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The Seattle Seawolves have booked their spot in the inaugural Major League Rugby Final by defeating the San Diego Legion by 38-24 at Infinity Park. For all the pre-match talk the result was almost identical to their 39-23 win in Week One, with Seawolves scrum every bit as dominant as it was two months ago.
It took new Legion fullback Joe Pietersen just three minutes to open his MLR account as he sent over a penalty goal, but Peter Smith replied for the Seawolves just moments later. Not content with just a three-pointer, Pietersen made it seven with a try and conversion for an early advantage to San Diego.
Despite controlling much of the possession and territory the Legion could not put further points on the board in the first half. Instead Seattle’s scrum got to work and after penalties got them into position Shalom Suniula raced through a gap to make the scores level going into the break.
A stalemate in the first minutes of the second stanza ended with Drew Gaffney crossing after Nate Augspurger had scythed through the Seawolves line. Pietersen’s extras were good but San Diego’s worse were soon to begin.
With Seattle on attack Alec Barton was singled out for a no-arms chop tackle that earned him a seat in the bin. From the subsequent scrum William Rasileka ran hard and straight and nobody could stop the big Fijian as he crashed over for the tying score. Just a couple minutes later Peter Tiberio picked off a Dylan Audsley pass to race the length of the field untouched for the go-ahead try.
From the restart replacement lock Siaosi Mahoni, only stepping on the field seconds earlier, hauled down Eric Duechle in the air and was sent to join Barton in the naughty chair. With only 13 men on the pitch the gaps were inevitable and Seqouyah Burke-Combs was clear on the right wing to score in the corner. Smith’s conversion was spot on and the gap was 14 with only a few short minutes to play.
Any hopes of a comeback evaporated when John Hayden barged ahead and spun out of a tackle, reaching just far enough to find the line. Augspurger grabbed a consolation score on full-time for the Legion as the Seawolves celebrated a well-deserved win.
They now wait the result of the second half of the double-header between the Glendale Raptors and the Utah Warriors. The winner will join Seattle at Torero Stadium in San Diego next weekend with the biggest bragging rights of the season on the line.
SCORING
SEATTLE 38
Tries – S. Suniula (33’), W. Rasileka (63’), P. Tiberio (65’), S. Burke-Combs (73’), J. Hayden (78’)
Cons – P. Smith 5/5 (34’, 63’, 66’, 74’, 79’)
Pens – P. Smith 1/1 (6’)
SAN DIEGO 24
Tries – J. Pietersen (9’), D. Gaffney (56’), N. Augspurger (80’)
Cons – J. Pietersen 3/3 (10’, 57’, 80’)
Pens – J. Pietersen 1/1 (3’)
Yellow cards – A. Barton (61’), S. Mahoni (67’)
TEAMS
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Olive Kilifi (18 Kellen Gordon 46’), 2 Ray Barkwill (16 Mike Shepherd 59’), 3 Tim Metcher (17 John Hayden 59’), 4 Taylor Krumrei (20 Aladdin Schirmer 59’), 5 Cam Polson, 6 Eric Duechle, 7 Vili Toluta’u (19 Cole van Harn 77’), 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 Phil Mack, 10 Peter Smith, 11 Peter Tiberio, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 William Rasileka, 14 Brock Staller (23 Sequoyah Burke-Combs 46′), 15 Mat Turner
Not used: 21 Andre Coquillard, 22 Jeremy Misailegalu
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Sione Tu’ihalamaka (17 Faka’osi Pifeleti 47′), 2 Pat Blair (16 Pat O’Toole HT), 3 Nathan Sylvia (18 Aaron Mitchell 67’), 4 Chris Turori (19 Siaosi Mahoni 67’), 5 Cam Dolan, 6 Devin Short, 7 Tony Lamborn (20 Alec Barton 35’), 8 Drew Gaffney (20 Alec Barton 16’-21’), 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Tadhg Leader (capt.) (21 Ben Cima 71’), 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Anthony Salaber (23 Dylan Audsley 26’), 13 Ryan Matyas, 14 Taku Ngwenya, 15 Joe Pietersen
Not used: 22 Nick Evans
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)
Assistants: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR) & Luke Rogan (ARU)
TMO: Marc Nelson (USAR)
