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San Diego’s scrum came up trumps as the Legion outmuscled Rugby United New York to take a 29-19 victory at MCU Park on Sunday. The Major League Rugby weekend came to an earlier-than-expected close after Toronto’s game against Austin was postponed. Instead all eyes were on Brooklyn where the home fans were left disappointed.
From the opening whistle the game erupted at a breathtaking pace, and it was New York who got a dream head start with two quick tries. The first came from Alex MacDonald who dove in after a lineout drive had been stopped inches short. The second came immediately from the restart with Ben Foden making good ground and connecting with Seimou Smith, the winger then popping a no-look pass to James Denise for the flanker to sprint into the corner.
A stunned San Diego regrouped under the posts and aggressive defense created the quick scoring opportunity they desperately needed. New York coughed up the ball at a poorly-guarded ruck and Paddy Ryan was on hand to pick it up. One short pass to Save Totovosau was all that was needed for the finish.
It was Ryan who would get the honors himself after nearly half an hour of scoreboard silence. Misty weather affected continuity for both sides and with the Legion on the ascendancy at the set piece their forwards inched ahead until the burly prop wrestled his way under the posts, with Joe Pietersen’s routine conversion drawing the scores level.
New York would have the last say before the intermission. Their own driving maul was working well and while the Legion managed to stop it short once more, Mike Petri caught the post defense creeping with a subtle fake to slide in for a seven-pointer.
Things did not go according to plan for the home side in the second half. Another Legion drive was brought down illegally and the referee awarded a penalty try, though curiously failed to admonish a RUNY forward with a yellow card.
The discretion didn’t seem to bother Mike Te’o who made his own overlap, slicing through the line and putting Conor Kearns free with only Foden to beat. Kearns put in a grubber that didn’t quite bounce the way he wanted but his left arm somehow reached back and controlled it enough as he rolled over the line for a remarkable score.
With the bonus point secured it was Pietersen, playing on a heavily-taped ankle, who iced the game. New York left a huge hole on the short side and the South African needed no second invitation, with Smith left to defend two and Foden caught in no-man’s land as Pietersen skipped past for an easy try. He somehow flubbed the conversion but the dust had already settled on the result.
The Legion leap-frog both RUNY and Glendale into third place and will face the latter at Torero Stadium on Saturday. New York drop to 5th and will look to rebound against the Utah Warriors on Sunday.
SCORING
NEW YORK 19
Tries – A. MacDonald (4’), J. Denise (6’), M. Petri (39’)
Cons – C. Mattina 2/3 (5’, 40’)
SAN DIEGO 29
Tries – S. Totovosau (8’), P. Ryan (34’), Penalty try (53’), C. Kearns (58’), J. Pietersen (77’)
Cons – J. Pietersen 1/4 (35’)
TEAMS
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 James Rochford (17 Anthony Parry 57’), 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Chris Sullivan 57’), 4 Alex MacDonald, 5 Nate Brakeley, 6 John Quill (19 Kyle Sumsion 64’), 7 James Denise (16 Mike Brown 78’), 8 Ross Deacon (20 Matt Hughston 35’), 9 Mike Petri (capt.) (21 Marcus Walsh 78’), 10 Cathal Marsh, 11 Connor Wallace-Sims (23 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison 68’), 12 Chris Mattina, 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Seimou Smith, 15 Ben Foden
Not used: 22 Harry Bennett
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Nathan Sylvia 52’), 2 Dean Muir (16 Kapeli Pifeleti 62’), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Aaron Mitchell 78’), 4 Louis Stanfill, 5 Jasa Veremalua, 6 Psalm Wooching (19 Sione Tu’ihalamaka 78’), 7 Devin Short, 8 Jordan Manihera (20 Drew Gaffney 68’), 9 Nate Augspurger, 10 Joe Pietersen (capt.) (22 Tai Enosa 78’), 11 Ryan Matyas, 12 JP du Plessis (21 Nick Boyer 59’), 13 Dylan Audsley, 14 Savenaca Totovosau (23 Conor Kearns HT), 15 Mike Te’o
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Elgan Williams (WRU)
Assistants: Scott Green (USAR) & Jake Still (USAR)
