NEWS

Round 17 | First XV, Player of the Week

1. Loosehead Prop, Djustice Sears-Duru (Seattle Seawolves) – Djustice’s scrummaging has come on in recent weeks and has established an attacking platform that will be a key piece of the Seawolves playoff run. On attack, he took three hard carries for five meters. Where his work rate was needed, though, were his 10 tackles on defense.

1. Hooker, Stephan Coetzee (Seattle Seawolves) – Stephan took two tries in off the great set-piece attack of the Seawolves and dished a try-assist to JP Smith. On attack, he finished with six carries for 20 meters, one line-break, and one offload. Defensively, he completed nine tackles. He also showed why he is one of the more skillful hookers in Major League Rugby with one kick in play for 21 meters.

1. Tighthead Prop, Dino Waldren (San Diego Legion) – Dino, starting in place of Paddy Ryan, put on a strong effort around the park at the breakdown. When Pat Blair went off with a yellow card, he showed his versatility by sliding over to hooker without missing a beat, successfully hooking the ball back during each feed into the Legion scrum. He made three carries for 16 meters and contributed 10 important tackles around the park.

1. Left Lock, Diego Magno (Houston SaberCats) – Whether it has been in the second row or in the back row, Diego has been an integral part of the SaberCats attacking scrum platform with his absolute strength. He powerfully carried the ball in the open field to beat up the Gold defense with 16 carries for 56 meters and one offload. On defense, he completed seven tackles and achieved one breakdown steal.

1. Right Lock, Nate Brakeley (Rugby United New York) – Nate is a key fixture for New York. When he’s fed the ball, he pushes hard through defenders and he did that on Sunday with 13 carries for 40 meters. In the aerial attack, he provided the chance for New York to run their set-piece by completing three lineout-takes and disrupting Austin’s with a lineout steal. On defense, he brought his hard hat by completing 15 tackles.

1. Blindside Flanker, Ben Mitchell (Austin Elite) – In an unexpected start, Ben Mitchell was called into the squad late and went to work. He led Austin Elite Rugby with his effort throughout the entire match with 15 carries for 63 meters and two offloads on attack. In the aerial attack, he successfully completed three competitive lineout-takes. He brought it on the day defensively, successfully making 23 tackles.

1. Openside Flanker, Nakai Penny (Seattle Seawolves) – Nakai continued his defensive prominence on Saturday by completing 22 tackles against Glendale. He effectively shut down powerful ball carriers in the likes of Luke White and Brendan Daly. On attack, he carried eight hard times into contact for 43 meters against the Raptors.

1. No 8., Dylan Fawsitt (Rugby United New York) – Front row, or back row. For The Butcher, it doesn’t matter. Dylan gives his side everything he has in the tank from the kickoff to the final whistle. He scored a try off the maul early in the second half to kickstart his side towards their bonus point win. On attack, he finished with 16 carries for 58 meters and one offload. Defensively, he left it all on the pitch with 20 tackles.

1. Scrum-half, Nate Augspurger (San Diego Legion) – Nate marshaled a sluggish San Diego Legion side to a bonus point road victory from his service to his quick thinking. He scored a try late in the second half, sprinting from the backside of a maul which settled the San Diego lead. On attack, he finished with five carries for 35 meters, one line break, and one offload. He brought ruthless effort and speed on defense with 17 tackles and two breakdown-steals. He created important field position for the Legion with his seven kicks for 121 meters.

1. Fly-half, Juan-Philip Smith (Seattle Seawolves) – Starting the match at scrum-half, an injury to Ben Cima early in the match saw JP shift to fly-half. Great passes and great running saw him score two tries with nine carries for 73 meters, one line-break, and one tackle-break on attack. JP’s eight booming kicks for 265 meters had a huge influence on the match by forcing Glendale into multiple precarious positions. On defense, he helped shut down the Raptors high-flying attack with 13 tackles.

1. Left Wing, Connor Wallace-Sims (Rugby United New York) – Connor always makes things happen off the left side. He made a key pass to Matt Hughston, going back in support to finish receiving a try assist from Hughston, to score a try in the fourth quarter of play. With Bennett not steady on the day, he also showed off his boot by completing a conversion following Mike Petri’s try. He finished with nine carries for 75 meters, one tackle break, and one offload on attack. He used his fast kicking game to help break through the Austin line with two kicks in play for 44 meters. He added five tackles on defense to round out his afternoon.

1. Inside Center, Will Leonard (Rugby United New York) – Now that he’s back and fit, Will Leonard has put on a show with his ability to slice through defenses. That’s exactly what he did on Sunday against the Austin Elite with 10 carries for 94 meters. His keen sense of spatial awareness makes him an excellent distributor in contact, which he executed by completing three offloads. He also completed eight tackles on defense.

1. Outside Center, Josua Vici (Houston SaberCats) – Since coming back from suspension, Vici has shifted from winger to center. The move has only seen him bloom, this time with 13 powerful carries that shredded the Gold defense for 174 meters, two line-breaks, four tackle-breaks, and one offload. On defense, he contributed five tackles. Vici was a machine against the Gold.

1. Right Wing, John Ryberg (Glendale Raptors) – Whatever that could be done to stem the tide against the Seawolves, Johnny “Muscles” Ryberg did it. He scored a try, carried the ball 13 times for an astounding 200 meters, four-line breaks, four tackle-breaks, and distributed three offloads, which tore apart the Seawolves defense. He showed another skill in his toolbox, putting one kick in play for 40 meters and also completed four tackles in defense.

1. Fullback, Dylan Taikato-Simpson (Glendale Raptors) – Another highlight for Glendale continues to be DTS. During Saturday’s match against the Seawolves, Dylan made a slight pass to Ryberg who muscled through Jeff Hassler and then offloaded back to DTS to score a try early in the first half to keep the Raptors in the match. He finished the day with eight carries for 127 meters, three line breaks, two tackle breaks, four offloads, and six kicks in play for 184 meters.

Player of the Week: Fly-Half, Juan-Philip Smith (Seattle Seawolves) – JP’s leg was the first thing that he showed the fans on Saturday. He blasted booming kicks downfield to take away any chances that Glendale had at being successful in the field position game. Ben Cima went out with an injury early in the first half, which resulted in a dramatic shift in his role as he moved into a distributor and playmaking role. JP cut through the Raptors defense and scored two tries while also finding teammates in space every time the ball hit his hands. JP dictated the flow of the game until the final whistle and ultimately silenced Glendale’s potential comeback.