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Austin Elite flipped the switch on the Major League Rugby form guide as they rolled over the San Diego Legion by 31-5 at Round Rock Multipurpose Complex on Friday evening. It was a complete reversal of fortunes for the Elite who had been pummeled by the Warriors in their last outing, while the Legion looked nothing like the team that took the Raptors to the brink at Infinity Park just two weeks ago.
So much went terribly wrong for San Diego that it would be impossible to pinpoint a particular area that needed attention. Offside penalties were a recurring issue and a strange one led to an early shot at goal for Timothee Guillimin. A clearance kick was half-charged and Cam Dolan appeared to be the beneficiary but the referee deemed him offside, presumably for somehow violating the 10 meter law, and the Legion stood united in confusion as Guillimin took the free points.
Two scores would them come in rapid succession. A creative lineout move saw the Elite break through on the short side and Siaosi Finau went over for a try. Next it was Hanco Germishuys with his league-leading sixth touchdown, the flanker selling a mildly convincing dummy and cutting back inside through the lax defense to reach the line.
San Diego were having no luck anywhere. The scrum was largely a shambles on both sides and the towering duo of Ben Mitchell and Victor Comptat denied any hope of clean ball from the lineout. Sione Fangaiuiha broke clear and nearly had a third try for Austin but knocked on in the act of scoring. Germishuys was sent to the bin for a head-high challenge on Nate Augspurger just before the break, a possible source of momentum entering into the second half.
The man advantage was hardly noticed. A badly-aimed kick from Tadhg Leader in behind the Austin defense instead bounced straight into the hands of Zinzan Elan-Puttick, and the fullback stepped a couple would-be tacklers before stepping on the accelerator and skipping out of Leader’s reach to score a wonderful individual effort.
Replacements entered the match and at last San Diego would get something to cheer about. Kyle Breytenbach looked to have intentionally slapped down a pass and the referee signaled advantage, which San Diego duly took as Drew Gaffney went over for the score. Breytenbach did not escape punishment with Austin again reduced to 14 men.
Just as before the Elite showed no sign of impedance. After moving into scoring position Marcus Walsh hoodwinked Lance Lamprecht with a show-and-go on the post and slipped in under the sticks for the bonus point try. Guillimin made his fourth conversion and the match would drift quietly towards its conclusion.
The five-point win miraculously bumps Austin from 7th into 3rd place, albeit with two games yet to play over the weekend. They will continue their home stand against the Utah Warriors next Friday. San Diego slip to 5th place and have a week off before reconvening against the NOLA Gold on June 9, their Semi Final hopes now severely diminished with their star players set to miss the remainder of the regular season on Eagles duty.
SCORING
AUSTIN 31
Tries – S. Finau (14’), H. Germishuys (19’), Z. Elan-Puttick (45’), M. Walsh (70’)
Cons – T. Guillimin 4/4 (15’, 20’, 46’, 71’)
Pens – T. Guillimin 1/2 (8’)
Yellow cards – H. Germishuys (38’), K. Breytenbach (61’)
SAN DIEGO 5
Tries – D. Gaffney (61’)
Cons – D. Audsley 0/1
TEAMS
AUSTIN ELITE
1 Siaosi Finau (17 Mason Pedersen HT), 2 Chris Schade (18 Robert Drummond 74’), 3 Paddy Ryan (16 Mike Brown 49’), 4 Ben Mitchell, 5 Victor Comptat (23 Ross Deacon 57’), 6 Kyle Breytenbach, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg (19 Todd Clever 62’), 9 Marcus Walsh, 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Sani Taylor, 12 Andrew Suniula (capt.) (20 Ned Hodson 62’), 13 Roland Suniula (21 Knute O’Donnell 72’), 14 Sione Fangaiuiha (22 Zac Mizell 68’), 15 Zinzan Elan-Puttick
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Sione Tu’ihalamaka (18 Faka’osi Pifeleti HT), 2 Pat Blair (16 Gil Covey 52’), 3 Dolph Botha (17 Tony Purpura 52’), 4 Lance Lamprecht, 5 Siaosi Mahoni (20 Drew Gaffney 52’), 6 Chris Turori, 7 Devin Short (19 Derrick Broussard 52’), 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Nate Augspurger (capt.), 10 Ben Cima (22 Tadhg Leader 25’), 11 Ryan Matyas, 12 JP du Plessis (21 Nick Boyer 76’), 13 Anthony Salaber, 14 Taku Ngwenya (23 Cody Melphy HT), 15 Dylan Audsley
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Josh Houston (USAR)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (ARU) & Butch Neuenschwander (USAR)
