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Rugby ATL clinched their spot in the postseason with a 34-23 win over the Toronto Arrows at Silverbacks Park on Saturday. In doing so the Canadian side are eliminated from contention, which means Rugby New York are also playoff-bound.
Toronto were under pressure from the opening kickoff and conceded an attacking lineout. Daemon Torres peeled around the back and was stopped just short. Matt Heaton’s attempt was repelled but Johan Momsen had the strength to barge in under the posts for the first try.
A three-point response came from the boot of Sam Malcolm. After the restart Ronan Foley stepped past a compromised Marko Janse van Rensburg and broke to midfield. Guiseppe du Toit’s offload sent Malcolm through another gap, but the support was too slow and ATL’s counter-ruck was successful.
Malcolm added a second penalty goal and then the Arrows would score their first try. The forwards bashed up the middle, and then wide passes from Malcolm and Matthew Hood found Johnny Sheridan on the right sideline. He stretched out to ground the ball in the corner, with Malcolm making good on a challenging conversion.
Janse van Rensburg finally succumbed to a lower leg injury, replaced by Tiaan Erasmus. The Ratlers then lost second front rower as John-Roy Jenkinson limped off with a bad hamstring. John Sullivan came on as a replacement but not before Malcolm landed his third penalty.
It only got worse for ATL. Confusion at the lineout saw an Arrows throw sail over the top, but Lucas Rumball was there to clean it up. Ross Braude picked out a gap between Momsen and Sullivan and after evading the clutches of the former he showed a clean pair of heels to the cover defense. The extras from Malcolm stretched Toronto’s lead to 23-7.
The Ratlers suddenly switched on and scored twice just before halftime. Erasmus drove in off the back of a lineout drive. Momentum was then built on strong carries from Conor Keys and Momsen, with Keys then playing distributor to Kurt Coleman. The flyhalf stepped and slipped through untouched with his own conversion making it a two-point gap at the intermission.
ATL regained the lead just a few minutes into the second half. Malcolm attempted a penalty kick from his own half that fell just short. The Ratlers moved up the pitch and Te Rangatira Waitokia took a flat pass from Will Leonard, slicing through the midfield and stepping Malcolm to score the bonus point try. Coleman had no trouble with the conversion to put the home side up by five.
The last half hour saw the ATL defense frustrate the Arrows. Successive penalty goals from Coleman and then Joaquín de la Vega Mendía pushed the Ratlers out to a two-score lead. Energy levels ran out for the Arrows followed soon by the clock, Rowan Gouws kicking the ball dead to end the game.
It’s a short turnaround for ATL as they end their regular season with a home game against NOLA Gold next Friday. The Arrows will close their 2022 campaign at home against Old Glory DC on Sunday.
SCORING
ATL 34
Tries – J. Momsen (4′), T. Erasmus (35′), K. Coleman (39′), T. Waitokia (47′)
Cons – No kick (4′), K. Coleman 3/3 (36′, 40′, 48′)
Pens – K. Coleman 1/1 (61′), J. de la Vega Mendía 1/1 (65′)
TORONTO 23
Tries – J. Sheridan (20′), R. Braude (29′)
Cons – S. Malcolm 2/2 (21′, 30′)
Pens – S. Malcolm 3/4 (10′, 18′, 25′)
TEAMS
RUGBY ATL
1 Alex Maughan (17 Will Burke 61′), 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg (16 Tiaan Erasmus 21′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 John Sullivan 28′), 4 Conor Keys (19 Justin Basson 61′), 5 Johan Momsen, 6 Vili Helu, 7 Matt Heaton (capt.), 8 Daemon Torres (20 Ross Deacon 71′), 9 Ryan Rees (21 Rowan Gouws 46′), 10 Kurt Coleman (22 Duncan van Schalkwyk 61′), 11 Harley Davidson, 12 Will Leonard, 13 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 14 Austin White (23 George Barton 67′), 15 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Lolani Faleiva 50′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 58′), 3 Isaac Salmon (18 Tyler Rowland 65′), 4 Adrian Wadden (20 Tomás de la Vega 60′), 5 Mike Sheppard (capt.) (19 Paul Ciulini 50′), 6 Kyle Baillie, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Ronan Foley, 9 Ross Braude (21 Sam Reimer 76′), 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Dennon Robinson-Bartlett, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Ueta Tufuga (22 Will Kelly 74′), 14 Johnny Sheridan (23 Mitch Voralek 60′), 15 Matthew Hood
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Gavin McCandless (USA) & Dave Edwards (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
