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For a second time this season lightning has forced a Major League Rugby game to be abandoned after just 40 minutes. Old Glory DC’s 7-3 lead over the Dallas Jackals will stand as a complete result after a nasty weather system moved too close to the stadium shortly after the whistle sounded for halftime.
It was a scrappy match from the start with poor discipline costing DC just four minutes into the match. Martín Elías calmly landed a penalty goal from straight in front of the posts to open the scoring.
After several minutes of jostling for possession, William Talataina sold a dummy and scythed through to score, but the try was scrubbed off as a block from Langilangi Haupeakui opened the gap. Haupeakui was again the villain when he immediately tackled Elías on a quick tap penalty and was dispatched to the bin.
Off-the-ball scuffles were frequent, but once DC were back to full strength Gradyn Bowd sparked a promising attack with a chip ahead into space that pinned Dallas in their end. A double-tackle followed by a turnover from Lucas Bur snuffed out the danger.
At last the visitors would get their score. An attacking scrum collapsed and the ball was spun to Talataina, whose outside angle was too much for Tomás Malanos to handle. Bowd’s extras made it a full seven and the players headed to the sheds. They would not return, however as thunder and lightning appeared in the skies surrounding the stadium and after a lengthy delay the decision was made to call it quits.
Dallas will hope for better weather and a full match when they host the Utah Warriors next Saturday. It’s an extra day off for DC, who return home to play the New England Free Jacks on Sunday.
SCORING
DALLAS 3
Pens (1) – M. Elías 1/1 (4′)
DC 7
Tries (1) – W. Talataina (40′)
Cons (1) – G. Bowd 1/1 (40’+1′)
YC (1) – L. Haupeakui (28′)
TEAMS
DALLAS JACKALS
1 Nicolás Revol, 2 Dewald Kotze, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Sam Golla, 5 Lucas Bur, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara (capt.), 7 Conrado Roura, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 Pedro Imhoff, 10 Martín Elías, 11 Campbell Johnstone, 12 Alejandro Torres, 13 Tomás Malanos, 14 Aaron Gray, 15 Marcos Moroni
Not used: 16 Liam Murray, 17 Connor Robinson, 18 Kyle Steeves, 19 Carson Shoemaker, 20 Cameron Nelson, 21 Danny Christensen, 22 Juan Pablo Aguirre, 23 James Vaifale
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Nic Souchon, 3 Kyle Stewart, 4 Collin Grosse, 5 Kyle Baillie, 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (capt.), 7 Lautaro Bavaro, 8 Langilangi Haupeakui, 9 Danny Tusitala, 10 Gradyn Bowd, 11 Junior Sa’u, 12 Thretton Palamo, 13 William Talataina, 14 Peni Lasaqa, 15 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla
Not used: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Quentin Newcomer, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Niko Jones, 20 Alejo Daireaux, 21 John LeFevre, 22 Owen Sheehy, 23 Marcos Young
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Andrew Low (USA) & Cole Jones (USA)
TMO: Scott Green (USA)
