Seattle Seawolves Stuns San Diego Legion at Death to Defend MLR Shield

San Diego Legion hosted the defending champion Seattle Seawolves in the Major League Rugby Shield Championship at Torero Stadium on June 16 with the match broadcast on CBS.

San Diego advanced to the Championship after a 24-22 comeback win over Rugby United New York. The Seattle Seawolves beat the Toronto Arrows 30-17 in the other MLR semifinal.

The match was a defensive battle for much of the match. In the final nine minutes, the Legion appeared to have a victory within their grasp, but the Seawolves Brad Tucker scored the winning try in the 82nd minute and the Seattle Seawovles defended the MLR Shield with a 26-23 win.

Match Recap

The first half was a tale of two quarters. Joe Pietersen kicked an early penalty goal to give the Legion a 3-0 lead. Later a drop goal by Pietersen was missed.

Josh Furno was held up in-goal, but after 5-meter scrum, a Furno knock on allowed Seattle to clear. San Diego continued to control the early possession and a Seawolves penalty pushed the Legion lead to 6-0 after another Pietersen kick.

Seattle attacked from a scrum 22-meters from in-goal with George Barton powering to within 5-meters. Stephan Coetzee then finished with a try and Brock Staller converted to take a 7-6 lead. The Seawolves executed a lineout throw that went 5-meters to JP Smith, who motored for a try in the left corner. A TMO confirmed the try and Staller again slotted the kick for a 14-6 lead.

Understanding the intent in a match is critical and referee Scott Green saw that a high ball by Conor Kearns was contested by both Kearns and Ben Cima, who was inadvertently hit the air. A penalty was the result instead of a yellow card for Kearns. This call allowed Seattle to attack from the the Legion 22-meters, but did not change the nature of the match that could have occurred if a yellow card was ruled.

Neither team added additional points prior to the break.

Second Half

Early in the second half, Tai Enosa was taken off the pitch for a HIA. His head was low in his attempted tackle of Shalom Suniula. Will Holder then came on as a replacement.

A turnover then occurred from the ensuing Seattle scrum. This gave the Legion a scrum and quickly moved the ball wide. After multiple phases from teh forwards, the ball went wide left before a Ryan Matyas knock on 7 meters from in-goal. The ensuing Seattle scrum led to a clearance kick and the Legion applied pressure on the attack again before losing the ball forward.

Cima cleared, but the Legion had a lineout 22-metrs from in-goal. The Legion tried a lineout throw to Augspurger, but the ball went forward and Seattle cleared for another Legion lineout about 30-meters out. The result was better this time, moving the ball out wide left to Nick Boyer for a try in the left corner. Pietersen then slotted the conversion to cut the lead to within one, 14-13.

Both teams then went through several minutes of back and forth play. A Seawolves penalty led to a Legion lineout within 22-meters of in-goal. This resulted in a Legion try by Jordan Manihera, who touched the base of the post. Pietersen slotted the easy conversion to lead 20-14.

The final nine minutes of the match had the elation and despare with changes in scores. First, the Seattle Seawolves went on a sustained attack with Riekert Hattingh scoring a try from close range in the 73rd minute to cut the Legion lead to 20-19. The MLR leading scorer Brock Staller then missed the conversion.

Three minutes later, Joe Pietersen extended the lead to 23-19 with a drop goal. It looked as if the home crowd would be victorious, however following a lineout within 10-meters of in-goal, the Seawolves mauled their way over the line and Brad Tucker grounded the ball in the 82nd minute for a 26-23 win after Staller’s conversion.

With the win, the Seawolves defended the MLR Shield Championship and celebrate the win at the Legion’s home pitch, Torero Stadium, before a soldout crowd. The Legion are gutted in losing at death, but their season was still an outstanding one.