Major League Rugby Week 14 Recap
Written By Joe Harvey
If predicting the final standings in the Eastern and Western Conferences was not already challenging enough, Week 14 of the Major League Rugby season has certainly made it all the more challenging.
From the Miami Sharks' surprise win over the New England Free Jacks, to Old Glory DC's 10-point haul in the space of five days, or even Rugby Football Club Los Angeles' late win against the Chicago Hounds, things have been left finely poised with three weekends to go.
OLD GLORY DC 27-14 NOLA GOLD
A strong second half helped Old Glory DC to beat fellow Playoffs hopefuls NOLA Gold 27-14.
Jason Emery broke the deadlock after 23 minutes as both teams tested one another for the game's opening quarter. Immediately after Luke Carty failed to land a penalty of his own, NOLA were awarded a penalty try, and DC's Jack Iscaro impeded a try-scoring opportunity for the visitors.
A score for Julian Roberts moved the Gold further ahead; however, the visitors were reduced a player when Tupou Ma'afu-Afungia went to the sin bin. Ahead of halftime Facundo Gattas scored a try for DC.
Cory Daniel's and Nick Grigg's efforts in the second half landed Old Glory the lead, and Gattas' second score in the wake of Reece Botha's yellow card, secured five points for the home team.
MIAMI SHARKS 30-19 NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
With a 30-19 win over the New England Free Jacks on Friday night, the Miami Sharks have put a seven-point buffer between themselves and fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
A fast start in Florida saw Shane O'Leary slot a penalty and Marcos Young cross the try line for the home side.
Tevita Sole's converted effort got New England on the board; however, a try for O'Leary extended Miami's lead further ahead of halftime.
To back up their dominant first half, Giuseppe du Toit crossed the whitewash for the home side, and an O'Leary penalty kept the Sharks well ahead.
In the closing quarter of the contest, Wian Conradie registered a pair of tries on either side of Matias Orlando's bonus point-scoring effort.
HOUSTON SABERCATS 40-19 UTAH WARRIORS
The Houston SaberCats' strong first half propelled them to a 40-19 victory over Western Conference rivals the Utah Warriors.
Barely a minute after kick-off at SaberCats Stadium, Juan-Dee Oliver had registered the opening score of the game and Davy Coetzer duly added the conversion.
The hosts' lead grew further as Seth Smith scored on either side of a yellow card for Utah's Jordan Trainor.
Ahead of halftime, Coetzer struck a penalty for Houston, and Oliver dotted down to complete his brace. On the stroke of halftime, the hosts' Ezekiel Lindenmuth received a red card.
Much like in the first half, the SaberCats started quickly, and Tautalatasi Tasi was the beneficiary of another Dam Akina prod through the opposition defense.
In the wake of an AJ Alatimu penalty goal, the Warriors finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a penalty when Houston's Pita Anae-Ah Sue illegally prevented the Warriors from scoring from close range and received a yellow card for his troubles.
After the visitors' Phil Bradford was sent to the sin bin, Alatimu scored his second penalty of the encounter.
As the game drew to a close, Frank Lochore and Joel Hodgson both registered tries for Utah.
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES 29-25 SAN DIEGO LEGION
OJ Noa's last-gasp try for the Seattle Seawolves bagged a much-needed win over Western Conference rivals, the San Diego Legion.
With less than 10 minutes on the clock, each team had raced across the try line, as Seattle's Divan Rossouw and San Diego's Payton Telea-Italio made their presence known.
After a penalty apiece from Rod Iona and Steffan Crimp, a yellow card for Legion's Hugh Roach made way for a Riekert Hattingh try. Before halftime, Seattle's Duncan Matthews was sent to the sin bin.
If the first half was tense, then the second half was entirely frantic.
Legion took the lead thanks to Brad Wilkin and Shilo Klein's scores, which were scored on either side of a try for Matthews. A yellow card for Seattle's Dan Kriel provided extra space for Ryan James to burst through the blue and green defensive line.
To win the contest in front of their home support, a dominant Seattle scrum saw the Seawolves power over the whitewash and only left Noa to fall on the ball over the try line.
ANTHEM RC 19–41 OLD GLORY DC
To pick up a second win in five days, Old Glory DC beat Anthem RC 41-19 in North Carolina.
Old Glory had their try scoring bonus point locked up at halftime as tries for Cory Daniel, Damien Hoyland, Connor Buckley, and Axel Muller cancelled a score for Anthem's Dylan Fortune.
Jake Turnbull dotted down for the hosts at the start of the second half, only for later efforts from Perry Humphreys, KoiKoi Nelligan, and Ignacio Dotti to put the result beyond any doubt.
In the closing stages, EJ Freeman crossed the whitewash for Anthem's third try of the fixture.
CHICAGO HOUNDS 24–26 RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB LOS ANGELES
Rugby Football Club Los Angeles stepped back into the race for the Playoffs with their 26-24 triumph over the Chicago Hounds.
It took Franco van den Berg's score with the game's final play to wrap up a famous win on the road for Stephen Hoiles' team.
As a result, the Western Conference side has moved ahead of the Seattle Seawolves to occupy the final postseason place in their division.
From the start, there was an irrepressible intensity to proceedings at SeatGeek Stadium.
With less than 10 minutes on the clock, Chicago crossed the try line through Maclean Jones, and RFCLA responded shortly after Gonzalo Bertranou cut loose.
Chris Hilsenbeck nudged the Hounds back ahead while Bertranou was in the sin bin, and Ed Timpson handed the visitors the halftime lead with his seventh score of 2025.
To keep in the contest, Peyton Wall was the next try scorer for the hosts. The contest was finely poised after Jason Damm fired back for LA with only 20 minutes left to play.
Just two minutes after his introduction to the match, Lucas Bur received a yellow card for preventing a clear scoring opportunity for the Hounds, who were awarded a penalty try.
With the game finely poised in the final minutes, good possession for RFCLA saw them barrel further and further towards their opponent's try line.
After the clock had ticked into the red, replacement prop Van den Berg dotted down to send the visitors home with five points in their back pocket.