second half started well, which was pleasing. The bench came on and put us away in the end.”

After playing in their first Playoffs game, the Hounds are now preparing for their first Eastern Conference Final.

Finishing with an 8-7-1 record, it was not an easygoing campaign for the second-year club.

Even so, regular season wins over the Free Jacks, San Diego Legion, and the Gold were enough to show that Chicago was ready to test their mettle in the postseason.

About to face the reigning champions nearly three months after their famous victory on the East Coast, Carty is more than aware of the challenge awaiting his team on Saturday.

“It is Finals rugby,” Carty said.

“It will come down to fine margins, and everyone doing their job to the best of their ability and showing up for the team.

“Throughout the week, you have got to prepare as best you are ready to go when it does come to the Conference final this weekend.

“I would just say everyone is doing their job, and collectively, everyone is coming together as a team and sticking to their game plan.

“We haven’t got that far yet.

“It is still a pretty big task ahead of us to go to the reigning champions and beat them in their backyard.

“We will try and get through this weekend first, and then we will go from there.”

In recent years, the Free Jacks have gotten used to attention.

For the past two years, Scott Mathie and the Veterans Memorial Stadium team have hosted the Eastern Conference Final after ruling the roost.

2024 has brought different challenges.

This time around, the team has had a target on their backs and has found the going tougher.

Reigning champions after beating San Diego Legion in the Championship Final last year in Chicago, there is plenty of motivation for their opponents to make a statement.

For New England, there is plenty of desire to win back-to-back Shields.

It would only be the second time that a side has done so after the Seattle Seawolves crowned themselves victors in the 2018 and 2019 MLR seasons.

With the experience of winning the Playoffs a year ago, New England’s hopes are not far from the surface, and another shot at glory is within touching distance.

“Winning it last year does bring some sort of confidence to the team,” van der Bank said.

“The fact that we have been there, that a lot of boys have played in finals, and experienced how it feels to play in a final, brings some confidence.

“But it is a new year with new challenges, new opponents, new players

“Winning the championship two years in a row would be amazing for the Free Jacks. It would just show what the club is about.

“From players to staff, I think it would just show the care that is in this team, the culture we have.

“A win would reflect all of that, so it would be an amazing achievement for us, and I can’t think of anything better to end the season.

“Winning it twice would be something that not many people have done. We’d be very happy.”