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The New England Free Jacks held on for a 33-29 win over NOLA Gold at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday. A furious second half comeback from the visitors made for tense moments, but the final result sees the home side securing the 1st overall position at the midpoint of the Major League Rugby season.
It was all New England for the first 20 minutes of the game. JP Eloff lost a Beaudein Waaka kick in the sun and the ball bounced back into the hands of Zach Bastres. A quick offload to Wayne van der Bank kept it alive, and his center partner Le Roux Malan was on hand to take the scoring pass with only two minutes gone. Waaka’s conversion bounced off the left upright and over the crossbar.
Bastres’ aerial skills were on display for the next two tries. A cross-kick from Waaka found its target as Bastres skied above Eloff to score in the corner. The winger then snared a high ball, with Waaka cutting across field to connect with van der Bank on a switch play that worked to perfection. The score was 19-nil at the first hydration break.
NOLA finally got on the board when Eloff broke through the line. The pressure stayed on until the Free Jacks defense was overcommitted, leaving Ross Depperschmidt wide open to take a scoring pass from Robbie Coleman in for the try. Damian Stevens couldn’t land the extras from a tough angle.
Just before the intermission a high pass eluded the fingertips of Eloff and was snatched up by Harry Barlow. He somehow managed to get boot on ball before he was tackled and with no cover defense at home, it was Cam Davidowicz who won the race with Waaka’s conversion making the halftime score a lopsided 24-6 to the home side.
The Gold came out of the sheds red hot and within a minute of the restart Stevens was under the posts. It was Eloff who sparked the try with a break from his own end, and he made another break to start the next scoring move. Harley Wheeler wriggled through multiple defenders on the right side and soon after Dino Waldren crossed from close range.
New England’s discipline became a problem and the Gold opted for an attacking lineout. Cam Dolan was the target and when the drive was on the forwards got some help from the backs. It was JP du Plessis who got the credit for the bonus point try at the back of the maul, with the conversion from Stevens drawing the scores level.
Remarkably the Gold would take the lead through a Stevens penalty, but New England struck back immediately. Reegan O’Gorman, with his first touch of the ball, broke through the line and offloaded to Foster DeWitt in close support for the decisive score.
An injury to Joe Johnston left the Free Jacks with only seven forwards as flyhalf Harrison Boyle was the only replacement available. NOLA sensed an opportunity and managed to drive over from a lineout, but the ball was ruled held up. One last attack saw Eric Howard break free, only for the would-be try to be waved off for a forward pass in the build-up.
Both teams will play home games next Saturday. The Free Jacks host the Seattle Seawolves, while the Gold take on Rugby ATL.
SCORING
NEW ENGLAND 33
Tries – L. Malan (2′), Z. Bastres (7′), W. van der Bank (19′), C. Davidowicz (39′), F. DeWitt (64′)
Cons – B. Waaka 4/5 (3′, 20′, 40′, 65′)
YC – J. Reeves (77′)
NOLA 29
Tries – R. Depperschmidt (32′), D. Stevens (41′), D. Waldren (48′), J. du Plessis (53′)
Cons – D. Stevens 2/3 (49′, 54′), No kick (41′)
Pens – D. Stevens 1/1 (63′)
TEAMS
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Foster DeWitt 49′), 2 Pieter Jansen (16 Mills Sanerivi 49′), 3 Erich de Jager (18 Tevita Sole 49′), 4 Josh Larsen (capt.), 5 Stan van den Hoven (19 Reegan O’Gorman 63′ {6 Cam Davidowicz 68′}), 6 Cam Davidowicz (20 Jesse Parete 46′), 7 Slade McDowall, 8 Joe Johnston (22 Harrison Boyle 68′), 9 John Poland (21 Holden Yungert 62′), 10 Beaudein Waaka, 11 Harry Barlow (23 Jack Reeves 41′), 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Wayne van der Bank, 14 Zach Bastres, 15 Dougie Fife
NOLA GOLD
1 Kevin Sullivan (17 Kavika Peniata 74′), 2 Eric Howard, 3 Dino Waldren (18 James Irey 74′), 4 Taylor Krumrei (19 William Waguespack 44′), 5 Billy Stewart, 6 Malcolm May (20 Maciu Koroi 44′), 7 Moni Tonga’uiha (21 Osaiasi Tonga’uiha 74′), 8 Cam Dolan (capt.), 9 Damian Stevens (23 Devereaux Ferris 75′), 10 Robbie Coleman, 11 Ross Depperschmidt (22 Nick Feakes 52′), 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Harley Wheeler, 15 JP Eloff
Not used: 16 George Sharpe
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Jarrod Ford (USA)
TMO: Davey Ardrey (USA)
