NEWS

News Jul-12-2021

Round 17 Recap

WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER DIEGEL FOR THE RUGBY NETWORK

Week 17 was highlighted by one massive upset that put a damper in the playoff hopes of one Eastern Conference contender. Elsewhere, the Western Conference playoff is set and teams look to finish the season strong as we head into the final week of the season.

The Playoff Picture is Set in the West…

The LA Giltinis’ 31-17 victory over Austin not only secured the season sweep but, coupled with Utah’s bonus point loss, set the Western Conference playoff position in stone.

Utah is now six league points ahead of Austin heading in the final week of the regular season. LA is nine points ahead of the Warriors, so has the one-seed locked up. It will be interesting to see how the strategies of this weekend’s LA-Utah match shape up. Will the teams go for broke and try to get the mental edge with the win ahead of the playoff clash? Or will the coaches take it easy, rest some veterans and keep the playbook bland ahead of the Big One?

…Though Not Quite So in the East

A week after its shocking win over LA, New Orleans was the victim of a surprising result Sunday night. The Seattle Seawolves snapped a seven-game losing streak and put the Gold’s playoff status in serious jeopardy in the meantime.

NOLA is now five points behind Rugby United New York, so needs to secure the bonus point victory, and make it a zero-point effort for New York in the process to make it a tiebreaker situation. In that scenario, the teams would be tied for wins on the season (the first tiebreaker) so aggregate score would be the next determining factor. To put it simply: New Orleans needs to win by 20 points while holding New York under four tries in order to sneak into the playoffs.

It’s a tall task, for sure but don’t write New York into the Eastern Conference final just yet; the Gold rang up 51 points en route to a 23-point victory in the teams’ first match of the season. From the New York perspective, a five-point win would enter the tiebreaker scenarios and could result in a steal of the conference’s top seed from Rugby ATL, pending the results of its road match versus New England.

This league has established itself as an “anything can happen” competition; there’s still plenty to play for in this final weekend.

Seattle May Have Found Something for the 2022 Season

The Seawolves’ upset 30-6 win over NOLA Gold gave Seattle fans plenty of optimism for next season. The defense resembled the 2018-19 “Seawall” unit that delivered two championships, and there were some offensive sparks as well.

Rookies Aaron Matthews and Lauina Futi were moved from wing into the centers, providing plenty of pace and speed in the midfield. Seattle also displayed a dominant lineout; the platform provided by the maul produced three tries for the Seawolves.

New England Will Not Go Quietly into the Night

The Free Jacks may have been eliminated from playoff contention a few weeks ago but are ending the season on a high note. That’s two straight wins, including the one over New York to drop it out of playoff position for a week, and now play host to top-seeded Rugby ATL.

If New England plays the spoiler once again it could cost Atlanta the home field advantage in the East. A tenth win would be something to hang its hat on and be filled with optimism for 2022.

Rugby ATL Looks to Finish Strong

While the other contenders have faltered a bit, Atlanta’s a win away from heading into the playoffs as the hottest team of the bunch. ATL has won three straight following its defeat to New York and nine of ten overall. With its top seed on the line, Saturday’s 41-31 road victory over Utah was one to write home about.