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The Free Jacks bounced back from their home defeat with a convincing 34-12 win on the road against RFC Los Angeles on Sunday. New England’s set piece was improved while their defense left their hosts frustrated for most of the contest.
LA were hit by the loss of prop Dane Zander just three minutes in to a shoulder injury, with Alex Maughan summoned as his replacement. The visitors were content to go through the phases, inching their way forward until Andrew Quattrin went through a half-gap to slip in under the posts for a seven-pointer.
Seta Baker was next to find the line, grounding the ball on the end of a driving maul. A short time later Semi Kunatani saw yellow for a high shot on Mitch Wilson. The Free Jacks winger then popped up to take an offload from Reece MacDonald, tearing free before connecting with Baker. Danyon Morgan-Puterangi followed up the line break for the finish.
A couple minutes before halftime LA finally found a way through New England’s line. The defense seemed to lose focus momentarily and Jack Shaw slipped through the middle to score on a routine backline move. Dan Hollinshead knocked over the extras to leave it 17-7 to the visitors at halftime.
Shaw’s kick ahead early in the second half found MacDonald instead of grass. A return kick rolled in-goal and though Austin White was there first, his decision to let it roll dead proved costly. MacDonald came flying in to ground the ball with the TMO confirming the try. New England had the bonus point but celebrations were muted as MacDonald injured his shoulder on the play.
Kunatani made up for his earlier indiscretion with a try on a quick tap, but that was all the home side would have to cheer about in the second half. Jayson Potroz landed a penalty goal and then put in a chip kick for Morgan-Puterangi to slide onto for the final scoring act of the contest.
Los Angeles have a welcome bye week to recuperate before returning to start a grueling eight week second half of the season on the road against Dallas on May 10. New England will host the Chicago Hounds next Sunday.
| SCORING |
LOS ANGELES 12
Tries (2) – J. Shaw (38′), S. Kunatani (52′)
Cons (1) – D. Hollinshead 1/2 (39′)
YC (1) – S. Kunatani (25′)
NEW ENGLAND 34
Tries (5) – A. Quattrin (14′), S. Baker (21′), D. Morgan-Puterangi 2 (30′, 78′), R. MacDonald (44′)
Cons (3) – No kick (14′), J. Potroz 2/4 (45′, 79′)
Pens (1) – J. Potroz 1/1 (74′)
| LINEUPS |
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Dane Zander (18 Alex Maughan 3′), 2 Ben Strang (16 Bruce Kauika-Petersen 53′), 3 Conor Young (17 Sam Buckley 77′), 4 Jason Damm, 5 Ben Mitchell (20 Max Katjijeko 67′), 6 Michael Amiras, 7 Matt Heaton (capt.), 8 Semi Kunatani (19 Bruce Yun 77′), 9 Tas Smith (21 Niall Saunders 53′), 10 Matt Anticev (23 Derek Adams 69′), 11 Jack Shaw, 12 Dan Hollinshead, 13 James Stokes (22 Jason Emery 39′), 14 Brooklyn Hardaker, 15 Austin White
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Malakai Hala-Ngatai (17 Foster DeWitt HT), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Sean Ralph 53′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 Kaleb Geiger HT), 4 Kyle Baillie (19 Josh Larsen 46′), 5 Jackson Thiebes, 6 Mitch Jacobson (capt.) (20 Cam Davidowicz 61′), 7 Seta Baker, 8 Martín Sigren, 9 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti, 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Danyon Morgan-Puterangi (21 Holden Yungert 61′), 12 Le Roux Malan (22 Ben LeSage 65′), 13 Wayne van der Bank, 14 Mitch Wilson, 15 Reece MacDonald (23 Zach Bastres 45′)
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Sunday, April 28
Venue: Dignity Health Stadium, Carson
Kickoff: 15:30 local
Weather: sunny, 70°F (21°C), wind SW 10-15mph (16-24km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Kirk Swanner (USA)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
