Last-gasp try gives ATL win over Arrows

Rugby ATL have claimed the Fire & Ice Cup with a 33-29 win over the Toronto Arrows in a pulsating Saturday evening encounter at Lupo Family Field. A Ross Deacon try in stoppage time was the difference with the two sides evenly matched throughout.

The Arrows were in trouble straight after kickoff. ATL went on the attack to earn a penalty, opting for the lineout. Andrew Quattrin was guilty of collapsing and the referee had no hesitation to send him to the sideline for 10 minutes. The subsequent drive went to plan with Marko Janse van Rensburg getting credit for the try. Adriaan Carelse’s kick attempt bounced off the upright to leave the score 5-0.

A mix of fortune and opportunism gave Toronto an unlikely lead just a couple minutes later. Carelse’s clearance attempt was too deliberate and Mike Sheppard was on the spot to get the charge-down, falling on the ball for the try. Tayler Adams added the extras to for the full seven.

Another mistake handed a second try to the Arrows in as many minutes. A loose pass was snapped up Leandro Leivas who ran clear into ATL territory. The cover managed to pull him down, but the ball came quickly from the breakdown to Gastón Mieres, who turned one man inside out before putting Ben LeSage away for the finish. Again Adams found his target to make it 14-5 with Quattrin still waiting to return.

The two sides settled into the game and it would be 20 minutes before another score went up on the board. Rowan Gouws went quick at a penalty and only a desperate tackle from Adams held up Janse van Rensburg under the posts. Jason Damm took it on himself from the scrum, reaching out of Manuel Diana’s grasp to touch the ball on the line. Carelse converted to make it a two-point game.

ATL re-took the lead just before halftime. The ball was ripped free from a tackle and Mark O’Keefe was there to pick it up, stepping on the gas pedal and swerving around the outside. Mieres managed to trip him up before the line but O’Keeffe bounced back up off the turf and grounded the ball. The sideline conversion from Carelse was accurate to make it 19-14 to the Ratlers at the intermission.

The start of the second half felt eerily similar to the first. A penalty gave ATL an attacking lineout deep inside Arrows territory. This time the drive was almost at a running pace with seemingly little resistance coming from the Arrows pack, and again Janse van Rensburg was the man on the scoring end. Carelse tacked on two more and the Ratlers were suddenly 12 points up.

A temporary solution to the stifling rush defense was a neat chip kick over the line from Adams that was gathered by LeSage. He found Leivas on his right who in turn freed Mieres down the sideline, the Uruguayan crashing over the line for the try. Ten minutes later Toronto were in again when Tomás de la Vega spotted a gap at a ruck. Adams connected on the second conversion to even the score at 26 apiece.

An offside call against ATL gave Adams a chance for three at 75 minutes which he made good on. The Arrows were next to concede a penalty, but skipper Matt Heaton turned down the draw in favor of a shot at the win. de la Vega pinched the throw and after Toronto cleared, the Ratlers knocked-on with only a minute to play.

Toronto won the scrum cleanly and Manuel Diana tore off the back, but he drifted too wide and the defense beat the support to the ball. Again Heaton pointed to the corner instead of the posts. The Arrows held but not long enough as Deacon burrowed over with the clock on 82 minutes.

Both teams return to action next Saturday. The Arrows head on the road against the Houston SaberCats, the last of nine straight matches before Toronto’s bye week. The Ratlers stay at home to face another East Conference rival in the New England Free Jacks.

 

SCORING

TORONTO 29
Tries – M. Sheppard (7’), B. LeSage (9’), G. Mieres (53’), T. de la Vega (63’)
Cons – T. Adams 3/4 (8’, 10’, 64’)
Pens – T. Adams 1/1 (75’)
Yellow cards – A. Quattrin (3’)

ATL 33
Tries – M. Janse van Rensburg 2 (4’, 43’), J. Damm (31’), M. O’Keeffe (36’), R. Deacon (80’+2’)
Cons – A. Carelse 4/5 (32’, 37’, 44’, 80’+3’)

 

TEAMS

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Pat Lynott 52’), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 52’), 3 Gastón Cortes (18 Tyler Rowland 52’), 4 Mason Flesch (20 Kolby Francis 70’), 5 Mike Sheppard (19 Adrian Wadden 59’), 6 Tomás de la Vega, 7 Lucas Rumball (co-capt.), 8 Manuel Diana (16 Jack McRogers 6’-13’), 9 Ross Braude (21 Jason Higgins 52’), 10 Tayler Adams, 11 Manuel Montero (23 Will Kelly 55’), 12 Patrick Parfrey (22 Spencer Jones HT), 13 Ben LeSage (co-capt.), 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Gastón Mieres

RUGBY ATL
1 Alex Maughan (17 Chance Wenglewski 23’), 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg (16 Neethling Gericke 55’), 3 Wikus Groenewald (18 Jonas Petrakopoulos 59’), 4 Marno Redelinghuys, 5 Johan Momsen (20 Ross Deacon 65’), 6 Vili Helu (19 Conor Keys 55’), 7 Matt Heaton (capt.), 8 Jason Damm, 9 Rowan Gouws (21 Ryan Rees 48’), 10 Bautista Ezcurra (22 Duncan van Schalkwyk 59′), 11 Rory van Vugt, 12 Mark O’Keeffe, 13 Te Rangatira Waitokia (23 Robbie Petzer 75′), 14 Jeremy Misailegalu, 15 Adriaan Carelse

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistants: Cisco Lopez (USA) & Dave Edwards (USA)