Free Jacks fly past Gold in New Orleans

The New England Free Jacks earned an emphatic 36-12 road victory over the NOLA Gold on Friday night. While the visitors were convincing winners on the evening, it was numerous unforced errors committed by the home side that ultimately led to their downfall.

Despite holding a size advantage, the Gold forwards inexplicably chose not to challenge the Free Jacks on the first two throw-ins. It cost them seven points in just the third minute as Mills Sanerivi crossed on the back of a driving maul, with Jayson Potroz nailing the conversion from wide out.

The Gold won a scrum penalty but then almost immediately conceded possession on their own thrown-in. Poor discipline then gave New England an attacking lineout, and this time the Free Jacks set their backs loose with Potroz looping around to slide over under the posts.

NOLA finally got to show their own attacking prowess on a counter-attack. Jordan Trainor made a half-break, and then Rodney Iona’s offload put Jarred Adams into space. The burly prop barged through Mitch Wilson and over the line to get the Gold on the board. Iona tacked on the extra two.

Potroz had a chance to put three on the board but his kick from nearly in front of the sticks was pulled wide left. A mistake by the Free Jacks in their own end gave NOLA an opportunity and they took full advantage, using a trick-play at the lineout to drive over with Moni Tonga’uiha getting the credit. This time the posts eluded Iona but the gap was now just two points.

Confusion in NOLA’s midfield defense was the culprit on the next score. Paula Balekana scorched through a gap and fired a backhanded offload to Spencer Jones. The Canadian international fed John Poland on his inside to ground the ball between the sticks for a seven-pointer.

New England nearly scored again from a lineout after the scrum won a penalty on halfway. Wian Conradie was held-up, but Iona’s drop-out attempt was charged down by Mitch Jacobson. The ball was recycled and Potroz fed Wilson on a wide arcing run that took him over for the bonus-point try. The kick from Potroz sent the two teams into the sheds with the visitors leading 28-12.

Neither side would find the scoreboard again until Reece MacDonald’s penalty in the 74th minute. Poland would then grab a double after a Wayne van der Bank kick ahead sailed deep inside Gold territory. The ball spilled free in a scramble and the Free Jacks halfback hacked ahead and regathered to bring the scoring to a close.

Both teams will hit the road next weekend. The Gold are up first on Saturday when they take on the SaberCats at AVEVA Stadium. New England face a long trip to the West Coast to play the Legion at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday.

 

SCORING

NOLA 12
Tries (2) – J. Adams (16′), M. Tonga’uiha (25′)
Cons (1) – R. Iona 1/2 (17′)

NEW ENGLAND 36
Tries (5) – M. Sanerivi (3′), J. Potroz (13′), J. Poland 2 (33′, 76′), M. Wilson (40’+1′)
Cons (4) – J. Potroz 2/2 (4′, 40’+2′), No kick 2 (13′, 33′), R. MacDonald 0/1
Pens (1) – J. Potroz 0/1, R. MacDonald 1/1 (74′)

 

TEAMS

NOLA GOLD
1 Kevin Sullivan (17 Matt Harmon 55′), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Eric Howard 60′), 3 Jarred Adams (18 Dino Waldren 48′), 4 Billy Stewart (20 Maciu Koroi 55′), 5 Liam Hallam-Eames, 6 Moni Tonga’uiha (19 Malcolm May 68′), 7 Tom Florence, 8 Cam Dolan (capt.), 9 Damian Stevens (21 Luke Campbell 49′), 10 Rodney Iona, 11 Jack Webster (23 Cael Hodgson HT), 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 JP du Plessis (22 Ross Depperschmidt 68′), 14 Harley Wheeler, 15 Jordan Trainor

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Foster DeWitt 59′), 2 Mills Sanerivi (16 Andrew Quattrin 59′), 3 Cole Keith (18 Tevita Sole 59′), 4 Josh Larsen (capt.), 5 Semisi Paea (19 Conor Keys 67′), 6 Sam Fischli (20 Joe Johnston 32′), 7 Mitch Jacobson, 8 Wian Conradie, 9 John Poland (21 Holden Yungert 77′), 10 Jayson Potroz (23 Reece MacDonald 72′), 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Wayne van der Bank, 14 Taniela Filimone (22 Zach Bastres 77′), 15 Mitch Wilson

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Cisco Lopez (USA)
Assistants: Allen Alongi (USA) & Rob Halcomb (USA)
TMO: Amelia Luciano (USA)