Seattle scrums San Diego into submission

The Seattle Seawolves put on a scrumming masterclass at Starfire Stadium, dominating the San Diego Legion by 39-23 to close out a thrilling opening weekend for Major League Rugby. Three penalty tries were the result as the Seawolves pack feasted on their inexperienced opposites from start to finish.

Discipline in the loose will be an area of discussion this week and Seattle gifted Ben Cima three kickable shots at goal in the first half, from which he made two including the game’s first score just a few minutes in. Brock Staller matched his output with the big men up front to thank for the opportunities.

It was men against boys when it came time to pack down. The first try came from a set move on a right side scrum with Staller slicing back inside on an angle to beat the Legion defense clean.

A huge collision between Riekert Hattingh and Chris Turori saw the Seattle captain take the worst of it and his day came to an early end. Instead of shrinking, however, the Seawolves rolled up their sleeves with Vili Toluta’u doing an admirable job as a replacement.

Back to the set piece, the front row continued to punish the Legion scrum. Sione Tu’ihalamaka could not have asked for a more difficult assignment in his first competitive outing as a prop and after repeat collapses on the 5 meter line the referee had no option but to walk under the sticks. The San Diego loosehead somehow avoided a yellow card on the penalty try but a couple minutes later he went down again and this time there was no such sympathy.

Halftime changes for the Legion at hooker and lock had no effect. A Cima penalty was as much offense as San Diego could muster and the Seawolves had two near-misses. A forward pass denied Mat Turner a runaway score and then he couldn’t quite gather a bouncing ball in-goal on another scoring opportunity.

Seattle’s set piece, however, was firing on all cylinders. A collapsed lineout drive earned a penalty and with no hesitation a scrum was called by acting captain Phil Mack. It went down again and the referee dutifully awarded a second penalty try.

A temporary lapse in concentration allowed the Legion to move into position, earning an attacking lineout on Seattle’s doorstep. Their own driving maul was up to par and Chris Turori was the man to come up with the ball when it crashed over the line.

From the restart it was San Diego who were guilty of complacency, and Toluta’u was first to the breakdown to turn the ball over clean. Now on the back foot the Legion conceded a penalty and it was scrum time again. Different bodies, same result. The Legion were left wondering what hit them and another seven went up on the board with no conversion required.

Drew Gaffney would sneak over from short range for a second San Diego try but it was too little, too late. The Seawolves rewarded the fans before full-time with a superb team try that began inside their own half and finished with Cam Polson diving over in the corner.

San Diego’s Semi Final dreams have taken a major hit and their confidence shaken. They’ll have to regroup quickly as the Utah Warriors arrive at Torero Stadium on Sunday. The Seawolves have one less day of recovery before hosting the Glendale Raptors in an early-season clash of the titans.

SCORING

SEATTLE 39
Tries – B. Staller (20’), Penalty try (36’), Penalty try (58’), Penalty try (67’), C. Polson (75’)
Cons – B. Staller 1/1 (21), W. Holder 0/1
Pens – B. Staller 2/3 (9’, 29’)
Drop goals – P. Mack 0/1

SAN DIEGO 23
Tries – C. Turori (64’), D. Gaffney (71’)
Cons – B. Cima 2/2 (65’, 72’)
Pens – B. Cima 3/4 (4’, 27’, 43’)
Yellow cards – S. Tu’ihalamaka (39’)

TEAMS

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Kellen Gordon (17 Olive Kilifi 59’), 2 Ray Barkwill (16 Mike Shepherd 68’), 3 Tim Metcher (18 John Hayden 50’), 4 Jérémy Lenaerts (20 Eric Duechle 50’), 5 Taylor Krumrei, 6 Cam Polson, 7 Aladdin Schirmer, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.) (19 Vili Toluta’u 25’), 9 Phil Mack, 10 Will Holder, 11 Jeremy Misailegalu (21 Peter Tiberio 66’), 12 Shalom Suniula, 13 William Rasileka (22 Mike Garrity 16’-21’), 14 Brock Staller (23 Dion Crowder 62’), 15 Mat Turner

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Sione Tu’ihalamaka (17 Tony Purpura 53’), 2 Gil Covey (16 Pat Blair HT), 3 Aaron Mitchell (18 Tasi Toilolo 58’), 4 Lance Lamprecht (19 Derrick Broussard HT {17 Tony Purpura 46’-49’}), 5 Jay Harmon, 6 Chris Turori, 7 Devin Short (20 Drew Gaffney 55’), 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Nick Evans (21 Sione Letoi 77’), 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Anthony Salaber, 14 Taku Ngwenya, 15 Mike Te’o (capt.) (22 Naima Fuala’au 68’)

Not used: 23 Austin Switzer

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (RC) & Denny Russell (USAR)