NEWS

Geico XV | Week 12

Loosehead Prop,  Olive Kilifi – Utah Warriors

Kilifi came off the bench to deliver a man of the match performance against his former club. On attack he scored a try from eight carries for 32 meters and a tacklebreak.

Hooker, Robin Coetzee – Austin Gilgronis

Coetzee put in a solid performance in the set-piece with 100% accuracy on his lineout throws.  On attack he made seven carries for 34 meters, a line break, and an offload. On defense he completed 14 tackles in the breakdown he completed a breakdown steal and had 17 ruck arrivals.

Tighthead Prop, Eric de Jager – New England Free Jacks

De Jager put in a solid performance against Jamie Dever at scrum time giving the Free Jacks a platform to attack from.  On attack he scored a try from four carries for 19 meters. On defense he completed three tackles and had 19 ruck arrivals in the breakdown. 

Left Lock, Josh Furno – San Diego Legion

Furno created a mess of the Toronto lineout when he went up in the air disrupting numerous throws from Quattrin and coming down with two lineout steals. Also proving to be the chief target for Dean Muir in the aerial game coming down with seven lineout takes. On attack he scored two tries from three carries for 18 meters and two tackle breaks. On defense he made eight tackles and in the breakdown he completed a breakdown steal and had 16 ruck arrivals.  

Right Lock, Cam Dodson – Austin Gilgronis

Dodson had a breakout performance for Austin bringing a high work rate.  He was the chief target for Coetzee in the aerial game coming down with eight lineout takes and helping the maul work to perfection.  On attack he scored a try from four carries for 30 meters made. On defense he completed 15 tackles and had 25 ruck arrivals in the breakdown.    

Blindside Flanker, Tera Mtembu – New England Free Jacks

Tera was often in the right place at the right time when he was needed on defense with his eight tackles or in the breakdown with his nine ruck arrivals. On attack he scored a key try from eight carries for 50 meters, a line break, a tackle break, and an offload.   

Openside Flanker, Bailey Wilson – Utah Warriors

Wilson seemed to be what was needed to fix the Utah set-piece.  He was the primary target for Vugakoto coming down from the air with 11 lineout takes. On attack he scored a try from four carries for 35 meters, a line break, and two tackle breaks.  On defense he made 11 tackles and had 14 ruck arrivals in the breakdown. 

No 8., Cam Dolan – NOLA Gold

Dolan played heads up Rugby seeing Van Schalkwyk’s hands on the ball he charged through the ruck to take the ball and score NOLA’s try.  On attack he made the hard carries in contact with 10 carries for 25 meters, a line break, two tackle breaks, and an offload.  On defense he made six tackles and in the breakdown he completed a breakdown steal and 25 ruck arrivals.  In the aerial game he came down with 12 lineout takes and completely destroyed the Rugby ATL set piece creating numerous disruptions and coming away with two lineout steals. 

Scrum-half, Ethan McVeigh – San Diego Legion

McVeigh has impressed over several weeks marshalling the San Diego attack with his service out of the ruck.  On Saturday he scored a seven-point try from two carries for 24 meters and a line break. 

Fly-half, Joe Pietersen – San Diego Legion

Pietersen was a wizard with his pass and boot.  He controlled the territory of the match with 12 kicks for 530 meters. He scored 14 points from three penalties, a drop goal, and a conversion.  On attack he made four carries for 15 meters and a tackle break. 

Left Wing,  Leandro Leivas – Toronto Arrows

Every time Leivas touched the ball something positive happened darting in and out of the Legion defense.  On attack he scored a try from nine carries for 105 meters, a line break, a tackle break, and three offloads. 

Inside Center, Tiaan Loots – San Diego Legion

Loots has become a workhorse on attack for the Legion.  Against the Arrows his number was called time and again to take the ball into contact.  He scored a try from 11 carries for 87 meters, a line break, and four tackle breaks. On defense he made five tackles and had five ruck arrivals in the breakdown.  

Outside Center, Ross Neal – Seattle Seawolves

Neal was a key cog in the Seattle attack that put itself ahead of the Warriors.  He scored two tries from eight carries for 66 meters, two line breaks, and four tackle breaks.  On defense he completed five tackles and had seven ruck arrivals in the breakdown.  

Right Wing, Jeremy Misailegalu – Rugby ATL

With an excellent burst of speed Misailegalu chased down and grounded a Carelse grubber kick to score Rugby ATL’s only try. On attack he made four carries for 41 meters and a tackle break.  On defense he completed eight tackles and four ruck arrivals in the breakdown.  

Fullback, Jaoquin Tuculet – Toronto Arrows

Tuculet like Leivas made positive things happen.  He was key to the response against Pietersen’s massive territory gains from the boot by making 10 kicks for 375 meters.  On attack he scored a try from nine carries for 125 meters, a line break, two tackle breaks, and two offloads. 

Written by Aaron Castro