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It was an interesting week when it came time to select our Major League Rugby standouts. It took a second watch to make the less obvious decisions and the intensity of the games in New Orleans and Seattle was a step above those in San Diego and Austin. The contenders are already starting to inch ahead of the also-rans.
1 – Tom Dolezel (Toronto Arrows) His line break opened the space for Andrew Ferguson’s try. It’s at the set piece, however, where Dolezel earns his place. He again showed he is one of the most destructive scrummagers in MLR, putting the Seawolves under huge pressure on their own ball.
2 – Eric Howard (NOLA Gold) We give the nod to Howard, who got himself on the scoring sheet and defended well in a very close contest at Gold Stadium. Dean Muir went well for San Diego and truth be told there was little separating those two from the rest.
3 – Paddy Ryan (San Diego Legion) Another excellent all-around performance against the Warriors. He won the scrum battle and put in several crunching hits including one textbook choke tackle that won a turnover in San Diego territory. Even showed some soft hands on one attacking play.
4 – Nate Brakeley (Rugby United New York) Second row was the place to be this week so we looked for big moments to make the decision for us. Brakeley stole an attacking lineout and secured the ball at the final throw-in. His offload to Mike Brown set up the trying score and his turnover in the dying moments possibly saved the game for New York. On the other side of the pitch Ignacio Dotti’s work rate was impressive while Luke White was the main man in the Glendale pack.
5 – Ben Mitchell (Austin Elite) Another close decision and we would not argue against Lou Stanfill who was again tremendous for San Diego. Mitchell owned the lineout for Austin and nearly scored on a clean break. His try at the end in support of Peni Tagive earned a bit of respect for the struggling Elite.
6 – Eric Duechle (Seattle Seawolves) Started the game at openside but switched to his preferred blindside spot when Cam Polson went off early. Duechle scored a cracking individual try but his influence actually increased as the game went on. His kick-chase stopped the Arrows dead and he made numerous tackles in the critical final quarter.
7 – Marcello Wainwright (Toronto Arrows) A tip of the cap to Devin Short who had a very good game for San Diego. Our choice is Wainwright, who had an extraordinary match for Toronto against Seattle. Spun out of a tackle for a first half try and very nearly had a second in similar fashion. His line break and offload to Spencer Jones set up the Ferguson try, and his work rate in defense was exceptional.
8 – Riekert Hattingh (Seattle Seawolves) Tony Lamborn scored a brace for NOLA but otherwise looked rusty, unsurprising given his injury layoff. Hattingh didn’t get any glory for the Seawoles but put in a captain’s performance, particularly on the restarts where he guaranteed front-foot ball. At the 80-minute mark when the Arrows were knocking on the door, it was Hattingh on the post who shut them down.
9 – Nick Boyer (San Diego Legion) Abrasive in defense and his service to Joe Pietersen was sharp and reliable. As with hooker, there wasn’t a lot to push anyone ahead of another. Andrew Ferguson and Carlo de Nysschen each scored but didn’t really stand out otherwise.
10 – Cathal Marsh (Rugby United New York) The architect of New York’s win over NOLA. Seemed to have a perfect read on the defense, breaking through and stepping to put Connor Wallace-Sims over and finding just the right angle to make to the line for his own try. Perfect from the kicking tee. Glendale’s Ata Malifa matched him with ball in hand but not quite in overall impact.
11 – Nate Augspurger (San Diego Legion) It was a good game for Wallace-Sims, who scored a try and had a couple big left-footed clearance kicks for New York. We’ve opted for Augspurger, who despite giving a masterclass in how not to tackle Jeremy Misailegalu had an influential game for San Diego. He popped up twice, coming in off his wing, to create the overlap on the JP du Plessis try. Another line break put the Warriors on the back foot, and he smashed Tonata Lauti to make up for his earlier tackling mishap.
12 – JP du Plessis (San Diego Legion) Used both his strength and footwork to provide a constant source of go-forward for the Legion. Crossed for a try with a show-and-go, and his shimmy held the defense to set up Devin Short’s run into the corner. Even had a 5-minute cameo as a flanker when Short went off cramped at the end.
13 – William Rasileka (Seattle Seawolves) His impact was more subtle this week than his typical muscle-work. Defended well, closing down the space on Spencer Jones to shut off the outside channel. Two offloads to Ben Cima on one attacking move put Seattle into scoring position, and his inside line sucked in the Arrows defense leaving the space for Cima to score the bonus point try.
14 – Brock Staller (Seattle Seawolves) For whatever reason it really wasn’t a week for wingers. Harley Davidson did his job for the Raptors and got his first try of the season. A significant part of Staller’s value to Seattle is hit boot, and after an early miss he nailed six shots from the tee including the game winning points late in the game.
15 – Dylan Taikato-Simpson (Glendale Raptors) Spent much of the game covering and kicking for the sidelines. Tried to come infield to find work and on a couple occasions stepped in both as a halfback and first receiver. When he did get a chance to attack he sucked in two defenders and put in a brilliant offload to put Davidson over untouched.
