MLR Preseason Weekend Round-up

Ten Major League Rugby sides were in action over the past three days, with nine of them taking the field on Saturday. Below is a summary of all the action with as much information as was available. In some cases there was no scoring or team list available. There are six matches currently slated for next weekend, four of them featuring MLR sides going head-to-head.

 

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES 55 – 0 VANCOUVER ISLAND CRIMSON TIDE
Starfire Stadium, Tukwila

Seattle began the evening by handing out Championship Rings to returning players and then celebrated with a one-sided victory over their hosts. Seven different players touched down including a double from No8 Riekert Hattingh and debut tries for UK imports Harry Davies and Ross Neal. Perhaps the only somewhat disappointing aspect for the Seawolves were the four missed conversions, but otherwise the team will be pleased with zero points conceded. A complete match report can be seen here.

SEAWOLVES
1 John Hayden, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Jérémy Lenaerts, 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Eric Duechle, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Brock Staller, 12 Shalom Suniula, 13 Ross Neal, 14 Mat Turner, 15 Harry Davies

Replacements: 16 Kellen Gordon, 17 Mike Shepherd, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Taylor Krumrei, 20 Vili Toluta’u, 21 Jope Motokana, 22 Scott Dean, 23 Joey Iosefa, 24 Siti Tamaivena, 25 Suli Tamaivena, 26 George Barton

 

UTAH WARRIORS 5 – 33 TORONTO ARROWS
Madeira Canyon Park, Henderson

A match played in four 20-minute quarters. The Arrows were in dominant form, running out to a 12-0 halftime lead with a try on debut for Uruguayan No8 Manuel Diana. Dan Moor had the other, with a second going to the skipper in the second half. Spencer Jones and Steve Ng added singles with extras going to Guiseppe du Toit, Tayler Adams, and two from Will Kelly. Sam Malcolm and Tomás de la Vega were late scratches from the Toronto lineup. Utah’s scorer or squad was not immediately available.

ARROWS
1 Pat Lynott, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Mike Sheppard, 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Jamie Mackenzie, 10 Tayler Adams, 11 Leandro Leivas, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Dan Moor (capt.), 15 Gastón Mieres

Replacements: Steven Ng, Rob Brouwer, Richie Asiata, Tyler Rowland, Kolby Francis, Andrew Ferguson, Will Kelly, Spencer Jones, Mitch Richardson

 

COLORADO RAPTORS 32 – 26 RUGBY ATL
Madeira Canyon Park, Henderson

The second scrimmage-style contest in Vegas saw the Raptors getting the edge over ATL. Neither team provided updates or rosters on social media so we are left to speculate with the only other information given the halftime score of Colorado 18, Atlanta 14.

 

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS 39 – 7 NEW ENGLAND INDEPENDENTS
Union Point Stadium, Weymouth

Originally planned to be played indoors, the game was moved outdoors to the main pitch despite the chilly conditions due to overwhelming spectator demand. The Free Jacks led 24-7 at halftime with the independents try going to their man-of-the-match Cam Davidowicz. A second-half try Deion Mikesell from a Tadhg Leader cross-kick was the only score relayed on social media. Mitch Wilson was named man-of-the-match for the Free Jacks.

FREE JACKS
1 Tolu Fakamokioa, 2 Sean McNulty, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 4 Jackson Thiebes, 5 Conor Kindregan, 6 Owen Hundt, 7 Zack Stryffeler, 8 Naulia Dawai, 9 John Poland, 10 Tadhg Leader, 11 Danny Collins, 12 Mitch Wilson, 13 Poasa Waqanibau, 14 Deion Mikesell, 15 Beaudein Waaka

Replacements: 16 Steven Hinshaw, 17 Simon Courcoul, 18 Donald Brighouse, 19 Ronan McCusker, 20 Evan Geist, 21 Erik Thompson, 22 Timothée Guillimin, 23 Christian Adams

 

SAN DIEGO LEGION 21 – 7 OMBAC / LEGION 47 – 0 LIFE WEST GLADIATORS
Little Q Field, San Diego

The Legion played two 40 minute scrimmages against local clubs OMBAC and Life West, coming out on top by a combined 68-7 score. In fact the only seven points they conceded came before they had scored any, but it was swiftly rebuked by three tries scored by Save Totovosau, Joe Pietersen, and Tevita Tameilau. By the time Life West took the field, the Legion were well warmed up. Pietersen had a couple more tries with singles from Dylan Audsley, Tameilau, Totovosau, Tira Patterson, and another unnamed player.

A complete roster was not named but Luke Burton played flyhalf with Pietersen at fullback. Ma’a Nonu and JP du Plessis were paired in the midfield at one point. Psalm Wooching actually ended the day at center but started in the back row along with Devin Short at No7 and Tameilau at the back of the scrum.

 

OLD GLORY DC 90 – 21 US NAVY
The St. James, Springfield

A sold-out crowd packed into The St. James in Virginia to watch Old Glory’s first action of 2020. Navy ran out to a surprise 14-7 lead but the MLR side soon pulled up their socks and were ahead 33-14 at the break. Renata Roberts-Te Nana scored on debut early in the second half, and the blitz was on though DC, perhaps mercifully, fell short of the century.

OLD GLORY
1 Jake Turnbull, 2 Max Lum, 3 Will Vakalahi, 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Dylan Pieterse, 6 Dacoda Worth, 7 Mungo Mason (capt.), 8 Josh Brown, 9 Sean Hartig, 10 Mike Dabulas, 11 Vetekina Malafu, 12 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Doug Fraser, 14 Ryan Burroughs, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson

Replacements: Mo Katz, Jack Iscaro, Dante Lopresti, Wale Williams, Gordon Fullerton, Api Naikatini, Nic Mirhashem, Matt Hughston, Cory Daniel, Travis Larsen, Michael Reid, Danny Tusitala, Jason Robertson, Tyler Myles, Thretton Palamo, Renata Roberts-Te Nana

 

HOUSTON SABERCATS 19 – 29 TASMAN MAKO
AVEVA Stadium, Houston

The only streamed match of the weekend saw a young Tasman tourists starting their their American tour with a win over the SaberCats in an entertaining if sloppy at times encounter. Houston will be somewhat disappointed with the result given the high number of penalties and two yellow cards conceded by the Mako. Two Tasman tries were gifts while the SaberCats threw away a certain try. A full match report can be seen here.

SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo, 2 Gabe Romero, 3 Charlie Connolly, 4 Kyle Breytenbach, 5 Victor Comptat, 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Diego Magno, 9 De Wet Roos (capt.), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Matías Freyre, 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Max Tacket, 14 Zach Pangelinan, 15 Osea Kolinisau

Replacements: 16 Tim Cadwallader, 17 Boyd Wiggins, 18 Charlie Hewitt, 19 Mathew Faoagali, 20 Tim Stanfill, 21 Jake Christmann, 22 Kieran Farmer, 23 Zachary Short, 24 Zack Godfrey