Anthem entertain but Legion earn bonus point win

A late flourish from Anthem made things interesting but ultimately the Legion were too strong for their guests on Sunday, earning a bonus point 34-24 result over the expansion side. James Vaifale led the way with a brace for San Diego, with the home side formally booking their place in the postseason.

The Legion started at a lightning pace. Mikey Te’o’s chip ahead on a counter-attack was regathered by Tupou Afungia, with Ethan Grayson the link man for Filimoni Waqainabete to finish in the corner. Next it was Lincoln McClutchie who sliced through a gap and put boot to ball, with the grubber popping up for Vaifale to score and make it 12-nil to the home side with just 7 minutes played.

Joe Apikotoa won a penalty at the breakdown to get Anthem back into the game. The kick went to the corner and after several phases Cliven Loubser slipped through to score, the flyhalf converting his own to close the gap to five points. San Diego nearly returned fire immediately but Paddy Ryan was held up and the visitors cleared their lines.

The rest of the half did not go so well for Anthem. Reagan Leslie departed with a shoulder injury, and then McClutchie wriggled out of a tackle and connected with Danny Christensen. The scrumhalf offloaded to Te’o for the finish. An opportunity to score was there for the visitors just before halftime but Sean Yacoubian was held up after breaking from a scrum.

McClutchie was down in some discomfort when the whistle sounded but he returned to take the field in the second half. Nathan Sylvia was handed a yellow card for a high tackle and soon after Loubser split the uprights from 40 meters after the Legion had conceded a breakdown penalty.

The bonus point try came next for the home side, but not before McClutchie was forced to call it a day with Josh Henderson coming on as a replacement. Hugh Roach made ground in traffic and when the ball was recycled Tiaan Loots crashed over. Henderson wasted no time adding the extras.

Loubser was forced into emergency scrumhalf duties when Siaosi Nai left the pitch favoring his right shoulder, with Oscar Koller taking over at flyhalf. San Diego moved into scoring territory and a wide pass from Henderson found Vaifale in space. He managed to squeeze into the corner for a double despite the attention of two Anthem defenders to make it 31-10.

Just when it looked like the game was beyond them, Anthem responded with two tries in rapid succession. Te Rangatira Waitokia found a gap and offloaded to Tomasi Alosio for the first. The second went to Waitokia after Loubser went quick at a penalty and found Alosio in support to create the overlap. Both tries were converted to make it a once-score game.

Henderson calmed San Diego’s nerves with a penalty goal just after the restart to seal the win. One last attack from the visitors looked promising but ended with a knock-on, much to the relief of several players who collapsed in exhaustion at the final whistle.

Anthem start their final home stand of their inaugural campaign on Sunday when they host the Miami Sharks. The Legion will take part in Major League Rugby’s first ever Monday night game next week in a road tilt against the Chicago Hounds.

SAN DIEGO 34
Tries (5) – F. Waqainabete (3′), J. Vaifale 2 (7′, 68′), M. Te’o (31′), T. Loots (53′)
Cons (3) – L. McClutchie 2/3 (4′, 32′), J. Henderson 1/2 (53′)
Pens (1) – J. Henderson 1/1 (78′)
YC (1) – N. Sylvia (47′)

CAROLINA 24
Tries (3) – C. Loubser (11′), T. Alosio (73′), T. Waitokia (75′)
Cons (3) – C. Loubser 3/3 (12′, 74′, 76′)
Pens (1) – C. Loubser 1/1 (51′)

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Nathan Sylvia (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 65′), 2 Hugh Roach (16 Cyrille Cama 57′), 3 Darcy Breen (18 Oliver Kane 62′), 4 Isaac Ross (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 48′-57′) (19 Brandon Harvey 57′), 5 Greg Peterson (capt.), 6 Vili Helu, 7 Paddy Ryan, 8 Tupou Afungia (20 Aminae Amiatu-Tanoi 69′), 9 Danny Christensen (22 Nick Boyer 51′), 10 Lincoln McClutchie (23 Josh Henderson 49′), 11 James Vaifale (21 Finn Kearns 69′), 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Ethan Grayson (23 Josh Henderson 15′-18′), 14 Filimoni Waqainabete, 15 Mikey Te’o

ANTHEM CAROLINA
1 Dan Hanson (17 Ivan Pula 60′), 2 Jack Manzo (16 Connor Robinson 49′), 3 Joe Apikotoa (capt.) (18 Stephan Bernal-Wendt 66′), 4 Logan Weidner, 5 Reagan Leslie (20 Joe Basser 24′ {19 Lucas Gramlick 66′}), 6 Shneil Singh, 7 Sione Latu, 8 Michael Ma’afu, 9 Sean Yacoubian (21 Siaosi Nai 48′ {22 Oscar Koller 64′}), 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 12 Junior Gafa, 13 Sebastien Zaridze, 14 Cael Hodgson, 15 Steffan Crimp (23 Tomasi Alosio 49′)

Date: Sunday, June 9
Venue: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 13:00 local
Weather: cloudy, 66°F (19°C), wind SW 6-12mph (10-19km/h)

Referee: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Fernando García (Mexico)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)