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Dewald Kotze scored five tries to set a new Major League Rugby single game mark, but it wasn’t quite enough to give Dallas the victory in the end. Instead it was a late penalty goal from Mack Mason that give the Seawolves a narrow 34-32 win at Starfire Stadium on Friday night.
An early period on attack for Seattle was largely fruitless until they settled for three points from the boot of Mason. The visitors had a response when Makeen Alikhan turned over possession at the breakdown, leading to a penalty goal from Vaughen Isaacs.
A try from each team came just after the hydration break. Kotze got his first on the end of a driving maul, but then poor defense allowed the Seawolves to strike back immediately. Ryan Rees broke from a scrum and offloaded to Dan Kriel who breezed through for the finish.
Divan Rossouw was hit late while in the act of kicking that allowed Seattle the chance to move upfield. Mason’s effort from the penalty gave the forwards ideal position for the lineout. The drive stalled but Pago Haini muscled in from close range to make it 17-8 for the home side.
Dallas would wrestle control before halftime. Kotze got his second in nearly identical fashion to the first, and then secured his hat trick after Juan-Dee Oliver landed a 50-22 on a box kick. Isaacs hit the post with the first conversion but landed the second to make it 20-17 for the visitors.
A cross-kick from Mason didn’t quite work out and Tomás Malanos sparked a counter-attack from inside Dallas territory. Sam Tuifua appeared to score on the end of it but the final pass from Nazareno Valentini was ruled forward on a TMO review. The Jackals would not be denied, however, with another turnover leading to Kotze’s fourth from a lineout drive.
Jade Stighling won an aerial contest to put the Seawolves back on attack, and Rhyno Herbst sent Riekert Hatting barreling down the left sideline. Connor Winchester came flying across but his no-arms tackle resulted in a penalty try and yellow card. Despite being down a man the Jackals fired back and it was Kotze again with his fifth with more help from his pack.
Mason made a rare mistake when his penalty kick went dead to give Dallas a scrum. The Seawolves won the shove, however, and took possession straight back. JP Smith found a gap on the fringes and a couple phases later Dewald Donald stretched out to score, with the conversion from Mason making it a one-point game with 10 minutes to play.
The Jackals were eyeing a sixth lineout drive but this time Herbst made a mess of the maul and won a turnover for Seattle. Malanos regathered his own up-and-under but the referee ruled his forwards hadn’t sufficiently retreated from the space. When the Seawolves won a scrum penalty soon after it was Mason who stepped forward and struck the ball clean through the posts to claim the victory.
It’s another Friday night fixture for Dallas next weekend as they host the Utah Warriors. Seattle will head on the road with two extra days to prepare for their Sunday afternoon clash with RFC Los Angeles.
| SCORING |
SEATTLE 34
Tries (4) – D. Kriel (25′), P. Haini (31′), Penalty try (51′), D. Donald (70′)
Cons (4) – M. Mason 3/3 (26′, 32′, 71′), No kick (51′)
Pens (2) – M. Mason 2/2 (10′, 79′)
DALLAS 32
Tries (5) – D. Kotze 5 (22′, 35′, 40′, 48′, 55′)
Cons (2) – V. Isaacs 2/5 (36′, 56′)
Pens (1) – V. Isaacs 1/1 (17′)
YC (1) – C. Winchester (51′)
| LINEUPS |
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Chance Wenglewski (17 Dewald Donald 56′), 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Olive Kilifi (18 Sam Matenga 45′), 4 Rhyno Herbst, 5 Mahonri Ngakuru (19 Taylor Krumrei 63′), 6 Pago Haini (20 Reid Davis 67′), 7 Charles Elton, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 Ryan Rees (21 JP Smith 45′), 10 Mack Mason, 11 Jade Stighling, 12 Tevita Kuridrani (22 Sam Windsor 54′), 13 Dan Kriel, 14 Lauina Futi (23 Conner Mooneyham 63′), 15 Divan Rossouw
Not used: 16 DaQuan Perry
DALLAS JACKALS
1 Joaquín Horcada (16 Liam Murray 52′), 2 Dewald Kotze, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Kyle Steeves 63′), 4 Sam Golla (capt.), 5 Daemon Torres (19 Ronnie McElligott 77′), 6 Ronan Foley, 7 Makeen Alikhan (20 Marques Fuala’au 67′), 8 Sam Tuifua, 9 Juan-Dee Oliver, 10 Nazareno Valentini (23 Jason Tidwell 67′), 11 Tomás Malanos, 12 Connor Winchester, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Marcell Muller, 15 Vaughen Isaacs
Not used: 17 Tomás Bekerman, 21 Joeli Tikoisuva, 22 Nic Benn
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Friday, April 5
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 19:30 local
Weather: cloudy, 52°F (11°C), wind SE 7-11mph (11-18km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (Canada) & Brad Schwalger (Canada)
TMO: Amanda Cox (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
