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The New England Free Jacks made it four wins in a row as they defeated Rugby ATL 41-27 at Silverbacks Park on Saturday. It was the home side who looked in control early in the second half, but the visitors poured on the pressure to score 20 unanswered points in the final half-hour of the match.
It didn’t take long for the Ratlers to get on the board. Marko Janse van Rensburg made a line break, and then the home side won a penalty. Though the Free Jacks were prepared for the lineout drive, their defense was all at sea out wide and Kurt Coleman’s wide pass found Lui Sitama in space for the try. Coleman tacked on the extras to make it a full seven.
A collision between Matt Heaton and Dougie Fife saw the ATL captain helped off with a head knock. When play resumed New England won a penalty and took an attacking lineout. The ball came off the top and Le Roux Malan sliced through a gap with an inside angle, swerving around the cover to score a superb try. Beaudein Waaka was on target with the conversion.
Jason Damm had come on to replace Heaton, and the No8 fired through a hole in the midfield to put the Free Jacks on the back foot. The ball was recycled quickly and sent wide left where Te Rangatira Waitokia was waiting for the finish. Coleman’s conversion attempt curled wide of the posts.
The Ratlers went straight back to work with half-breaks from Waitokia and Janse van Rensburg. They looked to be working towards another score when Mitch Wilson snagged a loose pass from Waitokia and sprinted 60 meters for a try against the run of play. Waaka’s kick gave the visitors a surprising lead.
It wouldn’t hold to the break. Waitokia countered a long kick ahead and put ATL back on the offensive. Daemon Torres took on the line, holding off a defender with his left arm and offloading to Will Leonard with the right. The midfielder pinned his ears back and ran straight through to the line, with Coleman’s conversion making the halftime score 19-14 to the Ratlers.
Leonard went down with injury early in the second half, replaced by George Barton making his ATL debut. The big Canadian set a target with his first carry, and then Coleman slipped a tackle to send Austin White through a gap. New England’s defense was caught out leaving Connor Cook open for the bonus point try.
Sitama found himself in trouble for a late hit on Waaka which landed the ATL winger a seat on the sidelines for 10 minutes. New England immediately pounced on the advantage, Slade McDowall’s inside pass to Harry Barlow putting the Free Jacks winger clean through where Sitama might have been. John Poland took over the kicking duties and slotted the conversion to make it a three-point game.
Coleman brought it back to six points with a penalty goal. The ATL flyhalf was under immediate pressure at the restart and driven in-goal for a Free Jacks scrum, but the Ratlers turned the screw and won a penalty. A scuffle at the lineout between Cook and Josh Larsen resulted in a penalty against New England.
Jesse Parete came on for the Free Jacks to make his Major League Rugby debut but the New Zealander didn’t last long, sent to the bin for cynical play after just two minutes. ATL couldn’t clear, however, and instead Wilson would have a long-range crack at the posts that found its target.
The Free Jacks had an opportunity to take another three, but Larsen opted to go quick instead. ATL weren’t prepared and after several phases Wayne van der Bank spotted a gap to score just outside the upright. Wilson stepped up again with the conversion as the visitors took a 31-27 lead.
A grubber from Malan from inside his own half went out at the 5-meter line to give New England the throw-in at the lineout. The lineout drive was set and the backs added extra steam, with Mills Sanerivi at the back to get credit for the try. Wilson added the conversion and followed it with a penalty goal that brought on the final whistle.
ATL face a challenging road trip to Toronto next Saturday. New England are back in action on Sunday with a home game against NOLA Gold.
SCORING
ATL 27
Tries – L. Sitama (4′), T. Waitokia (26′), W. Leonard (40’+1′), C. Cook (48′)
Cons – K. Coleman 2/4 (5′, 40’+2′)
Pens – K. Coleman 1/1 (55′)
YC – L. Sitama (50′)
NEW ENGLAND 41
Tries – L. Malan (15′), M. Wilson (32′), H. Barlow (50′), W. van der Bank (70′), M. Sanerivi (74′)
Cons – B. Waaka 2/2 (16′, 33′), J. Poland 1/1 (51′), M. Wilson 2/2 (71′, 75′)
Pens – M. Wilson 2/2 (65′, 80′)
YC – J. Parete (63′)
TEAMS
RUGBY ATL
1 Will Burke (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 60′), 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg (16 Alex Maughan 63′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 John Sullivan 61′), 4 Justin Basson (19 Conor Keys 72′), 5 Johan Momsen, 6 Connor Cook, 7 Matt Heaton (capt.) (20 Jason Damm 13′), 8 Daemon Torres, 9 Rowan Gouws (21 Ryan Rees 66′), 10 Kurt Coleman, 11 Austin White, 12 Will Leonard (23 George Barton 45′), 13 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 14 Lui Sitama (22 Nolan Tuamoheloa 77′), 15 Kian Meadon
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Foster DeWitt 50′), 2 Pieter Jansen (16 Mills Sanerivi 50′), 3 Erich de Jager (18 Tevita Sole 50′), 4 Josh Larsen (capt.), 5 Stan van den Hoven (20 Cam Davidowicz 49′), 6 Reegan O’Gorman, 7 Slade McDowall, 8 Joe Johnston (19 Jesse Parete 61′), 9 John Poland (21 Holden Yungert 61′), 10 Beaudein Waaka (22 Harrison Boyle 52′), 11 Harry Barlow, 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Wayne van der Bank (23 Jack Reeves 75′), 14 Mitch Wilson, 15 Dougie Fife
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Jack Gohl (Australia)
Assistants: Cisco Lopez (USA) & Dave Edwards (USA)
TMO: Amelia Luciano (USA)
Attendance: 2,500
