Comfortable win for Gold over Elite

photo credit: Craig Boudreaux / New Orleans Gold

Recap

A try in the opening minute led the NOLA Gold to a comfortable 26-14 win over Austin Elite at Gold Stadium on Saturday. The win bumped the Gold back into first place overall and stretched the Elite’s winless streak to 14 consecutive matches.

The game was just barely underway when Eric Howard went through a giant gap in the defensive line to spring over from the 22 meter line. JP Eloff made the routine conversion to give the Gold an early seven point buffer.

Rain had pelted the ground before the match and while it held off during play, it made for a slippery surface and tricky handling. It took almost a half-hour for another score. Nick Feakes took the outside, worked a give-and-go with Eloff, and finally offloaded to Ignacio Dotti for the try.

Austin managed to get on the board just before halftime. Dom Bailey took the ball on in his own end, slipped through a tackle and showed an impressive turn of pace to sprint clear untouched from halfway for a remarkable individual effort.

New Orleans had no intention of letting the Texans back into the game and they sewed up the match shortly after the restart. Tristan Blewett nearly broke through and the pressure stayed on until Mason Pedersen was flagged for an intentional knock-on in a scoring position. A penalty try was awarded and Pedersen was sent to the bin.

The Gold struck again quickly with the man advantage. Penalties gave them field position, and from an attacking lineout they went over the top to Con Foley. Three phases later second row Billy Stewart, who came on for an injured Kyle Baillie early in the match, broke through a tackle and galloped over from 20 meters out.

With the bonus point secure, NOLA took their foot off the pedal. Austin got the shove on at a 5 meter scrum on the hour mark and makeshift scrumhalf Soheyl Jaoudat picked and fell over the line to finish the try. The final quarter would come and go with on change to the scoreboard.

 

SCORING

NOLA 26
Tries – E. Howard (1’), I. Dotti (29’), Penalty try (43’), B. Stewart (45’)
Cons – J. Eloff 2/3 (2’, 46’)
Yellow cards – C. Foley (70’)

AUSTIN 14
Tries – D. Bailey (38’), S. Jaoudat (60’)
Cons – A. Vilaseca 2/2 (39’, 61’)
Yellow cards – M. Pedersen (43’)

 

TEAMS

NOLA GOLD
1 Hubert Buydens (18 Kevin Sullivan 55’), 2 Eric Howard (capt.) (16 Alex Maughan 72’), 3 Matt Harmon (17 Cam Falcon 55’), 4 Kyle Baillie (19 Billy Stewart 11’), 5 Kane Thompson (21 John Sullivan 66’), 6 Ignacio Dotti, 7 Moni Tonga’uiha (20 Zack Stryffeler 52’), 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Holden Yungert (22 Michael Baska 66’), 10 Taylor Howden (23 Joeli Tikoisuva 79’), 11 Nick Feakes, 12 Con Foley, 13 Tristan Blewett, 14 Tim Maupin, 15 JP Eloff

AUSTIN ELITE
1 LaRome White (18 Mason Pedersen HT), 2 Peter Malcolm (16 Tiaan Erasmus 61’), 3 Juan Echeverría (17 Phil Hanson 65’), 4 Ben Mitchell (capt.), 5 Josh Larsen (19 Ronan McCusker 52’), 6 Rikus Zwart (20 Kyle Breytenbach HT), 7 Dom Bailey (1 LaRome White 49’-53’), 8 Travis Larsen, 9 Marcelo Torrealba (21 Soheyl Jaoudat 57’), 10 Rodrigo Silva (22 Simon Bienvenu 57’), 11 Sione Fangaiuiha, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 JP Aguirre, 14 Reece Czarnecki (23 Aidan McMullan 68’), 15 Zinzan Elan-Puttick

*Ben Mitchell came off at 72’ with no available subs remaining

 

Result

TeamTCPDBPPoints
NOLA Gold4300126
Austin Elite220014

NOLA Gold

1Hubert Buydens 18 Loosehead Prop
2Eric Howard 16 Hooker
3Matt Harmon 17 Tighthead Prop
4Kyle Baillie 19 Right Lock
5Kane Thompson 21 Left Lock
6Ignacio Dotti Blindside Flanker
7Moni Tonga’uiha 20 Openside Flanker
8Cam Dolan Number Eight
9Holden Yungert 22 Scrumhalf
10Taylor Howden 23 Flyhalf
11Nick Feakes Left Wing
12Con Foley Inside Center
13Tristan Blewett Outside Center
14Tim Maupin Right Wing
15JP Eloff Fullback
16Alex Maughan 2 Hooker
17Cam Falcon 3 Tighthead Prop
18Kevin Sullivan 1 Loosehead Prop
19Billy Stewart 4 Right Lock
20Zack Stryffeler 7 Openside Flanker
21John Sullivan 5 Blindside Flanker
22Michael Baska 9 Scrumhalf
23Joeli Tikoisuva 10 Left Wing

Austin Elite

1LaRome White 18 Loosehead Prop
2Peter Malcolm 16 Hooker
3Juan Echeverría 17 Tighthead Prop
4Ben Mitchell Left Lock
5Josh Larsen 19 Lock
6Rikus Zwart 20 Blindside Flanker
7Dom Bailey Openside Flanker
8Travis Larsen Number Eight
9Marcelo Torrealba 21 Scrumhalf
10Rodrigo Silva 22 Flyhalf
11Sione Fangaiuiha Right Wing
12Andrés Vilaseca Inside Center
13Juan Pablo Aguirre Outside Center
14Reece Czarnecki 23 Left Wing
15Zinzan Elan-Puttick Fullback
16Tiaan Erasmus 2 Hooker
17Phil Hanson 3 Loosehead Prop
18Mason Pedersen 1 Tighthead Prop
19Ronan McCusker 5 Right Lock
20Kyle Breytenbach 6 Blindside Flanker
21Soheyl Jaoudat 9 Scrumhalf
22Simon Bienvenu 10 Outside Center
23Aidan McMullan 14 Left Wing

Officials

Referee
Paul-Henri Courbier (USA)
Assistant Referee 1
Derek Summers (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Allen Alongi (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season
May 4, 2019 6:00 pm Major League Rugby 2019

Venue

Archbishop Shaw Stadium
Walkertown, Marrero, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, 70073, United States of America

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