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It didn’t take long for the Glendale Raptors to find their groove as they cruised to a 38-14 win over the New Orleans Gold at Infinity Park on Saturday. The match made a bit of history as the first between two Major League Rugby teams to be live streamed. Some minor production wrinkles aside the event came off without a hitch with the quality of rugby at a fair standard despite its preseason status.
If there is a concern for Glendale coach Dave Williams it will be discipline. Casey Rock saw yellow just seven minutes into the game, the first of three Raptors sent to the sidelines by referee Chris Assmus. Accuracy at the breakdown in particular was short of optimum but outside of the scrum the man advantage hardly seemed to make a difference.
John Stapleton missed two penalty shots at goal for New Orleans before Glendale turned up the heat. Bryce Campbell ran straight through the defensive line for the first score and a well-worked maul ended with Zach Fenoglio grabbing a signature score soon after.
A lovely attacking move that saw three huge cutout passes in succession from Shaun Davies, Will Magie, and John Quill ended with Harley Davidson rounding the right corner for a try. Quill was dispatched for repeat infringements just before the break and NOLA struck quickly with Matt Hughston reaching over for a relieving try to end the half.
The second period started with Davidson crossing for his second, replacement prop Blake Rogers giving the final pass after loitering in the backline. Rogers showed his skills again with a picture-perfect line break and pull pass back inside to put Ata Malifa in under the posts.
With the benches now empty the Gold got one flowing attacking move right and Michael Baska did the honors with the dive into the end zone. The last say went to the Raptors as 19-year-old Mika Kruse capped an impressive second half performance with a highlight-reel step inside the cover defense to dot down beside the uprights.
Glendale’s status as preseason favorites is intact as they take a two-week break before traveling to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Warriors. New Orleans have a week off before hosting the SaberCats in a return fixture. Roster reinforcements could be in order just six weeks out from the regular season.
SCORING
GLENDALE 38
Tries – B. Campbell (19’), Z. Fenoglio (24’), H. Davidson 2 (36’, 41’), A. Malifa (59’), M. Kruse (79’)
Cons – W. Magie 2/3 (20’, 37’), M. de Achaval 2/3 (42’, 80’)
Yellow cards – C. Rock (7’), J. Quill (38’), L. White (77’)
NEW ORLEANS 14
Tries – M. Hughston (39’), M. Baska (71’)
Cons – J. Stapleton 1/1 (40’), T. Howden 1/1 (72’)
Pens – J. Stapleton 0/2
TEAMS
GLENDALE RAPTORS
1 Luke White, 2 Zach Fenoglio, 3 Kelepi Fifita, 4 Casey Rock, 5 Ben Landry, 6 Connor Cook, 7 John Quill, 8 Grigor Kerdikoshvili, 9 Shaun Davies (capt.), 10 Will Magie, 11 John Ryberg, 12 Bryce Campbell, 13 Chad London, 14 Harley Davidson, 15 Maximo de Achaval
Replacements: 16 Nick Kwasniewski, 17 Blake Rogers, 18 James Del Bozque, 19 Peter Dahl, 20 Brian Wanless, 21 Maxwell Dacey, 22 Jake Christmann, 23 Mikaele Kruse, 24 Seth Halliman, 25 Ata Malifa
NEW ORLEANS GOLD
1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Eric Howard, 3 Ben Tarr, 4 Nikola Bursic, 5 John Sullivan, 6 Vince Jobo, 7 Matt Hughston, 8 Sebastián Kalm, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Taylor Howden (capt.), 11 Joeli Tikoisuva, 12 Zack Stryffeler, 13 Moni Tonga’uiha, 14 Peceli Rinakama, 15 John Stapleton
Replacements: 16 Derrek van Klein, 17 Cam Falcon, 18 Matt Wirken, 19 Myles McQuone, 20 Bobby Johns, 21 Michael Baska, 22 Melvin DeSouza, 23 Alec Janotka
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Chris Assmus (RC)
