USRN

NOLA 24 – RUNY 27

In what was an extremely close game, RUNY once again irked out a win at the end to bring to an end NOLA Gold’s winning streak. After RUNY initially took the lead through the boot of the sublime Cathal Marsh in the 3rd minute, they would not take the lead again until the 73rd minute when Marsh once again stepped up to slot over a penalty which would see them win the game.

On the NOLA Gold side it was their forwards who starred with new man Tony Lamborn standing out, scoring two tries on his debut. Whilst on the RUNY side it was Cathal Marsh who was the star performer with a personal haul of 17 points for the afternoon. Final score was NOLA 24 – RUNY 27. See the full match report here.

San Diego Legion 21 – Utah Warriors 10

The Legion’s fourth home game in a row was against Warriors who had only played one game previous to this. That momentum and run of games proved to be a deciding factor as San Diego led the game from start to finish. The relationship between out-half Joe Pietersen and center JP du Plessis continues to flourish as once again the two South Africans were fulling the strings. Pietersen’s kicking game was on form today with his kicking out of hand pinning the Warriors defence back at vital stages in the game while his kicking off the tee yielded 11 points. Another encouraging performance was from the young San Diego flanker Devin Short who scored a try and also chased down Utah Warriors winger following an intercept with a try saving tackle. San Diego almost let the Warriors in to score what would have been a losing bonus point at the end through ill discipline at the break down but Utah were unable to capitalize. The game finished San Diego 21 – Utah Warriors 10.

Austin Elite Rugby 13 – Glendale Raptors 24

This game started out slower than some of the other games we have witnessed in the MLR but this proved to be only temporary. Austin Elite started positively, slotting over a penalty early on. The Elite however could not capitalize further on the Raptors ill discipline (you have to imagine others will). Malifa showed some of his seven’s skills with two wonderful dummies, one to go through the gap and score himself the other to set up scrum half de Nysschen. With the barrelling runs of captain Luke White and the pace out wide from Davidson, the Raptors were always on the front foot in this game. Austin rallied in the last 10 minutes and scored a try in the final minutes but it was too little too late and the game ended AER 13 – Raptors 24.

Toronto Arrows 30 – Seattle Seawolves 35

In what was an incredibly close contest, this game went right down to the wire with either team being able to take the spoils right until the very end. The young New Zealander Sam Malcolm looked assured throughout the game slotting over penalties to keep the scoreboard ticking over for Toronto. It was a 7 minute period in the second half in which the Seawolves scored two tries which was the turning point in the game. Brad Tucker burst through the gap on the 57th minute to set up center Suniula and then on the 64th minute fly half Ben Cima spotted a gap and showed great strength to touch down. At this stage Toronto still had a one point lead which set up for an intense final ten minutes but a penalty on the 72nd minute all but sealed the deal. Staller then slotted another penalty on the 77th minute meaning Toronto needed a try to win the game but it wasn’t to be. The game ended Seattle 35 – Toronto 30.

Photo: Craig Boudreaux