Tag: Riekert Hattingh

Correction: Seattle could beat SD to the playoffs

Thank you Steven Vocke for pointing out that Seattle wins all three of their last matches and earn winning bonus points (4+ tries), Seattle gets to 52+ table points, which is more than San Diego can hope to achieve in their two remaining matches.

I overlooked that SD only had two games remaining. So . . .

I’d say that a Seattle win and a LA loss would still be a winning thing for Seattle.

What must happen in the three games left in the regular season is Seawolves win and LA loses for the surest way to the playoffs. If Seattle beats Houston Friday night at 7:30 in Starfire Stadium and LA loses to the Miami Sharks on Sunday, May 25, Seattle would step ahead (with two games remaining). Don’t quote me, but this could come down to the last round of the season on June 7 and 8 when Seattle plays the Miami Sharks and LA faces the Warriors in Utah.

And we will be watching San Diego’s two remaining games.

The wins this past weekends for Seattle and LA were like doppelgangers. Both needed 80th minute tries to seal the win. The scores were similar: Seattle beat San Diego 29-25; LA over Chicago 26-24. Four-try wins for both; each team went up five points in the standings, now LA 40, Seattle 38.

I “watched” both games via the Tribe app on my cell phone, once during a celebratory graduation dinner and the LA game in an airport lounge with no TVs. At the dinner, it seemed the least noticeable way to keep track of the game. Tribe alerts viewers with a line of type for tries, conversions (made and missed), penalty kicks (made and missed) yellow and red cards. Saturday’s game looked like this:

When following on Tribe, you are left to wonder about many things. How could Dan Kriel and Duncan Matthews, two of the most orderly players in the league, get yellow cards? Where were the balls touched down for tries by Divan Rossouw, Riekert Hattingh and Duncan Matthews? Where were the two conversions and a successful penalty kicks by Rodney Iona placed on the field. But the worst is the agonizing wait between when R. James scored a try followed by a missed conversion at the 70th minute and what would come next. A news flash on a Legion victory, 25-22, or something else? Like a try by O. Noa. I tried to disguise my shout of “Hooray” as a cheer for the graduate, but that one was for Olajuwon.
Same with the LA game against the Hounds of Chicago. At the 69th minute, Chicago gets a penalty try to go up 24-21. What would be next? Nothing to help the Seawolves as LA scores a try to win 26-24.
 

From scrum to try: How many touches?

Brock Gallagher scored Seawolves’ first try of the second half Wednesday night.

He was the last Seattle player to touch the ball before he scored. The question: How many Seawolves touched the ball from scrum to try?

I can’t view the highlights, so I don’t know. Any guesses without cheating by looking at the highlights? I’ll say seven.

You’ll almost need all 10 fingers to count the Seattle Seawolves who scored tries in the 60-19 victory over the Anthem RFC. That pulled the Seawolves to within one point of the LARFC in the Western Conference of Major League Rugby. Much closer, but still at the bottom and out of the playoffs at this point.

About those scoring Seawolves: Start with Lauina Futi under the posts for seven points, then Captain Riekert Hattingh, then Malacchi Esdale, J.P. Smith, Jeremiah Sio (more on that later), the aforementioned Gallagher try, Dan Kriel, Kerron Van Vuuren and Duncan Matthews. Nine tries for 47 points. Add to that a penalty kick for 3 (50) and five conversion kicks (60) by Rodney Iona.

But the greatest kick of the night was a cross-field kick by Iona that just cleared the outstretched arms of the jumping defender and landed in the arms of Sio, who ran it in for a try.

A five-point win in the standings brings the Seawolves to 24 points, still one point behind LARFC at 25, thanks to a try in the 80th minute of their game Tuesday night that brought them within seven points of the winner: New England Free Jacks 23, LA 21. Without that try, the Seawolves would be ahead of LA: at 24 points each but ahead on plus or minus points (Seattle plus 15 and LA at minus 26).

LA starts the coming weekend facing San Diego, who has been dropping in the standings lately. Seattle (4-5) plays NOLA Gold (3-6) in New Orleans on Sunday.

Hoping the winless Anthem wins the rest of their games so they can taste victory but glad they put it off Wednesday night.

Start Lynch, Peters for more media coverage

“The Seattle Seawolves (3-5) beat visiting Chicago 28-22.”

That was The Seattle Times print-edition coverage on Saturday morning of the Seawolves’ game Friday night.

One sentence. Six words. Four numbers, two hyphens and two parentheses.

They could have said a lot more, as perhaps the Seawolves staffer who supplied the information had done.

  • J.P. Smith earned his 100th caps, only the second to do so in Major League Rugby.
  • Seattle, who sits at the bottom of the Western Conference standings in Major League Rugby, beat the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference.
  • That Seattle got on the scoreboard first as Rodney Iona slotted a penalty kick, the first of his 13 points he added in conversions and penalty kicks to the Seawolves’ total score.
  • That Divan Rossouw, Riekert Hattingh and Lauina Futi scored tries, all of which keeps the Seawolves closer to getting into the playoffs this coming summer.

There is a way to get more than six words in the local newspaper: Take this man off the sidelines and into the lineup. Marshawn Lynch at stand-off, at No. 8, on the wing, in the centers for a half, or until the first hydration break. Or let Marcus Peters play some defense. The crowd of reporters, columnists and photographers would strain the attendants at the entry gate.

This has been suggested to the Seawolves previously by an unnamed source. And big names, especially American football names, get coverage. Read it here: Marshawn Lynch, Marcus Peters join ownership group for Seawolves.

And read it online, where the readership is tallied to see which sports capture the most eyeballs.

A bye, then many games in few days for Seattle

Let’s pause slightly to applaud Toni Pulu and Riekert Hattingh for scoring tries and to Eduard Fouche for making one of two conversion kicks in the 29-12 defeat at the hands of Old Glory DC. Then let’s move on to what’s ahead for the Seattle Seawolves.

This coming weekend, Seattle has a bye, which means they will fall further behind as other teams in the Western Conference all have games. The Utah Warriors found out what a bye weekend can do: They fell behind the RFCLA in the standings and are right now the team Seattle needs to top in the standings if the Seawolves want to see playoff games this summer.

While Utah was resting at home last weekend, the LA club beat Houston Sabercats, 24-22, allowing them to climb two points better than the Warriors in the Major League Rugby standings – 23 to 21.

Seattle is six points behind Utah, in fifth place, the non-playoff spot in the Western Conference. A win by Seattle and a defeat by the Warriors will not be enough for Seattle to gain a fourth-place spot in the standings; they’d be at least one point behind. They will need more than that, and there are many – maybe too many – opportunities coming up in the rest of April and beginning of May.

Let’s start with the needed rest the Seawolves will get in this coming bye weekend. On Saturday, Utah will play LA, the loser relegated to the fourth-place spot in the standings – the team Seattle needs to overcome.

Starting Friday, April 18, the Seawolves will play four games in the next 15 days:

Friday, April 18 at Starfire against Chicago Hounds, the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference. 7:30 P.M. (PDT)

Rest five days.

Wednesday, April 23 at Anthem at 4:30 p.m. (PDT)

Rest four days.

Sunday, April 27 at NOLA Gold at 1 p.m. (PDT)

Five days after that, on Friday, May 2, Seattle will get a rematch against LA at Starfire.

Fifteen days, four games. Lots of games to catch up, to climb over whoever is in fourth place in the conference.

Also, lots of games to stay healthy, uninjured. Trainers and conditioning coaches, do your stuff.

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.

Criticism, not praise, a way to improve your life

“The problem with most people is they would be rather ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”

This came from the Filson magazine in an article about Riekert Hattingh, captain of the Seattle Seawolves pro rugby team. The quote is a motto Riekert’s father, Drikus Hattingh, lived by.

I’d like to say that I’m not much for seeking out praise, but I have to admit that I do not handle criticism very well. In fact, I hate it. However, when looking back, I can see that I have done better, made some improvements, bettered my life, after considering criticism.

As Riekert says in the article, “To this day, he (his father) challenges me to improve myself continually in all aspects of life.“

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.

Hattingh and Windsor in the Top 15

Back when he started in MLR

No surprises for who from the Seattle Seawolves made the Top 15 in Week 7: Riekert Hattingh and Sam Windsor. They have been around the Major League Rugby since it began and they are still turning in tries and scoring kicks.

Here’s what MLR said about them:

No 8., Riekert Hattingh – Seattle Seawolves
  • 2 Tries Scored
  • 83 Meters Gained
  • 14 Ruck Arrivals
Fly-half,  Sam Windsor – Seattle Seawolves
  • 14 Points Scored
  • 104 Meters Gained
  • 168 Kicking Meters Gained

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.

Dallas player scores 5 tries, but Seattle wins

Good golly, Miss Dallas, you sure like to maul, which helped in Jackals’ hooker Dewald Kotze score five tries against the Seattle Seawolves, who had to wait until the 78th minute for a penalty kick by Mack Mason to win, 34-32.

Kotze scored his tries at the

22nd minute: A maul off a lineout coming from a kick to touch after a Seawolves penalty, and there were many of those. Vaughen Isaacs missed conversion.

34th minute: A maul with the Dallas backs joining in for the pushover try. No Seattle backs joined in the fun. Isaacs conversion bounces off post and over for two.

39th minute: Another maul with the Dallas backs joining in for the push. Seattle backs refused to serve. Isaacs misses conversion

47th minute: Dallas backs once again join in to help Kotze to his fourth try. No conversion.

54th minute: Jackals’ forwards do it alone this time for Kotze’s fifth.

With four (five) tries, Dallas picks up a bonus point and another for a less than seven-point loss.

And while pushover tries are effective, they are also boring to most spectators. Seattle put on a better show.

25th minute: Try by Dan Kriel and a conversion from Mason. Riekert Hattingh picked up the ball from the back of the scrum, out to scrum half Ryan Rees and then on to Kriel to run in for the try.

32nd minute: Seattle shows that they can maul, too, with Pago Haini touching down for the try. Mason converts.

51st minute: Seattle awarded a penalty try after an “unwrapped tackle,” (also known as a chop block, no arms tackle, desperate throwing your body at the legs of a bigger man) on Hattingh. That scored seven automatically and Dallas got a yellow card.

69th minute: Seattle, too, can push over for a try. This one by Dewald Donald. Mason makes the conversion, and the score is 32-31 for Dallas.

78th minute: An offside penalty against Dallas inside the 25-yard line. Mason kicks for the 34-32 Seattle win. Mason added another penalty at the start of the game and made all his conversions.

With the penalty try, Seattle has four tries in the game for the bonus point. That puts them at the top of the Western Conference with 24 points, ahead of Houston’s 23 and San Diego’s 19. Houston and San Diego at off this weekend. So Seattle will be at No. 1 for the next week. Hope they stay there.

Next for Seattle: At Los Angeles on Sunday, April 14, at 3 p.m. PDT. Shown on FS2.

Ouch