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NOLA got their 2025 campaign off to a flying start with a comfortable 35-14 victory over Anthem Carolina in Metairie on Saturday. The revamped Gold outfit showed their strength in the set piece with four of their five tries coming via the forwards.
It took Xavier Mignot all of four minutes to score his first try in Major League Rugby, the French international fending off the last tackler to put the Gold in a lead they would not relinquish. Anthem nearly had an equalizer from a driving maul but it was denied by the TMO, and instead the home side struck again from in close through captain Moni Tonga’uiha.
Jonah Mau’u was next to reach the line for the Gold, the flanker going low and driving through the defense to score. Joe Apikotoa was shown yellow for a sloppy high tackle, and seconds later Pat O’Toole touched down on the end of a lineout drive to leave it 28-nil at the intermission.
O’Toole celebrated his 50th MLR appearance with a double, this time peeling off the back of a maul to crash over. That would be the end of NOLA’s scoring for the day with Mau’u binned for a dangerous clearout and the visitors finally taking the initiative.
Makeen Alikhan got Anthem on the board from close range and a second try would come soon after. A yellow card was handed to Cam Dolan for cynical play at the breakdown and Karl Keane sniped from a ruck to score under the posts. Repeat infringements landed Reece Botha in the bin but one last attack from the visitors was turned away by the stingy Gold defense.
It’s a short turnaround for Anthem, who play their home opener against the San Diego Legion on Friday night. NOLA have an extra day off to prepare for their road game against the Miami Sharks on Sunday.
| SCORING |
NOLA 35
Tries (5) – X. Mignot (4′), M. Tonga’uiha (20′), J. Mau’u (28′), P. O’Toole 2 (32′, 48′)
Cons (5) – D. Jones 5/5 (5′, 21′, 29′, 33′, 49′)
YC (3) – J. Mau’u (51′), C. Dolan (62′), R. Botha (78′)
CAROLINA 14
Tries (2) – M. Alikhan (54′), K. Keane (62′)
Cons (2) – M. Wilson 1/1 (55′), No kick (62′)
YC (2) – J. Apikotoa (32′)
| LINEUPS |
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon (17 Bart Vermeulen 62′), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Ale Lopeti 60′), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Jarred Adams 50′), 4 Callum Botchar (19 William Waguespack 56′), 5 Cam Dolan, 6 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.) (20 Aidan King 65′), 7 Kélian Galletier, 8 Jonah Mau’u, 9 Luke Campbell (21 Ruben de Haas 50′), 10 Dorian Jones (22 Reece Botha 55′), 11 Ed Fidow, 12 JP du Plessis (23 Nikolai Foliaki 32′-39′, 70′), 13 Isaac Te Tamaki, 14 Xavier Mignot, 15 Cooper Coats
ANTHEM CAROLINA
1 Jake Turnbull (co-capt.) (17 Dan Hanson 60′), 2 Ethan Howard (16 Declan Moore 60′), 3 Joe Apikotoa (18 Stephan Bernal-Wendt 74′), 4 Shawn Clark (19 Alejandro Martinez Tapia 50′), 5 Sam Golla (co-capt.), 6 Alby O’Shannessey (18 Stephan Bernal-Wendt 36′-42′) (20 Colin Turner 66′), 7 Makeen Alikhan, 8 Dylan Fortune, 9 Karl Keane, 10 Line Latu (21 Carlo de Nysschen 73′), 11 Jason Tidwell, 12 Junior Gafa (22 Watson Filikitonga 70′), 13 Erich Storti, 14 Ashawnty Staples (23 EJ Freeman 13′), 15 Mitch Wilson
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, February 15
Venue: The Gold Mine, Metairie
Kickoff: 18:00 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 75°F (25°C), wind S 14-21mph (22-34km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Marquise Goodwin (USA)
Assistants: Jacob Gonzales (USA) & Allen Alongi (USA)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
