Boston Mystic River & Rugby United New York

The March 24th match between Boston Mystic River and Rugby United New York took place at Harvard University. Although Rugby United New York swept the series, the match was a huge improvement over the 50-0 win on March 17. Boston Mystic River head coach Josh Smith made adjustments and had the team within six points 30-24 before RUNY closed out the match winning 42-24.

Boston Mystic Rugby took an early 3-0 lead after a drop goal by Santiago Bertranou. RUNY answered back with a show and go try by Mike Petri and a conversion by Connor Wallace-Sims to take a 5-3 lead.

Discipline was an issue for both sides as Kirkland Hamilton and Joe Shurmaitis went to the bin for New York and Boston respectively.

RUNY had the next opportunity to score, but Dylan Fawsitt was held up in-goal. New York increased their lead soon after as the result of a penalty kick by Wallace-Sims. Dave Gannon then added an unconverted try for a 13-3 lead.

Boston Mystic Rugby was trying to minimize the RUNY advantage in the lineouts with 4-men. That helped, but adjustments were made. Steve Dazzo was probably Boston’s Man of the Match with his first try of 70-meters, which was followed by a Bertranou conversion to narrow the lead to 13-10.

Mike Petri was a sparkplug and his influence was significant as he used a quick tap from a penalty to add a try, increasing the lead to 18-10. Seamus Kelly added to the lead with a crash ball try and after Wallace-Sims conversion the lead was 25-10.

Santiago Bertranou added a try and a conversion to slice the lead to 25-17, but soon after Dylan Fawsitt went down the weak side 15 channel for a try increasing the lead back to 13 points.

Vini Daley found a gap and offloaded to Steve Dazzo for his second try. Bertranou converted and the lead was 30-24.

Unfortunately, Pino Maupese was sent to the bin. RUNY took advantage after a Mike St. Claire try, pushing the lead to 35-12. James Bird missed a drop goal and a final score came from Alex Schwarz after an errant Boston pass for a try. The conversion was good for a final of 42-24 in favor of Rugby United New York.

With the win, RUNY is 3-0 and can close out an undefeated season in Toronto against the Ontario Arrows. Many players from both RUNY are playing for NYAC against the Glendale Raptors this Saturday, April 7 at 1 pm at Travers Island. The Ontario Arrows are playing tonight, April 6 in Utah against the Utah Warriors. That match is being streamed on the Utah Warriors TV YouTube Channel.

Rugby United New York and Boston Mystic River Squads

Boston Mystic River: 1 Pino Maupese 2 Jeff Laflamme 3 Dave McKenna 4 Andrew Burns 5 Michael Kaivelata 6 Devin Ibañez 7 Joe Shurmaitis 8 Jon Kokinda 9 Ian Luciano 10 Santiago Bertranou 11 Vini Daley 12 Matias De Paolis 13 Paulo Aukuso 14 Stephen Dazzo 15 Jared Collison 16 Scott Lucas 17 Dana Corcoran 18 Cody Daidowicz 19 Gianni Miceli 20 Keaton Cashin 21 Erik Thompson 22 Sam Sirell 23 Akinola Raymond 24 Steve Cappello + Head Coach Josh Smith

Rugby United New York: 1 Anthony Parry, 2 Dylan Fawsitt (capt.), 3 Kirkland Hamilton, 4 David Gannon, 5 Nate Brakeley, 6 Nick Wooley 7 James Denise, 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Mike Petri, 10 Jack Fitzpatrick, 11 Greg Voigt, 12 Jake Feury 13 Seamus Kelly 14 Mike St. Claire,15 Connor Wallace-Sims, 16 Mike Brown, 17 Brian McKellar, 18 Chris Sullivan, 19 Callum Mackintosh 20 Dave Shotton, 21 Robert McMahon 22 Alex Schwartz 23 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison, 24 Marcus Walsh 25 James Bird 26 Chris Vakasisikakala (pending) 27 Kyle Granby 28 Bolsted,+ Head Coach Mike Tolkin (Reserve #s were not available)

Rugby United NY Staff