Arrows find their groove in dominant win over DC

The rust looks to be shaken out for the Toronto Arrows as they rebounded from two straight losses with a dominant 40-19 win over Old Glory DC at Segra Field on Saturday. Five tries to three was the final tally after the home side grabbed a late consolation effort.

Toronto looked a different side from the start. The defense absorbed several charges from Thretton Palamo early to frustrate the DC attack. When the Arrows finally got possession they made the most of it with two tries in a span of two minutes.

The first went to Tyler Rowland who fell over line at the back of a driving maul. Tayler Adams couldn’t convert from a tough angle but the Arrows were on the board.

A second try came via Manuel Diana. The Uruguayan No8 found the Old Glory defense wanting in the short side and he broke through after a Ben LeSage run put them deep inside DC territory. This time Adams was on target, and he added a penalty goal for good measure to make it 15-0 to the visitors.

Stan South was sent to the bin for a professional foul near the half-hour mark, but the Arrows couldn’t take advantage as a long-range penalty attempt from Adams missed the mark. Instead a mistake on defense allowed Palamo a clear run at Adams from a scrum and there was no stopping the big man this time as he went straight in for a try.

Danny Tusitala might have been advised to let the clock run out but in his haste he left time on the clock for the restart. The Arrows regained possession and Adams knocked over a snap drop goal to make it 18-7 at the intermission.

Just a minute after the restart the Arrows were in again. This time it was LeSage himself who did the honors, the co-captain slicing back across the grain to touch down under the posts for a seven-pointer.

With the scoreline now a lopsided 25-7, Old Glory slowly worked their way back into Toronto’s end and it was the power of Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz that got them back on the board, though Tusitala’s kick from the right side didn’t find its mark.

The Arrows meant business, however, and two quick-fire tries put the game on ice. LeSage instigated the first with an offload from Jason Higgins putting Gastón Mieres over. Next it was Joaquín Tuculet who found space with Higgins on his shoulder to take the credit.

A late try from close range via James King softened the scoreline somewhat. As if to underline their return to form, however, the Arrows demanded the final say with Will Kelly slotting a penalty goal to bring on the full-time whistle.

Old Glory will have a bye week before returning for a road match against Rugby United New York on Sunday, April 18. The Arrows will be right back in next week with a date against the league-leading LA Giltinis at a venue to be confirmed.

 

SCORING

DC 19
Tries – T. Palamo (39’), J. Fa’anana-Schultz (58’), J. King (78’)
Cons – D. Tusitala 2/3 (39’, 79’)
Yellow cards – S. South (29’)

TORONTO 40
Tries – T. Rowland (10’), M. Diana (12’), B. LeSage (41’), G. Mieres (65’), J. Higgins (67’)
Cons – T. Adams 2/4 (13’, 68’), No kick (41’)
Pens – T. Adams 1/2 (18’), W. Kelly 1/1 (80’)
Drop goals – T. Adams 1/1 (40’)

 

TEAMS

OLD GLORY DC
1 Jamie Dever (17 Max Lum 60’), 2 Mike Sosene-Feagai (16 James King 68’), 3 Steven Longwell (18 Jack Carroll 58’), 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Stan South (19 Apisai Naikatini 66’), 6 Luke Campbell (20 Callum Gibbins 43’), 7 Mungo Mason (co-capt.), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (23 Josh Brown 68’), 9 Danny Tusitala, 10 Mike Dabulas, 11 D’Montae Noble (22 Simi Moala 60’), 12 Doug Fraser (21 Danny Thomas 71’), 13 Thretton Palamo (co-capt.), 14 Sam Cusano, 15 Renata Roberts-Te Nana

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (18 Liam Murray 73’), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 64′), 3 Tyler Rowland (17 Pat Lynott 48’), 4 Adrian Wadden (19 Mike Sheppard 58’), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Tomás de la Vega, 7 Lucas Rumball (co-capt.) (20 Kolby Francis 71’), 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Ross Braude (21 Jason Higgins 64’), 10 Tayler Adams (22 Will Kelly 71’), 11 Gastón Mieres, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Ben LeSage (co-capt.), 14 Mitch Richardson, 15 Joaquín Tuculet (23 Patrick Parfrey 71’)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Mike O’Brien (USA) & Gavin McCandless (USA)