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The Seattle Seawolves overcame a 13-point second half deficit to defeat the Toronto Arrows 35-30 at Starfire Stadium on Sunday. A packed house took in the game and were treated to an exhilarating contest that featured seven tries and endless intrigue from start to finish.
Toronto came out fastest with Marcello Wainwright spinning over from close range after good work from the forwards, converted by Sam Malcolm. Brock Staller had an uncharacteristic miss on a penalty attempt but Olive Kilifi bashed over after George Barton was stopped just short to draw the scores level.
Seattle’s scrum was the talk of the town in 2018 but on this day the Arrows had the ascendancy. From a 5-meter put-in the Seawolves scrum crumbled but with advantage Kolby Francis picked and had the strength to drive through and wrestle out of Cam Polson’s tackle to make the line.
The Seawolves needed an immediate response and they got it as Eric Duechle exploded past three defenders and raced in for a blistering score. The two kickers, Malcolm and Staller, exchanged penalties to leave the score 17-all at the interval.
It was again the Arrows who came flying out of the gates in the second half. Tom Dolezel broke up the middle and the ball was quickly spun wide to Wainwright, loitering on the left sideline. The flanker beat offloaded to Spencer Jones and though his inside pass wouldn’t find hands directly, the bounce was kind for Andrew Ferguson who skipped clear to paydirt. Malcolm converted and added two penalties in quick succession and the Arrows were suddenly 30-17 up with the Seawolves on the ropes.
Seattle rang the changes and the fresh legs paid off. After several cracks at the staunch Arrows defense Brad Tucker blasted through the middle and found Shalom Suniula on his shoulder to take the scoring pass. Now back on their heels the Arrows were stretched and Ben Cima curled through a gap for another try. Staller’s conversion was off target, however, leaving Seattle still one point behind.
There was no let-up to the pressure. Staller would get his shot at redemption and he made no mistake, landing his third penalty goal for good measure a short time later. A desperate Toronto attack came perilously close to Seattle’s line but the defense held and a knock-on just a meter out gave the Seawolves the chance to clear and end the game.
With that Seattle’s two-game losing skid is over and they will look forward to hosting Rugby United New York next Sunday. It’s a short turnaround for the Arrows who must now head back to Texas where the Houston SaberCats await on Friday night at Constellation Field.
SCORING
SEATTLE 35
Tries – O. Kilifi (15’), E. Duechle (29’), S. Suniula (58’), B. Cima (65’)
Cons – B. Staller 3/4 (16’, 30’, 59’)
Pens – B. Staller 3/4 (39’, 72’, 77’)
Drop goals – B. Cima 0/2
TORONTO 30
Tries – M. Wainwright (7’), K. Francis (25’), A. Ferguson (44’)
Cons – S. Malcolm 3/3 (8’, 26’, 45’)
Pens – S. Malcolm 3/3 (32’, 49’, 52’)
TEAMS
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Olive Kilifi (17 Kellen Gordon 56’), 2 Stephan Coetzee (16 Mike Shepherd 50’), 3 Tim Metcher (18 John Hayden 63’), 4 Api Naikatini (19 Taylor Krumrei 56’), 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Cam Polson (20 Nakai Penny 26’), 7 Eric Duechle, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 Phil Mack (21 JP Smith 56’), 10 Ben Cima, 11 Peter Tiberio, 12 George Barton (22 Shalom Suniula HT), 13 William Rasileka, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner
Not used: 23 Sequoyah Burke-Combs
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Tom Dolezel (17 Doug Wooldridge 58’), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Steve Ng 31’-39’, 66’), 3 Morgan Mitchell (18 Cole Keith 63’), 4 Mike Sheppard, 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Marcello Wainwright, 8 Kolby Francis (20 Andrew Wilson 66’), 9 Andrew Ferguson (21 Riley DiNardo 73’), 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Dan Moor (capt.), 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Spencer Jones, 14 Avery Oitomen, 15 Shawn Windsor (23 Jack Evans 66’)
Not used: 19 Josh van Horne, 22 Johnny Sheridan
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ben Crouse (SARU)
Assistants: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR) & Denny Russell (USAR)
