New York overruns Austin in Vegas try-fest

Recap

The Gilgronis made it interesting late in the game but Rugby United New York were too good for Austin, taking a 49-31 result in Las Vegas on Saturday. It was a wild try-fest that will leave no shortage of work for team analysts ahead of training next week.

New York dominated the opening quarter and built a 14-nil lead before Austin would find the board. A driving maul ended with Mathieu Bastareaud falling over the line, then Cathal Marsh accepted an invitation from the Gilgronis defense and jogged in untouched.

It looked like a third try was on the cards but Mason Pedersen produced a turnover at the breakdown in the shadow of his own posts. Austin cleared their lines, and then Lino Saunitoga ripped away from the back of a lineout, finding Dominic Akina on his right shoulder for a blistering score from halfway.

Another breakout from inside their own 22 led to three points from the boot of Marcelo Torrealba. Peni Tagive took the corner and regathered his own chip ahead, with New York too slow retreating and penalised for offside.

Austin’s discipline began to fail when RUNY regained possession. Sione Fangaiuiha saw yellow for failing to roll from a tackle in a scoring position. Within a minute of his departure Troy Lockyear slipped through the resulting gap in the midfield defense for a routine finish. Marsh’s conversion was on target from a tough angle to make it a full seven.

Maikeli Naromaitoga was the next to go, earning a ten-minute break after repeatedly collapsing RUNY’s maul. It left the Gilgronis with only 13 men on the pitch and unable to defend the lineout drive with Dylan Fawsitt the man getting the credit this time to make it 28-10 at the break.

The result looked to be all but decided when Lockyear went clean through the Austin line on a backline move from a scrum just before Naromaitoga could return. His debut double was capped by a simple conversion for Marsh and left the Gilgronis 25 points behind.

A wave of subs came into the game for RUNY and suddenly a glimmer of hope appeared for Austin as Pedersen crashed over on a smart line from close range. The hope was just as quickly dampened when a bobbled ball from a lineout handed Julio Giraldo an opportunistic try.

The Gilgronis refused to wave the white flag, however, and a line break by Fangaiuiha resulted in a yellow card to Anthony Parry for a professional foul. A minute later Zinzan Elan-Puttick wrestled his way over in the corner with Torrealba’s conversion on target.

Elan-Puttick instigated a bonus point try just a few moments later. The flyhalf skipped past the defense on the short side and connected with Torrealba, who in turn put Gabe Farley free. The replacement center stepped inside the final defender to touch down under the sticks.

Lockyear almost had his hat-trick when he picked off a loose pass only for Farley to pull him down inside the 5 meter line. The final try was inevitable, however, with Kyle Sumsion showing his determination to reach the line from the back of the scrum. Time would expire with no further scoring.

SCORING

NEW YORK 49
Tries – M. Bastareaud (4’), C. Marsh (17’), T. Lockyear 2 (33’, 48’), D. Fawsitt (39’), J. Giraldo (60’), K. Sumsion (77’)
Cons – C. Marsh 5/5 (5’, 18’, 34’, 40’, 49’), H. Bennett 2/2 (61’, 78’)
Yellow cards – A. Parry (62’)

AUSTIN 31
Tries – D. Akina (24’), M. Pedersen (56’), Z. Elan-Puttick (63’), G. Farley (65’)
Cons – M. Torrealba 4/4 (25’, 57’, 64’, 66’)
Pens – M. Torrealba 1/1 (27’)
Yellow cards – S. Fangaiuiha (32’), M. Naromaitoga (38’)

TEAMS

RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 Anthony Parry (17 Alec McDonnell 72’), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (capt.), 3 Jonas Petrakopoulos (18 Will Burke 62’), 4 Matt Wirken, 5 Nate Brakeley, 6 Kyle Sumsion, 7 James Denise (20 Julio Giraldo 49’ {19 Rob Irimescu 62’}), 8 Mathieu Bastareaud (16 Mike Brown 49’), 9 Marcus Walsh (21 Mike Petri 52’), 10 Cathal Marsh (23 Quentin Pradère 54’), 11 Connor Wallace-Sims (17 Alec McDonnell 68’-72’), 12 Chris Mattina, 13 Troy Lockyear, 14 Mark O’Keeffe (22 Harry Bennett 52’), 15 Ben Foden

AUSTIN GILGRONIS
1 Juan Echeverría (17 Brendan Rams 58’), 2 Chris Schade, 3 Mason Pedersen (18 LaRome White 75’), 4 Rikus Zwart (16 Tiaan Erasmus 49’), 5 Maikeli Naromaitoga (20 Moe Abdelmonem 49’), 6 Potu Leavasa, 7 Dominic Akina, 8 Lino Saunitoga, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Zinzan Elan-Puttick, 11 Rodrick Waters, 12 Sione Fangaiuiha (23 Gabe Farley 62’), 13 Peni Tagive, 14 Corey Jones, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Not used: 19 JP Novak, 21 Colby Stevens, 22 Alex Rees