Week One Wrap-Up

written by: Joe Harvey

NOLA Gold 36 – 31 Toronto Arrows

The Toronto Arrows began their MLR campaign with a narrow defeat at the hands of NOLA Gold.

It was the Gold who started the game quickest. Australian Scott Gale scored the first try of the contest following some great work by USA Eagle Cam Dolan on the wing. NOLA fullback, JP Eloff, converted his teammates try.

Toronto began to find their feet after going behind and eventually scored a try through Canada Sevens legend, John Moonlight, after sustained pressure on the NOLA try line. New Zealander Sam Malcolm converted Moonlight’s try.

NOLA finished the half with a healthy lead thanks to scores from wing Tim Maupin, Canadian hooker Eric Howard, and ex-Australia Sevens stalwart Con Foley. Foley’s score came when Toronto were down to 14 men after Jack Evans tripped his opposite number. Eloff converted one of these scores to give NOLA a 24-7 halftime lead.

Chris Silverthorn’s Toronto enjoyed a much better second half. Wing Dan Moor scored two tries to put Toronto back into the game while Malcolm converted only one of Moor’s efforts. JP Eloff broke up the Toronto offensive onslaught with an impressive solo score where the Eagle breezed past the Arrows defenders.

The visitors were awarded a penalty try when a NOLA defender knocked the ball down in a try-scoring position for the Arrows. Gold scored their final try through South African Tristan Blewett. Displaying good soccer skills, the center rounded his opposition to get a try on debut. Toronto made the final five minutes a tense affair with John Sheridan scoring the match’s last try.

Austin Elite Rugby 20 – 21 Houston SaberCats

At a wet Dell Diamond stadium, Houston picked up just their second ever win in MLR. Two early Sam Windsor penalties nudged the SaberCats ahead as Justin Fitzpatrick’s side settled much quicker than Austin.

Austin took a narrow lead in the 11th minute thanks to a Chris Schade try. The hooker, who also played at prop in this game, bundled over the line after a strong driving maul, allowing French scrum-half, Mickael Romera, to kick his first MLR points.

Australian flyhalf, Windsor, gave Houston the lead again with two more penalties after Austin infringements. Austin recorded a penalty of their own to bring the first half to a close as Romera slotted a difficult kick to make it 10-12 in favor of Houston at half-time.

Peni Tagive was shown yellow in the second half, giving Windsor his fifth shot at goal in the game. Naturally, MLRs highest ever points scorer obliged to give Houston a five-point lead.

Houston didn’t have such a rosy time of things from this point. The SaberCats defended their own five-meter channel for four minutes straight before the Elite eventually broke them down to score a try through Canadian lock Josh Larsen. Timothee Guillimin, Austin’s flyhalf, kicked the conversion to put his side in front.Guillimin kicked a penalty with only seven minutes left on the clock, meaning Houston only needed three points to win. Eventually, as the clock ticked into overtime, Houston was awarded a penalty. Windsor kept composed to score his seventh penalty of the game and secure a Houston win.

San Diego Legion 23 – 25 Rugby United New York

After a nervy start from both sides, Chris Mattina scored the first ever try in RUNY history in the MLR as the former USA Sevens man benefitted from Luke Hume’s energetic run. Cathal Marsh converted the score to give the traveling side an early advantage.

Hume would be in action again, heavily involved in yet another RUNY score. The Australia-born back broke through before finding Ben Foden, whose pass to Connor Wallace-Sims put the wing in at the corner. Marsh failed to convert that try but did get three points for a penalty 10 minutes later.

Legion scored their first points when scrum-half Nick Boyer opportunistically took the ball at the base of a ruck to dive over the whitewash which gave Joe Pietersen two points for converting the score. RUNY went into the break with a 15-7 lead.

Pietersen kicked two penalties early on in the second half, drawing Legion closer to their opponents and he continued to lead the Legion revival, making an impressive break that resulted in another penalty for the 34-year-old to score.

Another penalty followed soon after, giving Legion the lead. Marsh stemmed the Pietersen tidal wave briefly with a second RUNY penalty that gave the New Yorkers a narrow lead heading into the final quarter. But, Pietersen had different ideas. Scoring and converting his own try, he dragged opposition defenders over the line with him to touchdown.

Trailing, RUNY were camped in the Legion 22m with less than 10 minutes remaining. But, when a pass out to the touchline was knocked down by Fijian Save Totovasua, referee Paul-Henri Courbier awarded a penalty try and put Totovasua in the sin-bin for the closing stages. The penalty try was enough to give RUNY a 25-23 win in their first ever MLR match.