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The LA Giltinis returned to action on Saturday afternoon with a 43-16 win over the Toronto Arrows at the neutral venue of New Orleans. Greasy conditions at the The Gold Mine put an early stop to hopes of flowing rugby, and instead both teams kept much of the attacking play in the forwards.
The opening exchanges were even as Tayler Adams and then Matt Giteau slotted early penalties. LA scored the first try through their forwards. From an attacking lineout they went through the phases until Corey Thomas bashed over from close range. Giteau had no trouble with the conversion.
Toronto responded with a period of dominance. Manuel Diana came close to touching down but was ruled held up, and the Arrows instead settled for a pair of three-pointers from Adams.
Gaston Cortes found himself in trouble after a lazy trailing line impeded an LA attack in Arrows territory. He was sent to the bin, and with only seven in the scrum the Giltinis got the shove on and gave Adam Ashe the easiest of tries. Giteau’s extras made the score 17-9 at halftime.
The yellow card cost Toronto dearly. Within five minutes of the restart LA were in for two tries. John Ryberg was on the end of an overlap on the right side, and then Angus Cottrell powered through a weak defensive line for another. Both were converted by Giteau and the Arrows were suddenly 22 points adrift.
Tensions flared as a head-high challenge from Dave Dennis on Manuel Montero was unspotted by the officials. The Arrows were then given a scare when replacement lock Mike Sheppard was left prone on the ground after a collision, though he would eventually walk off the pitch on his own.
LA cleared their lines and at the other end of the pitch Harrison Goddard caught the Arrows unawares on the short side to scamper around for a fifth try. A Jack McRogers burst would lead to a runaway score for Montero soon after, but it was academic only as the energy levels dropped in the final quarter.
Harry McNulty touched down after a bizarre clearance attempt from an Arrows forward gave possession straight back to LA. The game was then called one minute early as lightning crashed outside the stadium.
Both teams return next Saturday. The Arrows will face the Seattle Seawolves at their temporary home of Marietta. LA stay on the road with a date against the Houston SaberCats at AVEVA Stadium.
SCORING
TORONTO 16
Tries – M. Montero (63’)
Cons – T. Adams 1/1 (64’)
Pens – T. Adams 3/3 (2’, 28’, 33’)
Yellow cards – G. Cortes (37’)
LA 43
Tries – C. Thomas (8’), A. Ashe (39’), J. Ryberg (41’), A. Cottrell (45’), H. Goddard (61’), H. McNulty (75’)
Cons – M. Giteau 4/5 (9’, 40’, 42’, 46’), L. Burton 1/1 (76’)
Pens – M. Giteau 1/1 (5’)
TEAMS
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Pat Lynott 62′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 14’), 3 Gastón Cortes (18 Tyler Rowland 62′), 4 Adrian Wadden (19 Mike Sheppard 51’-53’) (20 Kolby Francis 68′), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Tomás de la Vega, 7 Lucas Rumball (co-capt.), 8 Manuel Diana (18 Tyler Rowland 38’-47′), 9 Ross Braude (21 Jason Higgins 52’), 10 Tayler Adams, 11 Manuel Montero, 12 Guiseppe du Toit (22 Will Kelly 62′), 13 Ben LeSage (co-capt.), 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Joaquín Tuculet (23 Patrick Parfrey 42’)
LA GILTINIS
1 Blake Rogers, 2 Mahe Vailanu (16 Sean McNulty 52′), 3 Charlie Abel (17 Frikkie de Beer 64′), 4 Dave Dennis (capt.), 5 Corey Thomas (19 Nathan Den Hoedt 39’), 6 Angus Cottrell (23 Langilangi Haupeakui 52′), 7 Harry McNulty, 8 Adam Ashe (20 Pago Haini 62′), 9 Harrison Goddard, 10 Matt Giteau (22 Ryan James 62′), 11 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Luke Burton, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 John Ryberg (21 Cristian Rodriguez 70′), 15 Glenn Bryce
Not used: 18 Luke White
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Lex Weiner (USA)
Assistants: Allen Alongi (USA) & Saade Bou-Mikael (USA)
