Seawolves hang on to halt Legion and book West Final spot

The Seattle Seawolves are headed back to the Western Conference Final after a 30-28 victory over the San Diego Legion at Starfire Stadium on Sunday. Two late scores made the result more respectable for the visitors after the home side pulled away in the final quarter to secure their bounty.

San Diego found the scoreboard first after winning a breakdown penalty, the end result of an early up-and-under from Matt Giteau. He would take the points himself, but there was an instant response from Mack Mason whose own three-pointer leveled the scores at the seven minute mark.

A second Giteau penalty came after Marcel Brache and Connor Tupai weaved upfield. Again the Seawolves replied with haste. Huw Taylor won a turnover and Divan Rossouw tapped the ball through off his right foot for Duncan Matthews to ground just ahead of the dead ball line. Brache then saw yellow after pulling down JP Smith in the air and Mason took the points to make it 11-6 for the home side.

The gap ballooned to 12 points after a searing break from Toni Pulu out of his own end. Rhyno Herbst was in support, and though the big lock was hauled down short he would get a second chance one phase later that took him over the line. Giteau was well off target on a penalty attempt but would get another just before halftime to leave it 18-9 for the Seawolves after 40 minutes.

It was a cautious start to the second half, with a long-range miss from Mason the only real scoring opportunity until the hour mark. The Legion attacked the right side but Tavite Lopeti interrupted a pass and deliberately knocked the ball into touch. A yellow card was brandished and from the resulting lineout Cyrille Cama touched down on the end of a driving maul.

A turning point came soon after. Mason stabbed a grubber into the corner and Tomas Aoake slid onto the ball with two Seawolves bearing down on him. The winger was still on the deck when he prevented Rossouw from picking it up and scoring what would have been a certain try. Aoake went to the bin and the referee walked under the posts to award the seven points.

Rossouw helped deliver the coup de grâce with a booming clearance kick downfield after a free kick at a scrum. The Legion turned the ball over in their end and the Seawolves took full advantage with Pago Haini breaking to the short side of a ruck to score, making it a three-score game with just six minutes to play.

To their credit the visitors refused to concede. Aoake used his footwork to make ground and then took a flat pass from Tupai to score an acrobatic try in the corner, with Mikey Te’o quickly landing a drop-goal conversion from the sideline. Time was up when Chance Wenglewski saw yellow for slowing the ball down and a collapsed maul moments later gave one last moment to cheer for San Diego.

The campaign comes to a close for the Legion, who are likely to be a new-look side in 2025 with the likes of Giteau and Ma’a Nonu set to retire. Seattle move on to the Final Four with the upstart Dallas Jackals their unlikely but esteemed guests in Tukwila next Sunday.

SEATTLE 30
Tries (4) – D. Matthews (12′), R. Herbst (27′), Penalty try (64′), P. Haini (73′)
Cons (2) – M. Mason 1/3 (28′), No kick (64′)
Pens (2) – M. Mason 2/3 (7′, 18′)
YC (2) – T. Lopeti (60′), C. Wenglewski (80′)

SAN DIEGO 28
Tries (3) – C. Cama (61′), T. Aoake (77′), Penalty try (80’+1′)
Cons (2) – M. Giteau 0/1, M. Te’o 1/1 (77′), No kick (80’+1′)
Pens (3) – M. Giteau 3/4 (5′, 11′, 40’+1′)
YC (2) – M. Brache (17′), T. Aoake (64′)

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr (17 Chance Wenglewski 74′), 2 Joe Taufete’e (16 Jackson Zabierek 48′-54′, 74′), 3 Sam Matenga (18 Koby Baker 72′), 4 Rhyno Herbst (19 Taylor Krumrei 19′-24′), 5 Mahonri Ngakuru (19 Taylor Krumrei 77′), 6 Jean Droste, 7 Devin Short (20 Pago Haini 59′), 8 Huw Taylor, 9 JP Smith (capt.), 10 Mack Mason (22 Sam Windsor 74′), 11 Toni Pulu (21 Ryan Rees 74′), 12 Dan Kriel, 13 Divan Rossouw, 14 Lauina Futi, 15 Duncan Matthews (23 Tavite Lopeti 44′)

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Payton Telea-Ilalio (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 60′), 2 Hugh Roach (16 Cyrille Cama 34′), 3 Luke Green (18 Darcy Breen 47′), 4 Brandon Harvey (20 Paddy Ryan 49′), 5 Greg Peterson, 6 Vili Helu, 7 Blair Cowan (capt.) (19 Christian Poidevin 54′), 8 Tevita Tameilau (21 Tupou Afungia 34′), 9 Connor Tupai, 10 Matt Giteau (22 Lincoln McClutchie 64′), 11 Filimoni Waqainabete, 12 Ma’a Nonu (23 Mikey Te’o 54′), 13 Tiaan Loots, 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Marcel Brache

Date: Sunday, July 21
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 18:00 local
Weather: sunny, 79°F (26°C)

Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (Canada) & Mike Lawrenson (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)