Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Austin achieved their target on Saturday with a dominant 44-28 win over San Diego at Bold Stadium. While the Gilgronis march on towards the post-season, it’s the end of the line for the Legion as they close their 2022 campaign with an 8-8 record.
The home were in ominous form from the start. Soft hands from Sebastian de Chaves on the gainline put Locky McCaffrey through a gap. The big flanker nearly made it himself, with an offload to Ryan Louwrens in close support for the first try.
San Diego replied at the end of several phases on attack. Debutant flyhalf Josh Henderson slipped through a half-gap, and when the ball was recycled Hencus van Wyk’s outside-in angle caught the defense off-balance and the prop crashed over the line.
Mack Mason knocked over a penalty goal and then two tries in seven minutes from Jake Turnbull proved the turning point. McCaffrey blasted through Jale Railala before passing to Turnbull, who rolled through a tackle to score. The second score from the loosehead prop was a more traditional effort from close range.
Mark O’Keeffe broke free and looked certain to score only to be felled by a desperate tackle from Tiaan Loots. Luke Beauchamp was on hand to pick and drive over the line. The Legion would score just before halftime when Henderson broke to the outside, firing an over-the-shoulder pass to Tomas Aoake who touched down in the corner.
A second Mason penalty opened the scoring in the second half. Hugh Roach then picked up try number five for the AG’s on the back of a rolling maul. Chris Mattina’s conversion made it 41-14 to the home side at the hour mark.
The Gilgronis looked on the way to another score when Christian Ostberg broke free up the middle. He managed an offload to Bryce Campbell as he fell to the ground injured in a tackle. With the Legion on the retreat Ma’a Nonu intercepted a loose pass and smashed the ball upfield for Bjorn Basson to regather. Zinzan Elan-Puttick hauled down Basson but Ryan Matyas was there to take the pop off the deck in for a sensational try.
Mattina added a penalty goal to Austin’s total but the final say went to the Legion. Appropriately it was Joe Pietersen who sped away from his own end, offloading to Loots before a final pass to Michael Smith for another champagne finish. Pietersen converted his own to bring down the curtains on San Diego’s season.
A Texas Cup clash against the SaberCats in Houston will be the final regular season game for both playoff-bound teams. San Diego will say their farewells and debrief with a move to a new home of Snapdragon Stadium on the horizon in 2023.
SCORING
AUSTIN 44
Tries – R. Louwrens (7′), J. Turnbull 2 (22′, 29′), L. Beauchamp (32′), H. Roach (57′)
Cons – M. Mason 4/4 (8′, 23′, 30′, 33′), C. Mattina 1/1 (58′)
Pens – M. Mason 2/2 (17′, 48′), C. Mattina 1/1 (66′)
SAN DIEGO 28
Tries – H. van Wyk (13′), T. Aoake (39′), R. Matyas (61′), M. Smith (76′)
Cons – J. Pietersen 3/3 (14′, 40′, 77′), No kick (61′)
TEAMS
AUSTIN GILGRONIS
1 Jake Turnbull (17 Faka’osi Pifeleti 52′), 2 Hugh Roach, 3 Namatahi Waa (18 LaRome White 52′), 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 5 Isaac Ross (19 Christian Ostberg 58′ {16 Mason Koch 61′}), 6 Locky McCaffrey, 7 Luke Beauchamp (20 Maclean Jones 52′), 8 Michael de Waal, 9 Ryan Louwrens (21 Pele Cowley 61′), 10 Mack Mason (23 Chris Mattina 52′), 11 Zinzan Elan-Puttick, 12 Bryce Campbell (capt.), 13 Mark O’Keeffe (22 Will Magie 61′), 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Marcel Brache
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Hencus van Wyk (18 Chris Baumann 61′), 2 James Hilterbrand (16 Peter Malcolm 52′), 3 Paddy Ryan (17 Nathan Sylvia 33′), 4 Ben Grant, 5 Jale Railala (19 Ben Mitchell 33′), 6 Dan Pryor, 7 Michael Smith, 8 Tevita Tameilau (20 Chris Robshaw 58′), 9 Jason Higgins (21 Nate Augspurger 58′), 10 Josh Henderson (23 Ryan Matyas 58′), 11 Tomas Aoake, 12 Ma’a Nonu (capt.) (22 Josh Thiel 66′), 13 Tiaan Loots, 14 Bjorn Basson, 15 Joe Pietersen
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Jack Gohl (Australia)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Cole Jones (USA)
TMO: Luke Rogan (USA)
