Major League Rugby Recap Week 10
Written by Joe Harvey | Photo by Oscar Herrera
Over the weekend, we were treated to five more captivating Major League Rugby matches.
Across Week 10, there was intrigue, whether from teams on the hunt for a return to winning ways or to continue building on recent successes.
Read below to see how the most recent round of action played out.
ANTHEM RC 6-26 NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
The New England Free Jacks have now won four matches in a row with this 26-6 win over Anthem RC.
Mitch Wilson struck two first-half penalties for Anthem at American Legion Memorial Stadium. At the same time, Paula Balekana scored a brace of tries that landed the Free Jacks a half-time lead.
When the game resumed, little could separate the two Eastern Conference teams.
It took until the 68th minute for New England to move further ahead, as Jed Melvin crossed the try line and Isaac Olson’s score in the final 10 minutes to secure five points for the two-time champions.
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES 28-22 CHICAGO HOUNDS
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The Chicago Hounds’ six-match unbeaten run was ended by the Seattle Seawolves on Friday night.
Rodney Iona’s early penalty for Seattle gave the hosts an early lead and Divan Rossouw soon followed up with the game’s opening try.
A score for Chicago’s Mark O’Keeffe went unconverted by Tim Swiel, who was shown a yellow card in the 20th minute.
Despite being a player down, Chicago leveled the scores with a Michael Baska penalty.
Even when restored to their full numbers, the Hounds were helpless in preventing Riekert Hattingh from getting over the whitewash.
Swiel’s second yellow card in the 45th minute had Chicago reduce a player for another 20-minute block, and Iona soon took advantage of that decision with his second penalty.
Lucas Rumball’s try for the Hounds provided a brief respite, especially as Bryce Campbell’s yellow card allowed Iona another shot at goal.
To conclude the match, Lauina Futi scored a try for Seattle, and Jason Higgins crossed the whitewash for the Hounds.
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OLD GLORY DC 35-37 MIAMI SHARKS
A week after beating the Houston SaberCats, the Miami Sharks doubled down on that win with this 37-35 win over Old Glory DC.
It was a fast start at the Maryland SoccerPlex, where Tomas Cubelli was shown an early yellow card with just seconds played, and Perry Humphreys registered the game’s opening try in the second minute.
Regardless of going behind, the Sharks rallied to score four unanswered tries through Sean McNulty, Martin Elias, Matias Orlando, and Tomas Cubilla.
Shane O’Leary extended Miami’s lead further while DC’s Jason Emery was in the sin bin, and Tex Naqali scored a try for the home side.
As the second half got underway, Old Glory grew into the game further as Nick Grigg and Facundo Gattas dotted down.
O’Leary kicked two more penalties for Miami as the game wound down.
The Sharks were reduced to 13 players as Alec McDonnell and Josiah Morra were shown late yellow cards, and DC’s Brady Daniel ended proceedings with his late effort.
HOUSTON SABERCATS 17-15 NOLA GOLD
On Saturday, the Houston SaberCats ended their two-game losing streak with a 17-15 win over the NOLA Gold.
It was a result that the hosts had to dig deep for after trailing 12-5 at half-time.
Early on, the two teams traded early scores as NOLA’s Nikolai Foliaki and Houston’s Pita Anae-Ah Sue traded early tries.
As the two teams looked for an added edge, the Gold’s Tupou Ma’afu-Afungia was sent to the sin bin, although being reduced a player did the team no harm as Ruben de Haas crossed the try line on the stroke of the halfway point.
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To ultimately win the clash, Tautalatasi Tasi and Sam Tuifa crossed the try line and were ultimately out of sight. NOLA’s only points in the second half came from Luke Carty's boot.
SAN DIEGO LEGION 18-31 UTAH WARRIORS
The Utah Warriors subjected the San Diego Legion to a fourth consecutive loss in a row.
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With just two minutes played, Legion’s Charlie Hewitt received a yellow card, an advantage capitalized on by the Warriors, who scored tries through Joey Mano and Jordan Trainor on either side of a Lincoln McClutchie penalty.
Kalisi Moli registered Utah’s third try of the game, before tries for Legion’s Jimmy Hokafonu and McClutchie meant that the score was 19-15 in favor of the road team at the break.
Shortly after Tavite Lopeti’s yellow card, Liam Coltman rumbled across the Torero Stadium whitewash, and Zion Going also dotted down for the game’s final score moments after McClutchie knocked over another penalty.