USRN

The second weekend of the MLR picked up where week one left off with some action packed games. From the rain soaked game between Seattle Seawolves and San Diego Legion where conditions were extremely difficult to another terrific display from NOLA Gold who racked up another win and bonus point combination.

The Utah Warriors got their season off to the start they would have wanted by beating Austin Elite Rugby. Their season could not have got off to a better start with a try in 4th minute with the experienced ex Connacht man Fetu’u Vainikolo spraying out a sublime pass for Flanker Elkington to touch down in the corner. Austin kept within touching distance through the boot of Guillimin but an additional try from Lance Williams proved to be the deciding factor for Utah to grab their opening win of the season.

San Diego travelled up to Seattle where they were met with gale force winds and pouring rain to make for miserable playing conditions. The conditions proved to be the deciding factor in this error strewn game with the Legion irking out a win. Two tries in the first half from Mike Te’o and a penalty try for collapsing the scrum proved to be enough to push San Diego over the line and get the win.

The NOLA Gold continued their impressive form with a comprehensive win over the Glendale Raptors to gain maximum points for the second weekend in a row. The Gold had a comfortable cushion at half time and the second half proved to be no different and Raptors never really looked like troubling the Gold enough to snatch the victory.

So far the Gold look like the team to beat by taking maximum points, but they have a game in hand on the Warriors, RUNY, SaberCats and the Toronto Arrows. Check out the standings here.

Next weekend sees the Arrows escape the cold as Austin play hosts, while Houston travel to San Diego and NOLA Gold are at home to Seattle. Check out the full schedule.

Photo: Norma Salinas.