Free Jacks cruise to bonus-point win over ATL

The New England Free Jacks made it eight wins in a row with a comfortable 35-14 victory over Rugby ATL at Silverbacks Park on Friday night. Both sides were short of their best with tactical kicking especially poor, but the visitors made the most of their scoring opportunities to leave the home side on the verge of playoff elimination.

A sensational break down the sideline by Rewita Biddle nearly resulted in a try to ATL, but Reece MacDonald arrived just in the nick of time to knock the ball out of Biddle’s grasp just as the fullback was diving over the line. New England pushed back and after penalties conceded field position, Kieran McClea found a gap on the edge of a ruck to slide in for the opening try.

The home side got on the board when a loose pass from Mitch Wilson went straight into the arms of Martini Talapusi. He needed no second invitation and sprinted 50 meters untouched to score in the corner. Christopher Hilsenbeck nailed the extras to draw the scores level.

New England jumped back out in front on a counter-attack. Soft hands from Semisi Paea put MacDonald away up the middle. La Roux Malan was the link man with Paula Balekana getting the credit for the runaway finish. A long-range shot at goal from Hilsenbeck on the stroke of halftime was off target leaving the visitors 14-7 ahead.

Another counter-attack stretched New England’s lead. Jayson Potroz evaded the first chaser and tore down the sideline. A pass to the support bounced once before landing in Wian Conradie’s hands, with McClea on hand to race clear for his double.

Some life returned to ATL just three minutes later, starting with a set move from a scrum. Matt Heaton made a half-break in the outside channel and then Vili Helu took on the line. The back rower was stopped but managed to free his hands in the tackle and send Justin Basson in for five points, with Kurt Coleman’s boot making it a full seven.

ATL’s defense was caught out just after the hour mark. Malan went clean through a gap and found Mills Sanerivi on his inside. Holden Yungert took a pop pass from the hooker and chipped ahead for MacDonald to dive on the ball in-goal for the bonus-point try.

Any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Will Leonard was binned for cynically preventing Yungert from going quick at a scrum penalty. The final say would go to the visitors in spectacular fashion. Potroz chipped over the line, the ball landing perfectly in Balekana’s waiting hands. He quickly offloaded to Cam Davidowicz for a short run-in under the posts.

Next up for ATL is a home match against New York which could yet have playoff implications if the Ironworkers fall to Dallas in Mount Vernon. The Free Jacks make the long trip to Seattle to face the Seawolves next Sunday.

 

SCORING

ATL 14
Tries (2) – M. Talapusi (23′), J. Basson (53′)
Cons (2) – C. Hilsenbeck 1/1 (24′), K. Coleman 1/1 (54′)
Pens (0) – C. Hilsenbeck 0/1
YC (1) – W. Leonard (68′)

NEW ENGLAND 35
Tries (5) – K. McClea 2 (16′, 50′), P. Balekana (29′), R. MacDonald (64′), C. Davidowicz (79′)
Cons (5) – J. Potroz 4/4 (17′, 30′, 51′, 65′), No kick (79′)

 

TEAMS

RUGBY ATL
1 Alex Maughan (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 62′), 2 Sidney Tobias (16 Isaac Bales 79′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 Will Burke 62′), 4 Justin Basson (19 Nahuel Milán 76′), 5 Johan Momsen, 6 Connor Cook (20 Daemon Torres 71′), 7 Matt Heaton (capt.), 8 Vili Helu, 9 Ryan Rees (21 Niall Saunders 51′), 10 Christopher Hilsenbeck (22 Kurt Coleman 51′), 11 Austin White, 12 Martini Talapusi, 13 Will Leonard, 14 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 15 Rewita Biddle (23 Duncan van Schalkwyk 71′)

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Kianu Kereru-Symes 51′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Mills Sanerivi 51′), 3 Cole Keith (18 Joel Hintz 51′), 4 Conor Keys (19 Semisi Paea 26′-HT), 5 Reegan O’Gorman (19 Semisi Paea 51′), 6 Mitch Jacobson (capt.), 7 Slade McDowall (23 Joe Johnston 61′), 8 Wian Conradie (20 Cam Davidowicz 70′), 9 Kieran McClea (21 Holden Yungert 56′), 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Ben LeSage (22 Spencer Jones 70′), 14 Mitch Wilson, 15 Reece MacDonald

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Joe James (England)
Assistants: Cisco Lopez (USA) & Dave Edwards (USA)
TMO: Mike Lash (New Zealand)