Seattle claims back-to-back MLR titles with last-second try

The Seattle Seawolves have done it again. A spectacular Major League Rugby Championship Final at a sold-out Torero Stadium on Sunday saw the Seawolves earn back-to-back titles with a try scored with time expired sealing a 26-23 win over the San Diego Legion.

It was all San Diego in the first 20 minutes. The Seawolves could hardly get their hands on the ball and when they did the result was either a handling error or kick to touch. Despite the huge disparity in possession, however, the Legion could only manage two penalty kicks from the boot of Joe Pietersen.

Momentum swung heavily after the hydration break. George Barton crashed straight through the gainline to take the ball perilously close. It was recycled quickly and after Samu Manoa inched it ahead, it was Stephan Coetzee who finished off the try as he powered over between two defenders.

Seattle kept the pressure on and a penalty handed over an attacking lineout just outside San Diego’s 22 meter line. A trick play saw JP Smith loop around the front of the lineout to take a short ball and the big scrumhalf fended off the only challenger to dive over for the try. Brock Staller landed his second conversion to make the halftime score 14-6 to the Seawolves.

As did the first half, the second started heavily in favor of San Diego. Seattle couldn’t clear their lines and sustained possession opened space on the left side. A half-break from Ryan Matyas checked the cover and Jasa Veremalua fixed his man on the two-on-one to put Nick Boyer over for the try. Pietersen’s sideline kick was inch-perfect to claim the full seven.

The one-point gap closed completely shortly after the hour mark. An odd sequence nearly spoiled the attack. With the Legion pack advancing in a maul, Dean Muir confused the 5 meter line with the tryline and mistakenly went to ground, but San Diego retained possession and two phases later Jordan Manihera reached out to ground the ball at the base of the post.

Pietersen’s conversion made it a six-point game with 15 minutes to play. The defending champions were far from out of it, however. Jeff Hassler and Phil Mack made ground from a scrum, and then Coetzee found a hole on the post to take the ball well into San Diego territory. Mack showed patience to find Riekert Hattingh with just enough room to tuck in under the defense. Staller lined up the conversion from a difficult angle and it drifted just right to leave Seattle down by a point.

The Legion gained possession after the restarted and worked their way into scoring position. They went through some phases with the forwards and then a surprise decision came from Pietersen, the flyhalf dropping back into the pocket and landing a 40-meter drop goal. It pushed San Diego out of penalty goal range but left more than two minutes on the clock.

A long kickoff forced Pietersen to clear to touch on halfway. The Seawolves went wide and Staller was taken high, earning a penalty which Smith duly pushed into the corner. There would be no mistake from the defending champions. Even the Suniula brothers standing in the midfield joined into the maul and it was finally Brad Tucker who went over the line. Staller’s final kick was academic as the Seawolves stood triumphant, the Legion left to wonder what might have been.

So closes the 2019 Major League Rugby season, and possibly the last ever all-West Coast final. Next season will kick off in February with three new expansion teams and the league split into conferences. Attention will now swing to the World Cup until then but the rugby world will not-so-quietly be whispering that the giant has finally awoken.

SCORING

SAN DIEGO 23
Tries – N. Boyer (52’), J. Manihera (65’)
Cons – J. Pietersen 2/2 (53’, 66’)
Pens – J. Pietersen 2/2 (6’, 21’)
Drop goals – J. Pietersen 1/2 (78’)

SEATTLE 26
Tries – S. Coetzee (22’), J. Smith (32’), R. Hattingh (71’), B. Tucker (80’)
Cons – B. Staller 3/4 (23’, 33’, 80’)

TEAMS

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Nathan Sylvia HT), 2 Kapeli Pifeleti (16 Dean Muir 57’), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Dino Waldren 61’), 4 Louis Stanfill (19 Siaosi Mahoni 61’), 5 Joshua Furno, 6 Jasa Veremalua (20 Pat Blair 61’), 7 Psalm Wooching, 8 Jordan Manihera, 9 Nate Augspurger, 10 Joe Pietersen (capt.), 11 Nick Boyer, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Ryan Matyas, 14 Conor Kearns, 15 Tai Enosa (23 Will Holder 42’)

Not used: 21 Kyle Rogers, 22 Save Totovosau

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Kellen Gordon 50’), 2 Stephan Coetzee (16 Dan Trierweiler 75’), 3 Tim Metcher (18 Jake Ilnicki 50’), 4 Api Naikatini (19 Jérémy Lenaerts 62’), 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Samu Manoa (23 Vili Toluta’u 53’), 7 Nakai Penny (20 Eric Duechle 62’), 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima (21 Phil Mack 57’), 11 Jeff Hassler, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 George Barton (22 Roland Suniula 57’), 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Scott Green (USAR)
Assistants: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU) & Elgan Williams (WRU)
TMO: Davey Ardrey (USAR)

Attendance: 6,000