Seattle claims back-to-back MLR titles with last-second try

photo credit: Griff Lacey / JGL Images / Major League Rugby

Recap

The Seattle Seawolves have done it again. A spectacular Major League Rugby Championship Final at a sold-out Torero Stadium on Sunday saw the Seawolves earn back-to-back titles with a try scored with time expired sealing a 26-23 win over the San Diego Legion.

It was all San Diego in the first 20 minutes. The Seawolves could hardly get their hands on the ball and when they did the result was either a handling error or kick to touch. Despite the huge disparity in possession, however, the Legion could only manage two penalty kicks from the boot of Joe Pietersen.

Momentum swung heavily after the hydration break. George Barton crashed straight through the gainline to take the ball perilously close. It was recycled quickly and after Samu Manoa inched it ahead, it was Stephan Coetzee who finished off the try as he powered over between two defenders.

Seattle kept the pressure on and a penalty handed over an attacking lineout just outside San Diego’s 22 meter line. A trick play saw JP Smith loop around the front of the lineout to take a short ball and the big scrumhalf fended off the only challenger to dive over for the try. Brock Staller landed his second conversion to make the halftime score 14-6 to the Seawolves.

As did the first half, the second started heavily in favor of San Diego. Seattle couldn’t clear their lines and sustained possession opened space on the left side. A half-break from Ryan Matyas checked the cover and Jasa Veremalua fixed his man on the two-on-one to put Nick Boyer over for the try. Pietersen’s sideline kick was inch-perfect to claim the full seven.

The one-point gap closed completely shortly after the hour mark. An odd sequence nearly spoiled the attack. With the Legion pack advancing in a maul, Dean Muir confused the 5 meter line with the tryline and mistakenly went to ground, but San Diego retained possession and two phases later Jordan Manihera reached out to ground the ball at the base of the post.

Pietersen’s conversion made it a six-point game with 15 minutes to play. The defending champions were far from out of it, however. Jeff Hassler and Phil Mack made ground from a scrum, and then Coetzee found a hole on the post to take the ball well into San Diego territory. Mack showed patience to find Riekert Hattingh with just enough room to tuck in under the defense. Staller lined up the conversion from a difficult angle and it drifted just right to leave Seattle down by a point.

The Legion gained possession after the restarted and worked their way into scoring position. They went through some phases with the forwards and then a surprise decision came from Pietersen, the flyhalf dropping back into the pocket and landing a 40-meter drop goal. It pushed San Diego out of penalty goal range but left more than two minutes on the clock.

A long kickoff forced Pietersen to clear to touch on halfway. The Seawolves went wide and Staller was taken high, earning a penalty which Smith duly pushed into the corner. There would be no mistake from the defending champions. Even the Suniula brothers standing in the midfield joined into the maul and it was finally Brad Tucker who went over the line. Staller’s final kick was academic as the Seawolves stood triumphant, the Legion left to wonder what might have been.

So closes the 2019 Major League Rugby season, and possibly the last ever all-West Coast final. Next season will kick off in February with three new expansion teams and the league split into conferences. Attention will now swing to the World Cup until then but the rugby world will not-so-quietly be whispering that the giant has finally awoken.

 

SCORING

SAN DIEGO 23
Tries – N. Boyer (52’), J. Manihera (65’)
Cons – J. Pietersen 2/2 (53’, 66’)
Pens – J. Pietersen 2/2 (6’, 21’)
Drop goals – J. Pietersen 1/2 (78’)

SEATTLE 26
Tries – S. Coetzee (22’), J. Smith (32’), R. Hattingh (71’), B. Tucker (80’)
Cons – B. Staller 3/4 (23’, 33’, 80’)

 

TEAMS

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Nathan Sylvia HT), 2 Kapeli Pifeleti (16 Dean Muir 57’), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Dino Waldren 61’), 4 Louis Stanfill (19 Siaosi Mahoni 61’), 5 Joshua Furno, 6 Jasa Veremalua (20 Pat Blair 61’), 7 Psalm Wooching, 8 Jordan Manihera, 9 Nate Augspurger, 10 Joe Pietersen (capt.), 11 Nick Boyer, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Ryan Matyas, 14 Conor Kearns, 15 Tai Enosa (23 Will Holder 42’)

Not used: 21 Kyle Rogers, 22 Save Totovosau

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Kellen Gordon 50’), 2 Stephan Coetzee (16 Dan Trierweiler 75’), 3 Tim Metcher (18 Jake Ilnicki 50’), 4 Api Naikatini (19 Jérémy Lenaerts 62’), 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Samu Manoa (23 Vili Toluta’u 53’), 7 Nakai Penny (20 Eric Duechle 62’), 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima (21 Phil Mack 57’), 11 Jeff Hassler, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 George Barton (22 Roland Suniula 57’), 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner

 

Result

TeamTCPDPoints
San Diego Legion222123
Seattle Seawolves430026

San Diego Legion

1Faka’osi Pifeleti 17 Loosehead Prop
2Kapeli Pifeleti 16 Hooker
3Paddy Ryan 18 Tighthead Prop
4Louis Stanfill 19 Right Lock
5Joshua Furno Left Lock
6Jasa Veremalua 20 Blindside Flanker
7Psalm Wooching Openside Flanker
8Jordan Manihera Number Eight
9Nate Augspurger Scrumhalf
10Joe Pietersen Flyhalf
11Nick Boyer Left Wing
12JP du Plessis Inside Center
13Ryan Matyas Outside Center
14Conor Kearns Right Wing
15Tai Enosa 23 Fullback
16Dean Muir 2 Hooker
17Nathan Sylvia 1 Loosehead Prop
18Dino Waldren 3 Tighthead Prop
19Siaosi Mahoni 4 Right Lock
20Pat Blair 6 Openside Flanker
21Kyle Rogers Fullback
22Save Totovosau Right Wing
23Will Holder 15 Fullback

Seattle Seawolves

1Djustice Sears-Duru 17 Loosehead Prop
2Stephan Coetzee 16 Hooker
3Tim Metcher 18 Tighthead Prop
4Apisai Naikatini 19 Left Lock
5Brad Tucker Right Lock
5Samu Manoa 23 Blindside Flanker
7Nakai Penny 20 Openside Flanker
8Riekert Hattingh Number Eight
9JP Smith Scrumhalf
10Ben Cima 21 Flyhalf
11Jeff Hassler Left Wing
12Shalom Suniula Outside Center
13George Barton 22 Inside Center
14Brock Staller Right Wing
15Mat Turner Fullback
16Dan Trierweiler 2 Hooker
17Kellen Gordon 1 Loosehead Prop
18Jake Ilnicki 3 Tighthead Prop
19Jérémy Lenaerts 4 Left Lock
20Eric Duechle 7 Blindside Flanker
21Phil Mack 10 Scrumhalf
22Roland Suniula 13 Outside Center
23Vili Toluta’u 5 Openside Flanker

Officials

Referee
Scott Green (USA)
Assistant Referee 1
Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
Assistant Referee 2
Elgan Williams (Wales)
TMO
Davey Ardrey (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season Attendance
June 16, 2019 4:00 pm Major League Rugby 2019 6000

Venue

Torero Stadium
6112 Linda Vista Rd, San Diego, CA 92110, USA

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