Tag: Seattle Seawolves

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.
 

A Seawolves win to dispel all doubts

Reasonable doubts were had about this past weekend – round one in the Seawolves’ campaign to reach the playoffs. With fourth-place team, RFCLA, facing 0-11 Anthem and Seattle against 8-3 Utah, some doubters may have thought Seattle, fifth place in the Western Conference of the Major League Rugby and parked outside of the playoffs, might fall further behind.

Those doubts were not dispelled until the 80th minute of the Monday night’s game. Despite tries by Malembe Mpofu (under the post for seven points), Lauina Futi and Toni Pulu plus two successful conversion kicks by Rodney Iona (in winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour), the Seawolves were down 21-24 going into the last two minutes of the game. Just before time expired, Rhyno Herbst picked up the ball from the back of a goal line ruck and dived over for a try, giving Seattle a 28-24 win, with another conversion by Iona.

That leaves Seattle still in fifth place, two points behind LA, who notched a 45-17 four-try win over Anthem on Saturday. Anything but a four-try Seattle win would have left the Seawolves further behind LA, like seven points behind in the standings if they had lost to Utah.

Round 2 starts at 6 p.m. Saturday at Starfire Stadium when Seattle meets San Diego, who are 7-6 including a 40-26 win over Seattle in the first game of the regular season back in February. They are in third place in the Western Conference.

LA follows up on Monday against the Chicago Hounds, who are 8-4 and in second place in the Eastern Conference behind New England.

Looking for a win and a loss, no doubt about it.

Seawolves in playoff fight round for round

Even a win against RFCLA on Friday night would not guarantee a spot in the Major League Rugby playoffs. A tie? Definitely not. The resulting 26-26 score leaves the Seattle Seawolves where they were before Friday’s game: two points behind LA and in fifth place in the standings. The top four go to the playoffs.

The Seawolves are now on something of a breather this week with no games for 10 days until Monday night when they are at Utah. Given the number of Seawolves who were replaced in Friday’s game, this rest is much needed. Three players at scrum half? Wow! And Riekert Hattingh left the game early? That hardly ever happens. Word is that he had been sick. Get well, Riekert, and all the other Seawolves.

Both teams on Friday night had four tries, accounting for one bonus point in the standings. Seattle’s tries were scored by Duncan Matthews, Dewald Kotze, Malacchi Esdale and Divan Rossouw.

The tie awards each team two points in the standings, with the fourth-place team, LA, at 30, and the fifth-place team, Seattle, at 28.

The head-to-head match did not decide the argument on who ought to be in the Western Conference playoffs. That will have to be decided in the next five games Seattle and LA have left in the regular season, a round-to-round campaign to the playoffs. Here they are:

Round 1

Saturday, May 10, LA at home against Anthem

Monday, May 12, Seawolves at Utah

Round 2

Saturday, May 17, Seattle at home against San Diego Legion

Monday, May 19, LA at Chicago Hounds

Round 3

Friday, May 23, Seattle at home against Houston Sabercats

Sunday, May 25, Miami Sharks at LA

Round 4

Saturday, May 31, LA at Old Glory DC

Sunday, June 1, Seattle at New England

Round 5

Saturday, June 7, LA at Utah

Sunday, June 8, Seattle at home against Miami Sharks.

Time for Seawolves to show who’s boss

The Seawolves’ loss to NOLA Gold on Sunday sets up a mano a mano fight for fourth place in Major League Rugby’s Western Conference. That will come Friday night at 7:30 at Starfire Stadium when LARFC, now in fourth place, comes to visit Tukwila. With six weeks to go in the regular season, this match-up between the fourth and fifth place holders might not be a win-and-you’re-in to see who goes into the playoffs, but a victory Friday night would advance the argument for who ought to be there.

Both LA and Seattle lost this past round, LA to San Diego, 38-36. They were down 31-17 at 60 minutes into the game when the Legion got their second yellow card in 10 minutes. With SD down to 13 players, LA rattled off 14 points to tie at 31-31. SD scored again, then La scored and a successful conversion kick would have tied it with a minute left in the game. The kick went wide, but LA still got two bonus points in the standings: four tries and finishing within seven of the winner. That boosted them to 27 points in the standings.

Seattle had what it takes to win a game against NOLA: tries by Jade Stighling, J.P. Smith, Lauina Futi, Eduard Fouche, Divan Rossouw and Devin Short.

They also had what it takes to lose a game, as they did, 44-36: Seattle had 11 penalties in the first half when I stopped counting; NOLA had one. Three yellow cards against the Seawolves that half. Playing with 14 against 15, then 13 against 15. Three missed conversion kicks. Some untimely mishandling and not being able to stop NOLA from scoring more points that the Seawolves did.

Seattle picked up one bonus point for scoring four tries, but if one of those missed conversions had sailed between the posts, Seattle would have been within seven for another bonus point. That would have kept Seattle at the bottom of the Western Conference but only one point away from LA. Alas, none of those kicks split the uprights and Seattle goes into Friday’s match two points down from LA.

Time to advance your argument, Seawolves.

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.

Esdale’s try keeps Seattle from sinking further

Malacchi Esdale

The game’s not over until Seattle winger Malacchi Esdale scores. Saturday night against Anthem Rugby Club that did not happen until 73 minutes into the match. Esdale’s try was the fourth for the Seawolves, giving them a bonus point plus the four for the 25-17 win.

The four-try win keeps Seattle from falling further behind the RFCLA team, which beat Old Glory DC, 54-44, in a game with six yellow cards and a red. That game finished before Seattle and Anthem kicked off at Starfire Stadium, and any Seattle fan who knew of LA’s four-try win – no, make that eight – must have felt uncomfortable with Seattle’s first half when Rodney Iona’s lone penalty kick put them behind, 7-3, at halftime.

Sinking deeper in the standings of Major League Rugby’s Western Conference looked like a very real possibility until Toni Pulu found open space on the wing for a try at 50 minutes and Iona connected on the only conversion of the night for Seattle. Game tied 10-10.

Toni Pulu

Then Divan Rossouw had his five minutes of fame, scoring two tries between the 60th and 65th minutes for a 20-10 Seattle lead. Three tries, one penalty kick and one conversion. Not enough to keep from falling further behind LA, who stood at 18 in the standings.

Divan Rossouw

Esdale had not scored; the game could not be over. In the past two games, he scored the try that beat New England and helped Seattle to stay within seven points against LA a week ago, a bonus point that left the Seawolves three points behind LA. A fourth try would keep them there. That came with seven minutes left in the game when a long pass out to the wing put Esdale over for the fourth try.

Seattle is still out of the running for the playoffs, fifth in the Western Conference standings, behind 3-3 LA, 18-15. Four teams advance, vying to play in the championship. One team stays home when the season ends in June.

The Anthem team is 0-6, well out of the playoff chase in the Eastern Conference. But on Saturday night, Anthem fielded a team with all American players, a first for the MLR.

Next Saturday, Seattle plays 3-3 Old Glory in Maryland while LA faces 5-1 Houston Sabercats. If LA can beat Old Glory, 54-44, can Seattle, now 2-4, do something similar to keep pace with LA? Or, maybe put LA back in the cellar?

Seawolves still in the playoffs – bearly

“You don’t have to outrun the bear,  just outrun the slowest  person.”

To stay in the Major League Rugby playoffs, all the Western Conference teams have to do is beat the No. 5 team in the five-team division. Right now, the Seawolves have done that  — by one point in the standings.  Despite the loss Saturday, Seattle has nine points in the standings compared to eight for Rugby Football Club Los Angeles.

Fall to No. 5 in the standings, and the grizzly bear is gobbling down your aspirations to go on to the MLR championship game.

Saturday, the Seawolves fell 35-29 to LA. But they scored four tries, worth one bonus point in the standings, and came within seven points of the winner, worth another bonus point. Add those two points to the seven points Seattle had coming in to the game and they stand at nine. LA had three points before the game and added four for the win and one for scoring four tries for a bear-eating eight points.

The Seawolves once again called on Malacchi Esdale, whose late try won the last game against New England, for a try at the 80-minute mark to come with in seven of LA and the fourth try. Add to that tries by Duncan Matthews, Riekert Hattingh and Divan Rossouw plus a penalty kick and two conversions by Eduard Fouche and one conversion kick by Rodney Iona for 29 points.

To stay out of the ursine depths of the Western Division, Seattle needs a win against Utah on Saturday, March 22, at 7 p.m. at Starfire Stadium. Utah is 3-1 with a 36-19 win Saturday against the Miami Sharks, who are 2-3.

Without wishing bad luck on another team, but a toothsome treat for the Seawolves could come if LA did not do so well against NOLA Gold on Saturday. NOLA lost, 35-31, against New England last Saturday and are in the mouth of the bear in the Eastern Conference with a 1-3 record.

This bears watching.

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.