Rugby United New York Edge Toronto Arrows in Home Opener

Rugby United New York defeated the Toronto Arrows 24-21 in their home opener on Friday, March 15 at MCU Park in Brooklyn. The winning try by John Quill was on the final play of the match.

With the win RUNY is 3rd place with a 5-1 record and 23 points. They host the Glendale Raptors on Sunday, March 24 at 2 pm EDT.

The Toronto Arrows record falls to 3-4 and are in 6th place. They have a bye week and will travel to Utah for their final road match on March 30.

Match Recap

Just prior to the match, Connor Wallace-Sims had a minor injury and Luke Hume moved to wing with Gavan D’Amore-Morrison moving to #23.

The Toronto Arrows struck first with two penalty goals by Sam Malcolm for a 6-0 lead.

Rugby United New York’s Ben Foden counter attacked and after an Arrows offsides penalty, the team elected to kick to touch instead of at goal. They then mauled with Dylan Fawsitt scoring the first try with Chris Mattina converting for a 7-6 lead.

It was then the Arrows turn to attack near in-goal. After a couple of 5-meter scrums the ball went to the backs with Andrew Ferguson grounding to reclaim the lead, 11-7.

RUNY attacked right back and again ignored going for posts after a penalty, but the 5-meter lineout throw was not straight. This provided the Arrows a chance to clear. RUNY would have another chance prior to the break with Fawsitt mauling in for his second try for a 12-11 lead.

Second Half

Rugby United New York attacked from the restart and went through multiple phases before a knock on thwarted their effort. Toronto used the scrum to move the ball down field with a Sam Malcolm offload to Guiseppe Du Toit for a try. Malcolm then slotted the conversion to lead 18-12.

A Gaston Mieres intercept of a Fawsitt pass, allowed the Arrows to move deep into RUNY territory. A forward pass by Kolby Francis to Mieres negated the potential try. Soon after, the Arrows pushed the lead to 21-12 after a penalty goal by Malcolm.

RUNY placed aggressive rugby for final ten minutes with the game on the line. The team attacked from a lineout just inside the Arrows 22-meters with Ross Deacon going over the tryline. It was not clear to the referee that he grounded the ball and was ruled that the ball was held up for a 5-meter scrum. Nate Brakeley then added a try to cut the lead to 21-17.

RUNY attacked again and marched close to the tryline, but after several penalties, Fawsitt mauled over the line and was ruled to have been held up for a 5-meter scrum. The team continued to apply pressure and in the final few seconds, John Quill added a bonus point try and after Mattina’s conversion, the 24-21 win.

Nate Brakeley was named Man of the Match in RUNY’s historic win.

Both teams picked up bonus points with RUNY’s record improving to 5-1 and have 23 points for third place in the standings, 3 points behind NOLA Gold and two behind the Seattle Seawolves.

The Toronto Arrows are in 6th place with 17 points, and are in striking distance of a top 4 spot needed for the playoffs. The team will travel to Utah in two weeks and then will play their final 8 matches at home.