Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The expansion Miami Sharks earned the biggest win of their short history with a 15-13 upset of the defending champion Free Jacks on Saturday night. Blazing heat and humidity sapped New England’s energy and left the door open to a last-gasp try from Tomás Casares that left the visitors in shock.
New England’s intent was on display in the early going as they turned down two opportunities for points in favor of the corner. Eventually the decision paid off when Seta Baker scored on the back of a driving maul, with the conversion from Jayson Potroz making it a full seven with five minutes on the clock.
Danyon Morgan-Puterangi nearly had a second try for the visitors when he won the race on a chip-and-chase, but the Free Jacks fullback couldn’t quite ground the ball. Meanwhile New England’s defense was found porous first by Tomás Inciarte and then by Felipe Etcheverry, but the Sharks also failed to finish and Santiago Videla instead took three points off the tee.
An overthrow at the lineout cost New England dearly. Sean McNulty put boot to ball and the Sharks turned the ball over at the breakdown. Inciarte took on the line and offloaded to Roelof Smit for the try. Videla’s kick shaved the left post and the flags stayed down, but the home side were now ahead by one.
The Free Jacks took a more pragmatic approach at the end of the half and twice opted for long-range kicks at goal. On both occasions Potroz missed his target, the first wide right and the second drifting to the left. He would redeem himself early in the second half to put the visitors back in front by two.
A furious assault came from the Sharks and the Free Jacks were pushed right back to their line, but somehow they held up Manuel Ardao under the posts. Miami won a scrum penalty but some over-exuberance at the decision saw the penalty reversed and New England cleared their lines.
Two yellow cards in a span of a minute saw the two sides reduced to 14 men apiece. Avery Oitomen was first to go for a dangerous tackle, and the Kyle Baillie followed when tempers flared off the ball. With the extra space Etcheverry freed Inciarte for a clean line break but Holden Yungert arrived to make a try-saving tackle and again the Free Jacks escaped what looked a certain score.
Ardao had already won multiple turnovers but inaccuracy at the breakdown earned a yellow card. It would eventually result in a penalty goal from Potroz after Killian Coghlan belted Videla at the end of a box kick and pressure from Martín Sigren was first over the ball.
With the clock now creeping towards full-time the Free Jacks were stuck in defense and now back at full strength the Sharks were determined to have the final say. It would come with the clock in the red. Casares spotted a gap on the edge of a ruck and tore away from 15 meters out to dive in under the posts and claim a famous victory.
Both teams return to action next Sunday. New England head home to take on the Dallas Jackals, while Miami head west to face RFC Los Angeles for the first time.
| SCORING |
MIAMI 15
Tries (2) – R. Smit (26′), T. Casares (80’+1′)
Cons (1) – S. Videla 0/1, No kick (80’+1′)
Pens (1) – S. Videla 1/1 (24′)
YC (2) – A. Oitomen (56′), M. Ardao (67′)
NEW ENGLAND 13
Tries (1) – S. Baker (4′)
Cons (1) – J. Potroz 1/1 (5′)
Pens (2) – J. Potroz 2/4 (42′, 77′)
YC (1) – K. Baillie (57′)
| LINEUPS |
MIAMI SHARKS
1 Rob Evans (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 62′), 2 Sean McNulty (16 Alex Glover 73′), 3 Alec McDonnell (18 Setu Vole 77′), 4 Rick Rose (19 Michael Etete 62′), 5 Stan van den Hoven, 6 Benjamín Bonasso, 7 Roelof Smit (20 Tomás Casares 42′), 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Cubelli (capt.) (22 Guiseppe du Toit 69′), 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Avery Oitomen (23 Eric Naposki 66′), 12 Nick Grigg, 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Michael Hand (21 Marcos Young 44′), 15 Felipe Etcheverry
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Malakai Hala-Ngatai 48′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Mason Koch 66′-71′), 3 Cole Keith (18 John-Roy Jenkinson 48′), 4 Kyle Baillie, 5 Conor Keys, 6 Ethan Fryer, 7 Seta Baker (19 Jackson Thiebes 71′), 8 Cam Davidowicz (20 Martín Sigren 48′), 9 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti (21 Holden Yungert 62′), 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Isaac Olson, 12 Le Roux Malan (22 Wayne van der Bank 52′), 13 Ben LeSage (capt.), 14 Mitch Wilson (23 Killian Coghlan 69′), 15 Danyon Morgan-Puterangi
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, May 25
Venue: AutoNation Field, Fort Lauderdale
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 87°F (30°C), humidex 95°F (35°C), wind W 12-18mph (19-29km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Andrew Cole (Ireland)
Assistants: Miles McIvor (USA) & Tom Ciampa (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
