Tag: New England Free Jacks

Too soon to talk playoffs? Seawolves are in

With 13 season games to go and a long way until the last of them on June 8, talk of playoffs may seem premature. But right now, the Seawolves are in.

Major League Rugby is using the same playoff format as in 2024. Top four teams in each division are in the playoffs. The No. 1 team plays the No. 4 team. No. 2 vs. No. 3. The No. 5 and 6 in the Eastern Conference and the No. 5 team in the Western Conference are eaten by the Bear, as in  . . . when running away from a hungry grizzly it’s not as important to outrun the Bear as it is to outrun the slowest person trying to escape the jaws and claws of Mr. Griz.

Right now, Mr. Bear’s Happy Meal is the Rugby Football Club of Los Angeles in the Western Conference. Seawolves (seven points) are ahead of RFCLA (three points) by four points in the standings. This is setting a low bear for the season, and I doubt coach Allen Clarke is promoting it.

But the Seawolves will have a chance to push RFCLA farther down Mr. Bear’s throat when Seattle visits the Southern California club at 7 p.m. this coming Saturday, March 15.

Right now, Coach Clarke should be feeling happy about having captain Riekert Hattingh, out for a year with a torn Achilles tendon, back on the playing field and about the team finding the right moment to take the lead in the March 8 game against New England, and the right man to do it.

That moment did not come at the start of the game against the Free Jacks, the team that beat the Seawolves in the 2024 MLR’s championships. By 11 minutes from the opening whistle, Seattle was down, 0-14.

Cam Orr tried to be that man who could gain the lead, scoring two tries, but missed conversions left Seattle down, 10-14. Three minutes after Orr’s last try, the Free Jacks were up another three points on a penalty kick by Jayson Potroz, who returns to the Free Jacks for the first time this season. Half an hour into the game and a try by Divan Rossouw had Seattle within two of New England. A conversion would have tied it, but it was not the right moment.

The kickoff back to the Seawolves after Rossouw’s try was a lesson in why a kick should be caught and not left to dribble, tempting someone to try to grub it through the oncoming defenders. Which is what happened. That ricochet ended up in the hands of a New Englander who cruised on for another try, topped by another conversion by Potroz. Anything set on a tee, Potroz can kick it through the uprights: three conversions and one penalty kick for a halftime score of 24-15.

But that was it for New England. The return of the Seawall defense kept the Free Jacks from scoring in the second half, which included a rare missed penalty kick by Potroz.

A try by Mikaele Kruse and a conversion kick by Rodney Iona (yes!) came close to a lead, 22-24. A Seattle penalty kick would have meant a one-point win. It went wide.

The right moment and the right man came with less than two minutes left in the game when sub Malacchi Esdale rumbled down the sideline for a try (no conversion), the only Seawolves’ lead of the game, a win (27-24) and we’re on the way to the playoffs.

Seattle scored five tries (worth one bonus point in the standings) and one conversion.

Major League Rugby in color: Yellow & red cards

Now that I have paid my subscription to The Rugby Network, Major League Rugby has gone absent. What’s with that?

Now dialing in to youtube.com for the weekend’s highlights, which I have not completed.

However, in looking at the minimal information on Tribe Sports, the number of yellow and red cards handed out over the weekend has colored their game summaries. In five games, there were 14 yellow cards and three red cards. New Orleans and San Diego teams led with three yellow cards apiece. The Miami Sharks, Chicago Hounds and New England had red cards.

Is this because the refs are calling rules tighter or because we have hooligans in the gentlemen’s game?

Back to youtube.

Sharks had 2 yellows and 1 red

Anthem had 1 yellow

New Orleans, 3 yellow

Chicago had 2 yellow, 1 red

Houston, 1 yellow

LA, 1 yellow

New England, 1 yellow, 1 red

San Diego 3 yellow

Seawolves’ hopes brought down by penalties

Joe Taufete’e scores on a play from a lineout for the Seawolves. Photo by Punkus Arnett

So many non-releasing penalties. So many non-releasing penalties against the Seattle Seawolves that torpedoed valiant attempts to change the score from 20-11 in the last half hour of the Major League Rugby championship match Sunday in San Diego

But 20-11 in favor of the New England Free Jacks it remained until the game’s end. The Free Jacks repeat as the MLR champions, the first team to do so since the Seawolves did it in 2018 and 2019.

Starting with New England fly half Jayson Potroz’ penalty kick at eight minutes into the game, the Seawolves were behind throughout. Six minutes later, Le Roux Malan scored an acrobatic try in the corner to put New England ahead 8-0.

Mack Mason kicked a penalty kick to get the Seawolves on the scoreboard, 8-3, with 25 minutes gone in the game. The Seawolves only try in the game came off a lineout five yards out from the New England try line. Great time for a maul to push in for a try, right? But that is not what happened. The Seawolves took the jump, passed the ball down to Rhyno Herbst on the inside, who fed the ball to Joe Taufete’e, who touched down in the corner.

Potroz added another penalty right before the half, and the Seawolves were within a converted try at the half, 14-8. However, some things would have to change in the second half for the Seawolves to get in the lead. The Free Jacks controlled the territory (64 percent) and the possession (58 percent) in the first half.

Potroz kicked two more penalties in the second half, scoring 15 of New England’s 20 points. The Seawolves kept the Free Jacks from scoring tries in the second half, even while playing with 14 men after Tavite Lopeti was given a yellow card for a high tackle. But, unfortunately for them, they could not score tries either. Mostly because of not-releasing penalties that stopped penetration into New England’s territory – deep inside New England territory, like within five yards of the try line several times.

Why so many “turnover penalties”? Was the ref too quick to blow the whistle on a ball being released by a tackled Seawolf? Were the tackled runners too far in front of their support? Was the support too slow to get to the tackled player? Maybe all of the above with a few ill-fated knock-ons thrown in as well.

Mason scored his second penalty kick at 47 minutes into the second half, getting Seattle to 11 points. But the last 28 minutes of the game were filled with dashed hopes for the Seawolves and New England hanging on to become the 2024 MLR champions.

High praise for Seawolves coach Allen Clarke, who guided the team to the finals through many injuries, finding the right players to fill in, coaching them to the Seawolves’ game and standards and finding plays that would score, such as the inside pass off a lineout that scored Taufete’e in the championship.

Fewer penalties, more tries for 2025. See you then.

Halftime fun in San Diego

Can Seawall defense be Man of the Match?

Can 15 men be named Man of the Match? Or 23? If so, then the Seawall defense was the Man of the Match in the Seawolves 29-21 win over the New England Free Jacks on Saturday.

You could look at New England’s 21 points and ask how that justifies praising the Seawolves defense. But those points included a penalty try and another try scored when the Seawolves were down to 14 men after a yellow card was given to Seattle for collapsing a maul (the penalty try). That happened at the 67th minute of the match. The Free Jacks scored a try and conversion four minutes later. Take away those scores and we’re back to 26-7 where the game stood at the 56th minute mark.

Mack Mason helped the Seawolves build those points with three penalty kicks in the first half. Two minutes before the half, Conner Mooneyham, who’s been on the sidelines since last year, reminded New England of how fast he is and why he shouldn’t be left alone out on the wing. A 40-yard run by Mooneyham, a ruck cleared by Riekert Hattingh and the ball out to Mason, then to Jean Droste (love second rows in the back line!) and then an offload to Dan Kriel, who used his right shoulder to floor New England fullback Reece MacDonald while plunking down the ball with his left hand for the try. At the half, Seattle led 14-7.

Twelve minutes into the second half, after more than a dozen rucks near the New England try line, Kara Pryor dived over for a Seattle try.

Hattingh, not to be outdone by Droste filling where a center should be, lined himself up at wing  and the overload gave him a green-grass path for an untouched run for a try.       

There the game stood at 26-7 before New England collected their yellow card advantage. Mason added another penalty kick with 10 minutes left in the game, contributing 14 points to the Seawolves 29-point total.

Back to the defense. New England scored seven tries when they defeated Houston; three against Seattle including a penalty try. Wayne Van der Bank scored three tries against Houston; one against the Seawolves. Jayson Potroz scored 17 points against Houston, four against Seattle. The Seawall defense was up quickly on the New England backline, giving them no room to spring their fast backs. And the defense kept New England eight points back, no bonus for being within seven.

Best Seattle defense: Divan Rossouw’s try-saving tackle on the try line.

Seattle has collected 33 points in the Western Conference standings, four up over second-place Houston. New England has a one point lead over Chicago in the Eastern Conference, 24-23.

Seattle gets a week off and returns to Starfire on Friday night, May 3, at 7:30 against the Anthem. Not a time for mercy.

Seawolves win, Houston loses, Seattle on top

Welcome to the Windsor and Hattingh show with supporting cast of Rossouw and Pulu. The stars of the show scored 24 of the points in the 36-5 win over Los Angeles on Sunday.

Riekert Hattingh and Sam Windsor accounted for all Seattle’s 17 points in the first half. It wasn’t until the 58th minute that Divan Rossouw entered the scoring stage with a try when Seattle’s backs overloaded the LA defense. Toni Pulu had to wait until the 80th minute before he did his own do-it-yourself try by intercepting an LA pass and trotting in (75 yard) for an under-the-post try (did LA pursue at all?).

Windsor converted his own try at the 32nd minute after the ball came out from the ruck at the LA goal line, pass to Windsor, a show and go, breaks a tackle and scores.

Hattingh had another try at the 68th minute on a play from behind a set scrum: scrum half goes right, probably for a pass from No. 8, but Hattingh, the No. 8, fakes a pass, goes left, breaks through tackles and scores.

Besides his try, Windsor kicked one penalty kick and converted three tries for 14 points in the game.

The Seawall defense let LA buffalo in a try off a lineout maul at the 45th minute. LA only had one yellow card, down from four in their last game (and a red card).

With five tries in the match, the Seawolves picked up a bonus point and top the Western Conference with 29 points. San Diego and the Houston Sabercats follow with 24 points apiece. Dallas is fourth, where they will need to stay to get into the playoffs.

About Houston. There is no longer an undefeated team in Major League Rugby. The New England Free Jacks took care of that on Saturday when they defeated the Sabercats, 47-35. It was quite a game. Thirteen tries were scored, six by Houston, seven by New England. Wayne Van der Bank scored three of them after receiving a yellow card at the 25th minute in the game. Jayson Potroz converted six tries, including one of his own for 17 points.

Houston started the scoring with a try in the first five minutes of the game but fell behind by 10 points at the half, 28-18. At 52 minutes, Houston was further down, 40-18, before they came alive and caught up to 40-35 with five minutes left in the game. A try would tie, a conversion would win. But it was the Free Jacks who scored, finishing 47-35.

Davy Coetzer scored two tries for the Sabercats and kicked a penalty. But he missed five conversions before they let former Seawolves AJ Alatimu kick the last conversion that brought them to within five points.

Next for Seawolves: A preview of my predicted MLR championship: Seattle vs. New England on Saturday, April 20. See it on NBC Sports Boston, FOX13 or The Rugby Network. Game starts at 11 a.m. PDT.

Seattle played on Sunday, then will play again on Saturday, An away game in Quincy after a short week for them. New England played Saturday and have been resting ever since.

Making no predictions.

Seawolves’ next foe: 4 yellow cards and 1 red

Old Glory DC 22, LA RFC 22: In this tie game, the Los Angeles club, the next one on the Seawolves’ schedule, racked up four yellow cards including a second one against Alex Maughan, which makes that second card turn red. LA opened the scoring but got down 22-10 while playing short-handed. Then in the 66th minute, LA started coming back with two tries and a conversion to tie at 22. Not a team that the Seawolves can let up on for anything short of 80 minutes when they play Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m. Game will be televised on FS2.

Chicago 38, New Orleans 21; I stopped watching this game at the 45-minute mark when NOLA was ahead 21-12 and well on their way to victory. But Chicago turned to mauls to push over 26 points while keeping New Orleans scoreless. James Scott, a huge lock ran in two tries for Chicago (who needs mauls when the second rows run like backs). Nice to see former Seawolves Ben Landry in his usual white scrum hat out there playing as well as Brad Tucker (wish he’d come back). Larome White, who was a Seawolves in their first year, is also with the Hounds.

New England Free Jacks 25, Miami Sharks 3: Besides an early penalty kick by Felipe Etcheverry, the Miami Sharks did not show up in the scoring column. New England, who lead the Eastern Conference only had three tries, not enough for the extra bonus point. With 15 points for the tries, Jayson Potroz added two penalty kicks and two conversions for 10 points for the 25 total. The Free Jacks stay on top of the Eastern Conference with 19 points, ahead of NOLA with 15.

Utah 44, Anthem 19: Anthem ahead at the half, 19-15, but never scored in the second half while Utah ran in 29 more points.

What’s wrong with MLR’s Western Division?

Major League Rugby’s Eastern Division, with three new teams this year, makes you wonder what happened to the Western Division.

The six teams out here on the Left Coast and points inland have been in the league since it started in 2018. Yet the division has three teams with no wins, Austin, Colorado and yes, the Seattle Seawolves. All of the teams in the Eastern Division have won at least one game, including the newbies: Washington, D.C. Old Glory, New England Free Jacks and the Atlanta Rugby ATLs (gotta be a better name than that).

And in matches between the two divisions, the East has won eight of 10. The only Western wins came against the New England team, Utah on Feb. 15 and San Diego on Feb. 23.

Otherwise, it’s a stuck record: Atlanta over Utah, Toronto over Austin, New York over Austin, Toronto over Houston, Washington, D.C. over Seattle, New Orleans (the only East team that is in its third year) over Colorado, Washington, D.C. over Houston and Toronto over Seattle.

There are four East-West matches the weekend of Feb. 29 and March 1: San Diego at New Orleans, Washington, D.C. at Austin, New York at Houston, and yes, New England at Seattle.

So far, New England has been a punching bag for the Western Division, but their only win came against Rugby United New York, a team that ended up in the playoffs last year and on Feb. 21 signed Hanco Germishuys, a U.S. Eagle back rower who played for Colorado the past two years. And don’t forget Mathieu Bastareaud, a 285-pound center, come over from France. Free Jacks blew away Austin and squeaked out a win against Atlanta, 22-19.

Not a pushover for the Seawolves on Sadie Hawkins Day this Saturday, Feb. 29. Reading the Free Jacks’ account of their game against San Diego – which was interrupted on my TV by people driving cars in a circle and announcers with Southern accents – is mostly about mistakes, a comeback and further mistakes for a 30-21 defeat. Their roster is loaded with players from Japan, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

My bet on East-West rivalry this coming weekend: a 2-2 split with San Diego over New Orleans, Old Glory over Austin, New York over Houston and Seattle over New England. Don’t make me wrong.