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Five games were anticipated, six were played. Without any public announcement prior to the game, Dallas in fact hosted Houston at Choctaw Stadium. This lack of communication seems to be endemic in Major League Rugby at the moment, and we can only hope that things improve moving forward.
Similarly it is our hope that in the future MLR mandates or nominates one feature game per week in the preseason with reasonable production quality. To have six games played and none streamed at all on the week before the launch of the regular season is very disappointing.
Below are the scant details made available for this weekend’s games.
SAN DIEGO LEGION 21 vs 36 LA GILTINIS
Friday, January 28, Elite Athlete Training Center, Chula Visa
The first and only preseason run for the defending champions was a successful one as they defeated their hosts in Chula Vista. Few details were made available with only LA providing a lineup. John Ryberg, Corey Thomas, Ryan James, and Cyrille Cama were among six try-scorers for the Giltinis. Dom Iacovino scored one of San Diego’s three tries.
LA GILTINIS
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Sean McNulty, 3 Charlie Abel, 4 Dave Dennis (capt.), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Corey Thomas, 7 Christian Poidevin, 8 Hanco Germishuys, 9 Harrison Goddard, 10 Luke Burton, 11 Ryan James, 12 Bill Meakes, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 John Ryberg, 15 Jordan Trainor
Replacements: Andrew Tuala, Marco Fepulea’i, Luke White, Adam Ashe, Cyrille Cama, Cristian Rodriguez, Tas Smith, D’Montae Noble
Referee: Marquise Goodwin (USA)
OLD GLORY DC 27 vs 22 NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
Friday, January 28, The St. James, Springfield
Three periods were played at this indoor clash, the first two 30 mins and the last 20 minutes. Again details were scarce with no lineup provided by New England. Mo Katz scored a hat trick for DC on the back of their driving maul, with Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz and Mike Dabulas adding singles. A Beaudein Waaka intercept was the only one of three Free Jacks tries attributed. New England’s Mitch Wilson was named Man of the Match.
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Mo Katz, 3 Jake Ilnicki, 4 Apisai Naikatini, 5 Stan South, 6 Luke Campbell, 7 Dom Bailey, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Danny Tusitala (capt.), 10 Mike Dabulas, 11 Michah Griffin, 12 Junior Sa’u, 13 Doug Fraser, 14 Renata Roberts-Te Nana, 15 Owen Sheehy
Replacements: 16 Rob Irimescu, 17 Will Vakalahi, 18 Kyle Stewart, 19 Dante Lopresti, 20 Tevita Naqali, 21 David Beach, 22 Dacoda Worth, 23 Fintan Coleman, 24 Danny Thomas, 25 Labi Koi-Larbi, 26 Simi Moala, 27 John LeFevre
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS (incomplete)
Kyle Ciquera, Pieter Jansen, Foster DeWitt, Erich de Jager, Josh Larsen (capt.), Reegan O’Gorman, Javon Camp-Villalovos, Joe Johnston, Slade McDowall, Terrell Peita, John Poland, Holden Yungert, Harrison Boyle, Beaudein Waaka, Le Roux Malan, Jack Reeves, Paula Balekana, Mitch Wilson, Dougie Fife
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
DALLAS JACKALS 12 vs 29 HOUSTON SABERCATS
Friday, January 28, Choctaw Stadium, Arlington
A match that neither team even indicated was taking place. Only a couple posts on social media from Dallas gave any information at all after the fact. Henry Trinder and Ayemere Oiyemonlan scored the Jackals tries. It’s unknown who scored for Houston.
Referee: Kat Roche (USA)
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES 50 vs 0 HARTFORD HARPOONERS
Friday, January 28, Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
The Seawolves wrapped up their preseason with another cozy run-around against the invitational Harpooners. Eight different players crossed the line for Seattle, who welcomed Dewald Donald, Taniela Tupou, Dan Kriel, and Lopeti Aisea to the ranks for the first time.
SCORING
SEATTLE 50
Tries – T. Lopeti, B. Tucker, L. Futi, J. Sio, T. Larsen, D. Kriel, M. Brown, L. Aisea
Cons – A. Alatimu 5/7, K. Joyce 0/1
HARTFORD 0
TEAMS
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Dewald Donald, 2 Mike Brown, 3 Taniela Tupou, 4 Brad Tucker, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Travis Larsen, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 AJ Alatimu, 11 Lauina Futi, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Dan Kriel, 14 Martin Iosefo, 15 Duncan Matthews
HARTFORD HARPOONERS
1 Maile Taufa, 2 Patrick Hadenbridle, 3 Freddy Tafuna, 4 Maikeli Naromaitoga, 5 Adrian Salazar, 6 Grayson Haynes, 7 Naulia Dawai, 8 Sami Ma’afu, 9 Nik Franklyn, 10 Isoa Donaldson, 11 John Truax, 12 Sevu Tawake, 13 Seimou Smith, 14 Deon Crowder, 15 Jihad Khabir
Replacements: 16 Dejon Taylor, 17 Pepe Semeraro, 18 Jayson Jackson, 19 Sam Patterson, 20 DaQuan Perry, 21 Ronald Leafa, 22 Caleb Tuani, 23 William Rasileka, 24 Penisoni Leva
Referee: Chris Assmus (Canada)
AUSTIN GILGRONIS 58 vs 7 RUGBY NEW YORK
Saturday, January 29, Bold Stadium, Austin
An alarming scoreline for New York fans but context is important. By all accounts Austin fielded a largely first choice side while the visitors were considerably less experienced. The AG’s saw the return of Hugh Roach and welcomed new signings Faka’osi Pifeleti, Ryan Louwrens, and Julián Domínguez to the field. Also debuting was a new tighthead prop from the Southern Hemisphere who has yet to be identified. Dylan Fawsitt scored New York’s only try of the match.
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
NOLA GOLD 21 vs 52 RUGBY ATL
Saturday, January 29, The Gold Mine, New Orleans
The final score did not look great for NOLA, but again context is important. A more experienced Gold lineup led 21-14 at halftime with the Ratlers pouring on 38 unanswered points in the second half. No details were otherwise available beyond the starting lineups for both sides.
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Eric Howard, 3 Brian Nault, 4 William Waguespack, 5 Cam Dolan, 6 Malcolm May, 7 Devin Short, 8 Maciu Koroi, 9 Damian Stevens, 10 Carl Meyer, 11 Jack Webster, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Harley Wheeler, 15 Kyle Rogers
RUGBY ATL
1 Will Burke, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 3 Wikus Groenewald, 4 Justin Basson, 5 Johan Momsen, 6 Vili Helu, 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Daemon Torres, 9 Ryan Rees, 10 Kurt Coleman, 11 Austin White, 12 Will Leonard, 13 Ryan Nell, 14 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 15 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía
