Seattle Seawolves & Glendale Raptors

The Seattle Seawolves lost to the Glendale Raptors 19-15 at Starfire Stadium on April 28. The soldout crowd endured the rain but were treated to an outstanding match. The Seawolves have sold out their entire Major League Rugby home season.

On Thursday preceeding the match, John Quill injured his shoulder in practice and Devin Vaughter replaced him on the squad. With the change Dylan Fawsitt started at hooker, and Zach Fenoglio switched to flanker.

First Half

The Glendale Raptors Maximo De Achaval was sent to the bin in the 4th minute after a midair collision with Phil Mack. Despite being down a man, the Raptors took advantage of a Seawolves penalty for not rolling away at the breakdown, as Will Magie slotted a kick for a 3-0 lead. Magie would increase the lead to 6-0 with another kick in the 24th minute.

The Raptors extended the lead to 11-0 after a Zach Fenoglio executed a grub kick and grounded the ball in-goal. Magie’s kick was wide.

In the 39th minute, Brock Staller added a penalty kick for the Seawolves to narrow the lead to 11-3 at the break.

During the first half, the Glendale Raptors had 60% of the possession. The Seawolves defense was excellent and the team also had an edge in the scrums.

Second Half

The Raptors extended the lead in the 47th minute with a Peter Dahl offload to Harley Davidson for a try in the corner, increasing the lead to 16-3.

The Seawolves struck back with a try by Vili Toluta’u that was then converted by Brock Staller to cut the lead to 16-10.

Magie had a chance to extend the lead, but a penalty kick was wide right. When he had another opportunity, he slotted the kick in the 70th minute to increase the lead to 19-10 and this required the Seawolves to score twice to win.

The Seawolves added a try by George Barton late to cut the lead to 19-15. That the way the match would end, but the Seawolves picked up a valuable losing bonus point for keeping the match to within 7 points.

Zach Fenoglio was named Man of the Match.

Conclusion

The Glendale Raptors used precise cross kicks by Will Magie when the Seawolves wings rotated into the line. Maximo De Achaval also used high ball kicks to create some handling errors in the rain. The Raptors were patient in their attack and moved the ball around the pitch.

In the first half, the Seawolves had the Raptors on the back foot in the scrums, however, when Tim Melcher left, that edge was minimized.

William Rasileka was a force around the pitch and the Seawolves defense was stellar on the night. Precise kicking during the match was an issue, giving the Raptors a chance to attack.

Both teams are contenders for the Major League Rugby championship. The Raptors are 2-0 and will travel to face the Utah Warriors on May 5, while the Seawolves have a bye next week before they travel to play New Orleans Gold Rugby on May 12.

Seattle Seawolves & Glendale Raptors Squads

Seattle Seawolves: 1Olive Kilifi 2 Ray Barkwill 3 Tim Metcher 4 Jeremy Lenaerts 5 Taylor Krumrei 6 Cam Polson 7 Vili Toluta’u 8 Aladdin Schirmer (VC) 9 Phil Mack 10 Will Holder 11 Dion Crowder 12 Shalom Suniula (C) 13 William Rasileka 14 Brock Staller 15 Mat Turner 16 Mike Shepherd 17 Larome White 18 John Hayden 19 Eric Dueschle 20 Andre Coquillard 21 Peter Tiberio 22 Mike Garrity 23 George Barton

Glendale Raptors: 1 Blake Rogers 2 Dylan Fawsitt 3 Kelepi Fifita 4 Casey Rock 5 Luke White 6 Zach Fenoglio 7 Peter Dahl 8 Samuel Figg 9 Shaun Davies 10 Will Magie 11 Seth Halliman 12 Bryce Campbell 13 Chad London 14 Harley Davidson 15 Maximo De Achaval 16 Devin Vaughter 17 Nick Kwasniewski 18 James DelBozque19 Dakota O’Neil 20 Brain Wanless 21 Jake Christmann 22 Mika Kruse 23 Ata Malifa + Head Coach David Williams (Reserves numbers ? as Devin Vaughter replaced John Quill on squad)