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The first professional rugby game in Boston is in the books as Rugby United New York edged the New England Free Jacks 38-35 at Union Point Sports Complex on Saturday. It was a back-and-forth affair with both teams showing attacking ability while testing several players ahead of the 2019 campaign.
New York will be fully-fledged members of Major League Rugby this coming season and many expected them to be the dominant side coming in. While they came away with the ‘W’, they were well a truly tested by a resilient New England side looking for their first win on home soil.
It was a stalemate until the 15th minute when Seimou Smith showed an impressive burst of speed to cut through for the first try. Cathal Marsh landed the conversion, an act he would repeat five times as the Leinster import enjoyed a perfect day from the kicking tee.
The Free Jacks replied with Peter Lupton showing his strength for one of two tries from the Welshman. Former Austin Elite prop Paddy Ryan was next on the board, the Eagles tighthead using his bulk to crash over from short range. Lupton responded with another strong run up the middle after Michael St. Claire had been shown yellow for team infringements.
Whatever Mike Tolkin said at halftime seemed to have an effect on his charges, as New York would score twice in quick succession following the restart. Matt Hughston had the strength to reach out of a tackle and touch down and then Quentin Pradere latched on to an errant pass to race away under the sticks.
Tadhg Leader stepped up in a captain’s effort. A huge miss-out pass found Christian Adams in space and he used his footwork to put Derek Lipscomb off balance and win the race to the corner. Next it was a cross-kick from leader to Stephen Dazzo, the left winger somehow getting an offload to Danny Collins for the score before being pushed into touch.
Lipscomb made up for his defensive challenge by finishing well after Smith spotted an opportunity that restored New York’s lead. Once again the Free Jacks responded, however, with Adams charging down Marsh’s clearance kick and quick hands putting Ahmad Harajly over for the try. Leader’s fifth conversion of the day was spot on to level the scores.
Now with the ascendancy in the scrum, New York pushed their way back into New England territory. With time nearly up on the clock they were awarded a penalty and captain Nate Brakeley was taking no chances, pointing to the uprights. Marsh duly obliged and a last-chance Free Jacks attack was snuffed out by staunch defense.
While the result didn’t quite go their way, New England will be very pleased with the effort and have the makings of a decent side as they look ahead to 2019. They will be hosting four Irish provincial development sides – Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster – in the spring before becoming full members of MLR in 2020.
SCORING
NEW ENGLAND 35
Tries – P. Lupton 2 (22’, 40’), C. Adams (54’), D. Collins (59’), A. Harajly (71’)
Cons – T. Leader 5/5 (23’, 40’, 55’, 60’, 72’)
NEW YORK 38
Tries – S. Smith (15’), P. Ryan (26’), M. Hughston (42’), Q. Pradere (46’), D. Lipscomb (65’)
Cons – C. Marsh 5/5 (16’, 27’, 43’, 47’, 66’)
Pens – C. Marsh 1/1 (79’)
Yellow cards – M. St. Claire (40’)
TEAMS
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Dave McKenna, 2 Diego Maquieira, 3 Tony Purpura, 4 Jackson Thiebes, 5 Ronan McCusker, 6 Owen Hundt, 7 Jon Kokinda, 8 Josh Brown, 9 Erik Thompson, 10 Tadhg Leader (capt.), 11 Chris Frazier, 12 Peter Lupton, 13 Ahmad Harajly, 14 Stephen Dazzo, 15 Danny Collins
Replacements used: Steven Hinshaw (2), Devin Ibanez (2), Peter Haxton (1), Sean Moran (3), Thor LaFromboise (7), Dan Jones (8), Chris Slater (9), Christian Adams (11), Mike Rudzinsky (12), Terrance Williams (14)
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 Anthony Parry, 2 Mike Brown, 3 Kirk Hamilton, 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.), 5 Myles McQuone, 6 Alex MacDonald, 7 Matt Hughston, 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Marcus Walsh, 10 Cathal Marsh, 11 Michael St. Claire, 12 Chris Vakasisikakala, 13 Seimou Smith, 14 Alex De Souza, 15 Connor Wallace-Sims
Replacements used: Jamal Hadley (1), Chris Sullivan (3), Paddy Ryan (3), Matt Wirken (4), Kyle White (5), Kyle Sumsion (6), Gavan D’Amore-Morrison (7), Mike Petri (9), Quentin Pradere (12), Derek Lipscomb (14)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Luke Rogan (USAR)
