Two-man disadvantage causes Seawolves 44-36 loss to New Orleans
Seawolves experience tough loss in third game in 10 days
By Uriah Aguon, edited by Charles Hamaker
Metairie, LA - Carrying two successive wins, our Seattle Seawolves fell short in their hunt for a third.
In their third match in just ten days, the Seawolves lost 44-36 to the New Orleans Gold on Sunday, April 27th.
The match was delayed by 90 minutes due to heavy rain and lightning strikes.
When the sky cleared, Seattle walked onto the field ready to fight but failed to gain enough momentum and ultimately saw their winning streak snapped.
Match recap:
Seattle kicked off and fought to gain possession from the well-oiled Gold side.
New Orleans kept possession with short, swift passes and tight coverage in the rucks. The team’s outside center, Isaac Te Tamaki, won a penalty conversion kick in the fourth minute after an air contest for a box kick against Seattle’s fullback Duncan Matthews. Fly-half Dorian Jones sent the ball straight through the posts to give New Orleans an early 3-0 lead.
In the sixth minute, NOLA nearly broke away on an intercepted pass from inside center Rodney Iona, but New Orleans’ fullback Julian Roberts knocked the ball on, giving Seattle a scrum. From the scrum, scrum-half JP Smith went to fly-half Dan Kriel, who fired the ball out to left wing Jade Stighling, who bolted through four NOLA defenders, stiff-arming right wing Xavier Mignot five meters from the try line.
Right wing Lauina Futi almost scored in the 12th, sending a short kick down the touchline that rolled into the try zone. What turned into a foot race against two NOLA players resulted in an overshot roll over the ball and a missed opportunity for a try.
This small mistake would foreshadow Seattle’s following performance throughout. The Seawolves could create great plays against New Orleans, but could not finish them properly. Seattle’s next mistakes would force the team to play 20 minutes of the first half without its full team on the field. Lock Rhyno Herbst was yellow-carded in the 16th for a high tackle with head contact, and Stighling was yellow-carded shortly after in the 17th for a similar call.
Already deep in Seattle territory and playing with a two-man advantage, New Orleans barrelled forth. Two passes from a lineout in the 20th, Tamaki leaped into the try zone and gave the Gold a 10-7 lead.
Another challenge for both teams was matching each other’s physical play — Seattle known for its sturdy Seawall, and New Orleans known for its golden resilience. With three stoppages for injury before the first hydration break, the Seawolves and the Gold set the tone for an intensely physical match.
Without the full 15 on the field, the Seawall lost effectiveness, allowing a breach on the blind side with just enough room for New Orleans’ scrum-half Ruben de Haas and left wing Nikolai Foliaki to break away. Jonah Mau’u, New Orleans' eight-man, scored in the 24th, three phases from a lineout.
After Herbst and Stighling re-entered the game, Seattle’s cohesion was again disrupted when Smith was yellow-carded in the 28th for an illegal tackle in the ruck.
New Orleans capitalized on this extended numbers advantage and scored in the 29th and 36th. Mau’u scored two phases from a lineout, pushed over the try line by three of his teammates. The next try was by Jones, who added three points to NOLA’s score with a penalty kick in the 30th, contributing 10 total points to NOLA’s 27-7 lead in the first half.
Smith's absence was grievously felt, throwing Seattle's rucks out of sorts and hindering ball play. Re-entering the game in the last 30 seconds of the first half, however, Smith received a handoff from Matthews at the 22-meter line and put the Seawolves within 13.
Seattle's lack of rest killed much of its first-half efforts, most notably its losing a 7-3 lead, conceding 10 penalties, and receiving three yellow cards. Playing with a complete 15 on the field for all of the second half, the Seawolves were able to coordinate smoother transitions, but New Orleans' tight coverage limited the Seawolves' options.
It seemed as if the winds were changing in the 45th. Stighling broke away on New Orleans' open side and reached just meters away from the try line; however, he was crowded, lacked options for a handoff, and lost possession. A long kick in front of the try line landed the Gold back in Seattle territory. From a lineout and then a scrum, NOLA pushed the Seawall back in phases, finally scoring in the 49th. Mignot received a quick dump from Jones and ran through a small window between Herbst and outside center Divan Rossouw.
Seattle spent the next few minutes battling for distance in New Orleans’ territory. Smith sent the ball far on the blind side to Eduard Fouché, who handed the ball out the back to Futi with a wide gap in front of the try zone. The Seawolves were back in the game, only behind 10 points in the 53rd.
Fouché made his own contribution to the score in the 59th. He evaded NOLA’s defense by sending a short kick through the bottom and falling onto the ball as it passed the try line. New Orleans responded in the 62nd, winning a scrum penalty and having fly-half Luke Carty kick for the three points, moving up 37-24.
Seattle answered with a lineout on New Orleans' 22. The Seawolves phased across the field and back to the middle, slowly gaining meters. Openside flanker Devin Short ran the ball within five meters of the try line before hitting the ground. Smith passed the ball to Kriel, who lost possession of the ball after going down.
The Seawolves had a chance to gain momentum in the 71st, when New Orleans' #19 Chase Jones was yellow-carded for a late tackle. Seattle tried to capitalize on this advantage, sending a passing line downfield on NOLA’s blind side. From Smith to Short to Fouché, the ball reached just before NOLA’s 22, but Matthews knocked the ball on and broke apart the passing run.
Seattle’s advantage went from one-man to two-man in the 74th, when Cam Dolan, NOLA’s second lock, was yellow-carded for an offside attempt to penetrate a Seattle maul five meters out from the try zone.
Running down the field ruck-by-ruck, scrum-half Brock Gallagher passed the ball down the line to Fouché and Rossouw, who scored in the 77th. The momentum was chopped down when NOLA’s hooker, Joseph Taufete’e, stole a pass from Gallagher in the 79th and stretched his arm into the try zone as he fell.
Trailing 44-29, Seattle extended play just long enough for Short to score a final try for Seattle in the 82nd minute, ending the match.
Seattle lost a potential six points from Fouché’s missed conversion kicks. The Seawolves gained a bonus table point from Fouché’s try in the 59th, but a loss by less than seven would have earned them another.
What's next?
Following this difficult road defeat at the hands of New Orleans, Seattle’s next match is a face-off between the current underdogs of the MLR Western Conference, pitting the Seawolves against RFC Los Angeles on Friday, May 2nd, at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington, at 7:30PM PDT. Seattle will be celebrating it’s “college night,” as the curtain raiser before the match will pit University of Washington and Oregon State rugby teams against each other. The Ballard Marching band will perform at halftime, and the pregame celebration will see Seawolves Legend Kellen Gordon honored.
RFCLA is fourth in the MLR Western Conference with a 4-6 record and 27 table points. The team visits Starfire after a 38-36 loss to the San Diego Legion on April 26.
Seattle is fifth in the MLR Western Conference with a 4-6 record and 25 points. The Seawolves' playoff berth hinges on their next few games. If Los Angeles wins on May 2nd, not only will the Seawolves remain fifth in the West, they will be the only team in the conference with sub-30 points on the table.
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Check out our previous Seattle Seawolves articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Uriah Aguon here, and his SPU work here.
Cover photo from the Seattle Seawolves twitter, since no photos were provided by the team for this match.
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