All The News

Another week done, and the 2010 Rugby Super League continues to take shape.

In San Francisco, the home team overcame a slow first half to put away the Chicago Griffins in the second half, running in a bunch of tries in the process.  San Francisco Golden Gate coach Paul Keeler was happy to put on a good show for the home crowd, and despite the slow start he was content on getting to play the game the way he wanted his players to play. 

Once again Milemoto Pulu led with two tries, in addition to try scoring efforts by Samuela Manoa, Mose Timoteo, Tevita Okusi, Al Tuipulotu, Jone Naqica, Saimone Lauaupaleau, and Hector Quiles.  Jone Naqica converted two, as did Martin Cole.

A tighter game was in store in Denver, where the Barbarians secured a 27-5 win  over the Dallas Harlequins .  This game was questionable right up to Saturday due to the weather conditions.  Although  the precipitation held off, a strong wind blew throughout the game which disrupted affairs. 

Denver’s Stephen Hazel reports that the game itself was pretty scrappy due to the wind, though teams seemed to cope better when playing against it.  Despite periods of strong Dallas pressure, Denver was able to make big gains out wide.  Denver held a 17-5 halftime lead, and added another 10 points in the second half.   There were some yellow cards fluttering around in the strong breeze, though nothing too egregious was reported.   Denver improves to 2-1, while keeping Dallas winless.

Also in the West, Old Puget Sound Beach continued their torrid start with a 34-12 victory over the visiting Chicago Lions.  Winger Isimeli Daveta again had himself a couple of tries, as did fullback Bobby Fitzpatrick. 

In a classic mismatch of talents, the Lions were stronger in the forwards, while OPSB had the edge in the backs.  Lions put OPSB under sustained pressure throughout the game, but couldn’t put enough points on the board.  OPSB took all opportunities offered to them out wide to secure another bonus point victory while the Lions are in unfamiliar territory at 0-2. 

Back East, Life University continued their season with a comprehensive 46-13 win on the road in Charlotte.  Flyhalf Aaron McMaster notched 21 points through a brace of tries, four conversions and a penalty kick.  Tries were also added by Joe Perez, Phil Thiel, Scott Lawrence, Nathan Rogers and Garry Sullivan for a balanced Life attack.  Charlotte countered with tries from Tim Reading and Brad Richard, with a penalty from Joe Crowley rounding out the Charlotte scoring.

Over in the nation’s capital, visitors Old Blue took the spoils, coming away with a 30-12 win over Potomac Athletic Club.  Old Blue improves to a 1-1 ranking, gaining the bonus point through the scoring of five tries.  Old Blue had a 13- 0 advantage in the first half, and with the bulk of possession, Old Blue ensured PAC could not get much traction in the game. 

Further north, a close game was in store in Boston as the two local rivals faced off under the eye of National Team coach Eddie O’Sullivan.  Early penalties were exchanged through Boston’s Dave Delcourt and Boston Irish Wolfhounds’ Mark Tutton, and Delport added a second halfway through the half.  Boston’s second row Dave Prell scored out wide for Boston after a BIW turnover in the middle of the field, and the conversion extended Boston’s advantage to ten points. 

Boston spurned a couple of try scoring opportunities in the first half, ignoring obvious overloads, and BIW were happy to avoid going deeper into arrears.  BIW’s Kane Jenkins powered through the middle of Boston’s defense on the half hour mark, notching a try to get the Irish back into the game.  Halftime score was 16-10 in Boston’s favor. 

Early in the second half, BIW’s fullback Nick Williams excited the large home crowd by scoring between the posts on a great individual effort.  The Tutton conversion put BIW in the lead for the first time, and he later extended the lead with another penalty.  Boston clawed back a penalty to bring the score to 19-20 with twenty five minutes to go. 

With less than 10 minutes left on the clock, Boston’s Delcourt hit another penalty to regain the lead, and another penalty on the 38th minute put Boston up by five.  In a tense finish, BIW pressured the Boston line, electing to take scrum after scrum as Boston conceded penalties.  Finally, the ball slipped out of a scrum and Boston was able to relieve the pressure and secure their second win of the season. 

Wolfhounds’ interim head coach Coilin Jones praised his young front row, former USA U-20’s hooker Billy Wynne and Braden Despain of UNLV very visible as they exerted some dominance in the scrum, a dominance reflected in the number of penalties conceded by Boston.  Jones lamented the lack of BIW discipline which was severely punished by the Boston’s goalkicker. 

Boston’s coach Eugene Mountjoy felt Boston had to dig deep to meet the challenge placed by BIW up front, and they were able to do so and secure the win.  The teams combined to donate the admission gate proceeds to the Mike Jones Supplemental Needs trust, which was set up to benefit the Albany Knickerbockers player who was severely injured in Florida recently.  About $4,500 was reportedly raised on the day.
 
WEEK 3 RESULTS
Week 3 - March 27, 2010

Boston Rugby 25 @ 20 Boston Irish Wolfhounds
Life University 46 @ 13 Charlotte
Old Blue New York 30 @ 12 Potomac Athletic Club
Dallas Harlequins 5 @ 27 Denver Barbarians
Chicago Lions 12 @ 34 Old Puget Sound Beach
Chicago Griffins 12 @ 58 San Francisco Golden Gate