Big second half gives San Diego victory over NOLA

A dominant second half performance from San Diego secured a come-from-behind 33-20 win over NOLA at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Legion trailed 17-nil at halftime but found another gear after the break and the Gold could only watch as they left California with nothing to show for it.

Early penalties conceded by NOLA gave Lincoln McClutchie the first opportunity to score what should have been routine points, but he didn’t strike the ball cleanly and the ball sailed well wide of its target. Instead it was the visitors who found the board, with Rodney Iona making ground on first phase from a scrum and straight hands down the line sending Ed Fidow over for a try.

It was nearly a double for Fidow just a couple minutes later. Taniela Filimone’s counter-attack had alarm bells ringing but the Legion turned the ball over and McClutchie kicked down the touchline. Iona was there to catch and take a quick throw-in, and Fidow swerved and fended his way to the line only for Connor Tupai to knock the ball from his hands at the last possible moment to deny a certain score.

Again points went begging for the Gold when they were pinged for sealing off a ruck just a couple meters from the line, but this time they didn’t let the Legion off the hook. Another strong run from Iona set a target and Luke Campbell darted from the ruck, handing the ball off to William Waguespack for the try.

Dorian Jones knocked over a three-pointer, his third successful kick of the day, to make it 17 unanswered points for the visitors. That would do it for the half, but not before Filimone and Tupai were shown yellow – the former for cynical play at the breakdown and the latter for shoving his opponent after the Legion had already been warned for carrying on after the whistle.

Fidow limped off with a lower-leg complaint early in the second half, replaced by Ross Depperschmidt. Meanwhile McClutchie stepped in to play scrumhalf with Tupai in the bin, and a wide pass put Tomas Aoake over for San Diego’s first score of the day. With Tupai now back on, the Legion summoned Tiaan Loots and Chris Mattina to add impetus to the backline. Loots delivered immediately, charging on to a Blair Cowan pass and offloading to Tupai for the finish.

A mistake from McClutchie on a penalty saw his touch-finder running too long, handing a scrum back to the Gold. They couldn’t take advantage of the miscue, however, and instead it was Vili Helu’s line break that sent Tupai free. When the scrumhalf was brought down just short Cyrille Cama punched over under the sticks for an automatic seven that gave the Legion their first lead of the game.

The last five minutes could hardly have gone worse for NOLA. A driving maul resulted in a penalty try and yellow card to Pat O’Toole for collapsing, taking the Gold out of losing bonus point range. Two minutes later Loots broke clean through the line to score on first phase from a lineout to put the game to bed.

It’s a short turnaround for NOLA next Saturday when they welcome the Miami Sharks to The Gold Mine. San Diego have the full week to prepare for their home game against the Utah Warriors on Sunday.

SAN DIEGO 33
Tries (5) – T. Aoake (48′), C. Tupai (52′), C. Cama (74′), Penalty try (77′), T. Loots (79′)
Cons (4) – L. McClutchie 2/3 (49′, 53′), No kick 2 (74′, 77′)
Pens (0) – L. McClutchie 0/1
YC (1) – C. Tupai (40’+2′)

NOLA 20
Tries (2) – E. Fidow (12′), W. Waguespack (33′)
Cons (2) – D. Jones 2/2 (13′, 34′)
Pens (2) – D. Jones 2/2 (37′, 65′)
YC (2) – T. Filimone (40’+2′), P. O’Toole (77′)

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Nathan Sylvia HT), 2 Hugh Roach (16 Chris Mickelson 66′), 3 Darcy Breen (18 Oliver Kane 75′), 4 Jay Tuivaiti (20 Cyrille Cama 56′), 5 Greg Peterson (19 Charlie Hewitt 66′), 6 Vili Helu, 7 Blair Cowan (capt.), 8 Tevita Tameilau, 9 Connor Tupai, 10 Lincoln McClutchie, 11 Ryan James, 12 Ma’a Nonu (22 Tiaan Loots 51′), 13 Ethan Grayson, 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Marcel Brache (23 Chris Mattina 51′ {21 Danny Christensen 66′})

NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon (17 Sam Klimkowski 65′), 2 Augusto Böhme (16 Pat O’Toole 49′), 3 James Irey (18 Trent Rogers 56′), 4 Callum Botchar, 5 William Waguespack, 6 Malcolm May, 7 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.), 8 Osaiasi Tonga’uiha (20 Ale Lopeti 49′), 9 Luke Campbell (21 Damien Stevens 60′), 10 Dorian Jones* (19 Maciu Koroi 70′), 11 Ed Fidow (23 Ross Depperschmidt 47′), 12 Rodney Iona (22 Reece Botha 65′), 13 JP du Plessis, 14 Taniela Filimone, 15 Dougie Fife

*10 Dorian Jones returned to the pitch from an HIA at 77 minutes but 19 Maciu Koroi did not leave the field, incorrectly giving NOLA an extra man for 3 minutes

Date: Sunday, April 14
Venue: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 13:00 local
Weather: sunny, 62°F (17°C), wind W 8-12mph (13-19km/h)

Referee: Cisco Lopez (USA)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Fernando García (Mexico)
TMO: Greg Gilliam (USA)