July 17, 2016
San Francisco Rushes Over San Diego Breakers
Photo: PRO Rugby
Doug Coil
The San Francisco Rush were an offensive force yesterday in their 50-26 win against the San Diego Breakers. With the win, they have an opportunity to challenge the Breakers for third place in the League.
Volney Rouse increased his season points scored total to 110 points, second to Kurt Morath’s 113.
It took only four minutes for the Rush to score the first try of the match. Orene Ai’i intercepted a Charlie Purdon pass and went in for a try. Volney Rouse converted and gave San Francisco a 7-0 lead. The Rush then increased their led to 10-0 after a Rouse penalty kick.
By the eleventh minute, the Orene Ai’i used quick hands to Martini Talapusi on the wing who off-loaded to Deveraux Ferris for a try. Rouse converted and the Rush had a quick 17-0 lead.
At sixteen minutes, San Diego’s Tai Tuisamoa found a gap and the Breakers had a try that was converted by Kalei Konrad.
On the restart, the ball was kicked deep and the Breakers mishandled the ball. Bill Fukofuka passed to Derrick Broussard and then to Volney Rouse for a try, which he also converted. The score was now 24-7.
The Breakers then had the next opportunity when Purdon got the ball within 5 meters. Ngwenya, Te’o and Suniula all touched the ball before Cecil Garber went over for a try. Bergamasco converted to narrow the score to 24-14.
San Diego would have one more opportunity to narrow the gap prior to halftime when they went inside 2 meters of the line before a penalty thwarted their effort. So at halftime the score remained 24-14 to the Rush.
The Rush continued the momentum to begin the second half as they took the restart inside the Breakers 22. A Rouse off-load to Michael Haley resulted in an early try. Rouse converted and the score was 31-14.
Nick Blevins then scored a few minutes later after a Mikey Te’o kick was blocked and Blevins went in for a try. This time Rouse’s conversion was wide, but the Rush had a 36-14 lead.
San Diego came back as Ryan Matyas attacked and off-loaded to Mikey Te’o. At the breakdown, Matyas attacked again and Te’o finished with at try. Konrad missed the conversion from near touch and the score was 36-19.
The Rush then took a commanding lead with 19 minutes left, as Bill Fukofuka off-loaded to Deveraux for his second try. Rouse then converted for a 43-19 lead.
The San Diego Breakers came back seven minutes later when Te’o offloaded to Derrick Broussard for a try. Konrad converted to narrow the score to 43-26.
With eight minutes remaining, the Rush would had a final try as Ferris flicked the ball inside to Ai’i for a try. Rouse converted and the score was 50-26. This would also be the final score.
Next week the Rush will be home against Denver and then they travel to Sacramento in their final match of the season.
The Rush have an opportunity to challenge the Breakers for third place in the League. This requires some help from Sacramento next week. They need the Express to beat the Breakers without giving up a losing bonus point. They then need to beat Sacramento on July 30, their last match of the season.
The San Diego Breakers, after a very promising start of the season, have lost their last six matches and now have a 4-7 record and 24 points. A win next week against Sacramento would secure third place in the League.
San Francisco Rush: 1. Codi Jones 2 Jay Finau 3 Patrick Latu (captain) 4 Nick Grass 5 Jeremy Laenaerts 6 Brendan Daly 7 Sam Finau 8 Bill Fukofuka 9 Deveraux Ferris 10 Volney Rouse 11 Pila Longi 12 Orene Ai’i 13 Jack Blevins 14 Michael Haley 15 Martini Talapusi 16 Mone Laulaupeaalu 17 Fancy Namulau’ulu 18 Niko Lolohea 19 Pila Huihui 20 Siupeli Sakalia 21 Jack O’Hara 22 Junior Helu 23 Michael Reid Coaches: Head Coach – Paul Keeler Assistant Coaches: Adriaan Ferris, Simon Fathers
San Diego Breakers: 1 Mason Petersen 2 Joe Taufete’e 3 Jake Ilnicki 4 Ian Carpenter 5 Tai Tuisamoa 6 Bruce Thomas 7 Cecil Garber 8 Chris Turori 9 Charlie Purdon 10 Kalei Konrad 11 Taku Ngwenya 12 Andrew Suniula 13 Ryan Matyas 14 Pono Haitsuka 15 Mikey Te’o 16 Mikey Sosene-Feagai 17 Epi Kalamani 18 Kakalea Pule 19 Sam Lilley 20 Derrick Broussard 21 Zach Pangelinan 22 Ben Leatigaga 23 Tim Stanfill Coaches: Head Coach – Ray Egan Assistant Coaches: Matt Hawkins, Rob Hoadley Manager: Sean Lindersmith
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