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A dominant second half performance from the LA Giltinis saw the defending champions recover from a first half deficit to beat the Toronto Arrows 31-16 at Starlight Stadium on Friday evening. The result came to the chagrin of a strong crowd in attendance for the first Major League Rugby match played on Canadian soil outside of Ontario.
It was all Arrows to start the game. Will Kelly landed an early penalty and then Ross Braude nearly touched down but was held up in goal. Kelly pulled his second penalty attempted wide, but Mike Sheppard charged down a clearance attempt to score untouched under the posts and make it a double-digit lead for the home side.
The Giltinis found their composure and fired straight back. Andrew Tuala burst free and when a penalty was won, the Giltinis opted for the corner. The lineout drive was stopped short but Angus Cottrell peeled from the back and had the strength to cross for the try. Luke Burton’s conversion was somehow charged down by Matthew Hood, the winger showing remarkable acceleration to deny two points.
LA controlled possession from the restart but Mason Flesch kept his feet in contact to win a turnover penalty before the Giltinis could get out of their end. Spencer Jones took the long-range attempt and found his target from near the halfway line.
Kelly would step up to land a third penalty goal soon after but again the Giltinis would not go quietly into the night. After methodically working their way into Toronto territory it was Cottrell who would find a way through, driving in under the posts leaving no opportunity for a charge-down this time.
A furious assault on the Arrows line followed but the defense somehow held and a counter-ruck won back possession with Kelly clearing his lines. There would be no further scoring in the half, however, with the board reading 16-12 to the Canadian team after 40 minutes.
James O’Neill replaced Ronan Foley in the Arrows back row at halftime and the Giltinis lost captain Dave Dennis to a head knock just a couple minutes into the second half. The loss didn’t shake the visitors, however, and after going through several phases of attack they found Will Chambers unmarked out wide for a try. Burton’s conversion attempt from the sideline was wide but LA had their first lead of the game.
An Arrows attack was stopped short but the defensive stand saw Jordan Trainor sent to the bin for what was deemed to be a deliberate knock-on. The disadvantage didn’t matter, as Kelly couldn’t handle a box kick and Nathan Den Hoedt was on hand to snap up the ball and offload to Hanco Germishuys for a run-in to the corner. This time Burton added the extra two from wide out.
The error count started to climb for the Arrows and fresh legs saw the Giltinis pack starting to exert their dominance at the set piece. A gap on the post opened the door for Corey Thomas to burst free, and Harrison Goddard was in close support to speed away from the cover defense.
A second LA yellow card was handed to John Ryberg in the dying minutes for a professional foul, but it would be to no avail for the Arrows. Their attack sputtered out and the Giltinis scrum earned a penalty to close out the win.
The Arrows will reflect on their mistakes and hope that key players Kyle Baillie, Tomas de la Vega, and Sam Malcolm are fit to play against the Gold in New Orleans next Saturday. There will be a much different feeling in the Giltinis camp, as they have a bye week to recover some bumps and bruises before their home opener against the Free Jacks on February 26.
SCORING
TORONTO 16
Tries – M. Sheppard (13′)
Cons – No kick (13′)
Pens – W. Kelly 2/3 (2′, 24′), S. Jones 1/1 (21′)
LA 31
Tries – A. Cottrell 2 (17′, 27′), W. Chambers (48′), H. Germishuys (59′), H. Goddard (71′)
Cons – L. Burton 2/4 (60′, 72′), No kick (27′)
YC – J. Trainor (53′), J. Ryberg (75′)
TEAMS
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Lolani Faleiva 65′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 46′), 3 Isaac Salmon (18 Tyler Rowland 69′), 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.) (20 Taitusi Vikilani 65′), 5 Paul Ciulini (19 Adrian Wadden 60′), 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Ronan Foley (21 James O’Neill HT), 9 Ross Braude, 10 Will Kelly, 11 Mitch Richardson, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Ueta Tufuga (23 Mitch Voralek 69′), 14 Matthew Hood, 15 Gastón Mieres (22 Chris Bell 75′)
LA GILTINIS
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Luke White 64′), 2 Andrew Tuala (16 Sean McNulty 64′), 3 Marco Fepulea’i (18 Les Leulua’iali’i-Makin 69′), 4 Dave Dennis (capt.) (19 Adam Ashe 43′-49′), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (19 Adam Ashe 64′), 6 Angus Cottrell (7 Hanco Germishuys 75′), 7 Hanco Germishuys (20 Christian Poidevin 64′), 8 Corey Thomas, 9 Harrison Goddard (21 Tas Smith 74′), 10 Luke Burton, 11 Will Chambers (22 D’Montae Noble 74′), 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 John Ryberg, 15 Jordan Trainor (23 Cristian Rodriguez 74′)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Assistants: Damián Schneider (Argentina) & Julianne Zussman (Canada)
TMO: Shanda Assmus (Canada)
