Austin comeback falls short against Old Glory

The Gilgronis recovered from a poor first half to make the game interesting, but ultimately fell by 28-19 to Old Glory in San Antonio on Saturday afternoon. Austin trailed 23-7 at halftime and had a chance to steal a win before Renata Roberts-Te Nana’s late try sealed the result.

Jason Robertson continued his fine early season form with a long-range penalty just a few minutes after kickoff. Not long after the horror start for the Gilgronis continued as Danny Tusitala finished off a Dylan Taikato-Simpson break, curling around under the posts for an easy seven.

A second Robertson penalty stretched the lead and once again a try followed immediately after. Tusitala’s cutout pass was tapped on by Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz to Thretton Palamo. The big center drew and passed to Doug Fraser, who stepped back across the grain to bamboozle the defense and set up Robertson’s conversion.

Now 20 points adrift, the Gilgronis finally got something to cheer about with a penalty try via their scrum. It came after Will Vakalahi was sent to the bin for an infringement inside Old Glory’s five-meter line. Austin couldn’t hold out to the break, however, immediately conceding their own penalty which Robertson duly punished for three more.

Whatever was said at halftime seemed to work, as the Texans came out a different side in the second half. A successful lineout drive ended with Tiaan Erasmus falling over for a try in the corner. Marcelo Torrealba stuck the conversion and the gap was down to nine.

Old Glory came roaring back and pressed the Gilgronis line for several minutes but the defense held strong and they cleared their lines. Instead it was Austin who scored at the other end. Zinzan Elan-Puttick walked off with an arm injury but his team stayed focused and Frank Halai found space on the right side for his second try in as many games.

With the clock ticking down and the momentum firmly with Austin, an opportunity presented itself but a knock-on turned the ball over and instead Old Glory countered. Taikato-Simpson connected with Robertson and finally Roberts-Te Nana who raced free to halt the comeback and deny the Gilgronis a losing bonus point.

It’s an all-Texas derby in Houston next weekend as the Gilgronis take on the SaberCats on Saturday evening. Old Glory head home to Washington where they will host Rugby ATL on Sunday.

 

SCORING

AUSTIN 19
Tries – Penalty try (39′), T. Erasmus (54′), F. Halai (72′)
Cons – M. Torrealba 1/2 (55′)

DC 28
Tries – D. Tusitala (8′), D. Fraser (24′), R. Roberts-Te Nana (78′)
Cons – J. Robertson 2/3 (9′, 25′)
Pens – J. Robertson 3/3 (4′, 22′, 40′)
Yellow cards – W. Vakalahi (37′)

 

TEAMS

AUSTIN GILGRONIS
1 Jamie Mackintosh (17 LaRome White 60′), 2 Tiaan Erasmus (16 Brendan Rams 63′), 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 Potu Leavasa, 5 Maikeli Naromaitoga (19 Luca Tani 52′), 6 Dominic Akina, 7 Moe Abdelmonem (20 Stewart Morris 79′), 8 Lino Saunitoga, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Zinzan Elan-Puttick (capt.) (23 Peni Tagive 71′), 11 Rodrick Waters, 12 Gabe Farley, 13 Frank Halai, 14 Corey Jones, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Not used: 18 Juan Echeverría, 21 Colby Stevens, 22 Sione Fangaiuiha

OLD GLORY DC
1 Jake Turnbull (17 Max Lum 79′), 2 Mike Sosene-Feagai (16 Dante Lopresti 67′), 3 Will Vakalahi (18 Gordon Fullerton 67′), 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Api Naikatini (19 Dylan Pieterse 48′), 6 Travis Larsen (18 Gordon Fullerton 37′-47′) (20 Matt Hughston 52′), 7 Mungo Mason (co-capt.), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Danny Tusitala (21 Michael Reid 79′), 10 Jason Robertson (22 Mike Dabulas 79′), 11 Doug Fraser, 12 Ciaran Hearn (23 Renata Roberts-Te Nana 60′), 13 Thretton Palamo (co-capt.), 14 Declan O’Donnell, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Moe Chaudhry (Canada)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Butch Neuenschwander (USA)