Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Old Glory made hard work of it, but got the win over the Miami Sharks they wanted on Saturday evening. Jason Robertson’s penalty goal in the dying minutes sealed a 13-10 result for DC in a prolonged arm-wrestle that saw both teams struggling to make inroads in rainy conditions.
After a long slog in the opening minutes, the home side got on the board first when William Talataina crossed on the end of a wide pass from Ethan McVeigh. At the same time Manuel Ardao saw yellow after the referee grew frustrated with repeat infringements from the visitors.
More penalties followed and Miami were soon down to just 13 men after Tevita Sole was dispatched to join Ardao in the bin. The Sharks defense held out, however, and several costly errors saw Old Glory’s advances come to nothing despite dominating territory and possession.
With time nearly up in the half McVeigh was caught trying to run out of his own end. Ardao was quickest over the ball to win a clean turnover, and moments later it was the Sharks vice-captain himself who slipped through to score under the posts, giving Miami an unlikely 7-5 lead heading into the sheds.
Rob Evans came into the game at halftime to help steady a creaky Miami scrum. The Sharks finally earned some sustained possession and though a long-range drop goal attempt from Felipe Etcheverry fell short, Santiago Videla landed a penalty goal to push the visitors further ahead.
Miami’s forwards misjudged the restart, however, and instead it was Axel Muller who plucked the ball from the air. The winger had a straight run to the line for the try. Gradyn Bowd’s conversion attempt was no wide but the scores were now level.
Robertson replaced Bowd at the hydration break but DC’s attack still floundered until a late hit gave the flyhalf a long-range shot at goal. It was no good, but on the ensuing play Nick Grigg was guilty of a no-arms tackle which resulted in a yellow card and another chance for Robertson. This time he had just enough behind it as the ball barely cleared the crossbar. The flags raised and time expired before the Sharks could respond.
Both teams return to action next Saturday. DC are on the road for another Eastern Conference clash against the Chicago Hounds, and Miami welcome the Utah Warriors to AutoNation Field.
| SCORING |
DC 13
Tries (2) – W. Talataina (17′), A. Müller (57′)
Cons (0) – G. Bowd 0/2
Pens (1) – J. Robertson 1/2 (78′)
MIAMI 10
Tries (1) – M. Ardao (40′)
Cons (1) – No kick (40′)
Pens (1) – S. Videla 1/1 (56′)
DG (0) – F. Etcheverry 0/1
YC (3) – M. Ardao (17′), T. Sole (21′), N. Grigg (78′)
| LINEUPS |
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Quentin Newcomer 71′), 2 Martín Vaca (16 KoiKoi Nelligan 75′), 3 Steven Longwell (18 Cali Martinez 67′), 4 Rob Harley, 5 Tevita Naqali (19 Bill Whiteside 71′), 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (capt.), 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Ethan McVeigh (21 Connor Buckley 57′), 10 Gradyn Bowd (22 Jason Robertson 58′), 11 Axel Müller, 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 William Talataina, 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Damien Hoyland
Not used: 20 Brady Daniel, 23 John Powers
MIAMI SHARKS
1 Jonas Petrakopoulos (17 Rob Evans HT), 2 Sean McNulty, 3 Tevita Sole (18 Alec McDonnell 62′), 4 Stan van den Hoven, 5 Michael Etete (16 Alex Glover 69′), 6 Dan Pryor (capt.) (20 Chase Schor-Haskin 79′), 7 Rick Rose (19 David Beach 79′), 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Michael Hand, 12 Nick Grigg, 13 Guiseppe du Toit, 14 Marcos Young (18 Alec McDonnell 24′-31′) (23 Avery Oitomen 60′), 15 Felipe Etcheverry
Not used: 21 Nicolás Elewaut, 22 Eric Naposki
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, May 4
Venue: Maryland SoccerPlex, Germantown
Kickoff: 18:00 local
Weather: rain, 55°F (13°C), wind E 9-13mph (14-21km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Marquise Goodwin (USA)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USA) & Cam Russell (Canada)
TMO: Mike Kelly (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
