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San Diego claimed Californian superiority at Saturday night’s Snapdragon Stadium opener, but only just. A five-from-five kicking effort from Lincoln McClutchie helped secure a 19-18 win over RFC Los Angeles, with the visitors scoring late to earn a bonus point.
Dan Hollinshead opened the scoring for LA with a penalty goal, but there would be bad news for his team when Jason Emery went down holding his knee. The playmaker attempted to soldier on but was eventually forced to concede, replaced by Austin White. At the same time San Diego skipper Blair Cowan saw yellow for cynical play at the breakdown.
While Cowan was off the pitch the visitors made inroads, moving deep inside San Diego territory. Semi Kunatani broke from a ruck, slipped a tackle, and offloaded to Jurie van Vuuren in support for the finish. Hollinshead’s conversion attempt missed but LA were up 8-nil at the hydration break.
Two players left the field during the break in play, one from each team. Tupou Afungia limped off, replaced at the back of the Legion scrum by Tevita Tameilau. LA were forced to make a change at when Bruce Kauika-Petersen was unable to continue with damaged ribs, Ben Strang taking his place at hooker.
Once back at full strength the Legion found new life. Penalties gave them field position and when the maul was slowed they opted for a strike play from the backline. It worked to perfection, with McClutchie looping around to send Marcel Brache in for seven points. A penalty attempt from Hollinshead was off-target and the score stood 8-7 to the visitors side at the half.
Hollinshead redeemed himself early in the second half to nudge his team ahead by four, but there would be little for LA to celebrate for the next half hour. San Diego opted for pragmatism and each time they moved into range, McClutchie would take three points. Like clockwork he landed four successive penalty goals with the last at the 76 minute mark.
There was still time for the visitors to salvage a bonus point and it was a piece of individual brilliance that did the trick. James Stokes stepped in at first receiver just on his side of halfway. The English center sold a dummy and ripped through the line, swerving to the right to bamboozle the cover defense and run clear for the try.
The Legion head back on the road with a long trip to the nation’s capital next Saturday to face Old Glory DC. It’s a home game for LA on Sunday against the Utah Warriors.
| SCORING |
SAN DIEGO 19
Tries (1) – M. Brache (31′)
Cons (1) – L. McClutchie 1/1 (32′)
Pens (4) – L. McClutchie 4/4 (54′, 60′, 67′, 76′)
YC (1) – B. Cowan (16′)
LOS ANGELES 18
Tries (2) – J. van Vuuren (20′), J. Stokes (78′)
Cons (1) – D. Hollinshead 1/2 (79′)
Pens (2) – D. Hollinshead 2/3 (7′, 42′)
YC (1) – A. Maughan (47′)
| LINEUPS |
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Payton Telea-Ilalio (17 Nathan Sylvia 49′), 2 Hugh Roach (16 Cyrille Cama 76′), 3 Luke Green (18 Darcy Breen 49′), 4 Isaac Ross (19 Charlie Hewitt 49′), 5 Greg Peterson, 6 Vili Helu, 7 Blair Cowan (capt.) (21 Finn Kearns 67′), 8 Tupou Afungia (20 Tevita Tameilau 21′), 9 Connor Tupai, 10 Lincoln McClutchie, 11 Ryan James, 12 Ma’a Nonu (23 Chris Mattina 55′), 13 Ethan Grayson, 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Marcel Brache
Not used: 22 Nick Boyer
RFC LOS ANGELES
1 Alex Maughan (17 Lincoln Si’i 79′), 2 Bruce Kauika-Petersen (16 Ben Strang 21′), 3 Conor Young (18 Dane Zander 57′), 4 Jurie van Vuuren (19 Max Katjijeko 67′), 5 Reegan O’Gorman, 6 Semi Kunatani (20 Michael Amiras 57′), 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Jason Damm, 9 Niall Saunders (capt.) (21 Tas Smith 62′), 10 Dan Hollinshead, 11 Jack Shaw, 12 Jason Emery (23 Austin White 16′), 13 James Stokes, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Sam Walsh (22 Seth Purdey 62′)
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 16
Venue: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: clear, 64°F (18°C), wind W 7-10mph (11-17km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Derek Summers (USA) & Alexis Alfaro (USA)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)
