NEWS

Round Seven Recap

WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER DIEGEL FOR THE RUGBY NETWORK

Week Seven’s matches across the league featured two sets of nearly-identical matches. Saturday’s games were decided by halftime, while Sunday’s matches went down to the final whistle. Read along to catch up on the weekend’s action.

New England Earns Impressive Road Victory over San Diego

The New England Free Jacks put on a show at the LA Coliseum, jumping on top of San Diego early and cruising to a 33-17 win. Lock Jackson Thiebes got things started with a break on a great line, and a couple of phases later Dougie Fife did what he does best and dotted down.

After some back and forth play that saw an opportunity go begging for the Legion, New England had front foot ball on a 5 meter scrum. Number eight Wian Conradie picked and hit a charging John Poland who dotted down the visitors’ second try of the game 13 minutes in.

San Diego got the ball back on the kickoff but turned it over after some stout defense from New England. Wing Poasa Waqanibau stripped the ball in contact, made the break and found Poland for the scrummy’s second try in two minutes. The conversion was good, and the 21-0 lead Free Jacks’ lead held all the way into halftime.

San Diego cut the gap 10 minutes after the break with a try after a New England penalty, and the conversion made it 21-7. That was as close as it got for the hosts though. The Legion had a man sent to the bin and the Free Jacks capitalized with Fife’s second try at 62’ try to seal this one.

The win puts New England near the top of the standings, embattled in a three-way 3-3 third place tie with Atlanta and Toronto, all of whom have 16 league points.

LA Remains Perfect, Rolls Old Glory 47-17

LA ran through Old Glory DC to make it six bonus point victories out of six chances to stay on top of the league. Old Glory looked like it would take a big swing at the hosts early, playing aggressively and earning the game’s first points via a Jason Robertson penalty kick. However, LA went on one of its high-powered runs after that, scoring back-to-back tries within moments and notching 33 unanswered points in the half overall.

Old Glory scored a couple of tries in the second half, but the damage was well done and LA cruised to the victory. While the Giltinis improved at the top of the league, DC drops to the bottom of the Eastern Conference at 2-3-1 with 13 league points.

Second Half Surge Seals Win for NOLA Gold

Things looked bleak for NOLA Gold nearly 60 minutes into its home match versus the Toronto Arrows. The visitors were powered by two first-half Manuel Montero tries and were looking for the knockout blow. NOLA had had its opportunities to score throughout the match but had turned it over on attacking set pieces at the 5M line time and again.

NOLA was able to flip the switch at 57 minutes, and it was indeed set piece execution that delivered the comeback victory. It started with a lineout and maul finished by Cam Dolan, who had moved into the second row for this game.

Then it was another well-executed play deep in Toronto territory just five minutes later that led to Julian Dominguez’ try in the corner. With Carl Meyer out due to a head injury, Damian Stevens was up for the shot at posts, and his kick was wide keeping the Arrows up 14-12. Stevens had a chance at a more makeable angle moments later, but again was wide at 65’.

NOLA continued to put the pressure on to earn a penalty and yellow card advantage for repeated infringements by Toronto. This time Stevens was good and suddenly Toronto was in control, 15-14 with just over 10 minutes to go. New Orleans was all of a sudden hot in the set piece and executed, finding Dominguez again on an insert. Stevens’ conversion made it a two possession game, and NOLA was able to finish out the win, 22-14.

The win was crucial for NOLA Gold as it got back to the top of the Eastern Conference, tied with Rugby United New York at 19 league points apiece.

New York Breaks Through Sea Wall, Holds on for Last Minute Victory

Back with its fans at Sunfire Stadium, the Seattle Seawolves looked like the defending MLR Champions for over 70 minutes Sunday night. However, visiting Rugby United New York found a way to steal the lead and hang on in the final moment.

Seattle came out firing with big wing Ross Neal bursting through the line on an inside ball from Shalom Suniula, centered for the early 7-0 lead. Two New York penalty kicks made it 7-6, then Neal found space again on a turnover. The sideline conversion from #10 Kieran Joyce was good and it was 14-6 Seattle.

New York threatened in the waning moments of the first half but Seattle regained possession and got it deep in attacking territory. The lineout was well-executed and the powerful maul put the forwards across the try line, Joyce was good and it was 21-6 Seawolves entering halftime.

With the familiar “Sea Wall, Sea Wall” chanted from the stands for the first time in 421 days, it seemed like Seattle would seal this one up, but New York had other ideas. New York executed a maul of its own, Dylan “The Butcher” Fawsitt dotted down and the Dan Hollinshead conversion made it 21-13 with plenty of time to play.

Flanker Hanco Germishuys, back from injury and playing his best game of the season, charged through Seattle’s defense on a pick from the back of the ruck to score; Hollinshead’s critical conversion made it 21-20 with seven minutes left to play.

New York kept the pressure on and Hollinshead was good again, this time from range on the penalty kick to give his team its first lead, 23-21 with four minutes left to play. Seattle had plenty of possession and earned a penalty of its own in stoppage play. Seawolves’ stalwart Matt Turner lined it up, struck it well, but the kick was just off and the visitors held on for the victory.

The win puts New York at the top of the table in the Eastern Conference, tied with NOLA Gold at 19 league points. Seattle proved it will not go quietly into the night, but does remain at the bottom of the league standings.