Rugby New York Gets Bonus Point Win Over NOLA Gold

Rugby New York dominated much of the match, beating NOLA Gold 30-19 on Saturday, March 19 at the Gold Mine, Shrine on Airline. The match was streamed on The Rugby Network and broadcast on YurView.

With the win, Rugby New York improved their record to 5-1 with 24 points and moved into first place in the Eastern Conference pending the outcome of the Sunday match with Old Glory hosting Rugby ATL.

NOLA Gold’s record fell to 2-4 with 11 points, with the team in fifth place in the Conference.

Match Recap

NOLA Gold had the first attack, but a knock-on gave Rugby New York an attacking scrum from their own territory. An Ed Fidow to Conor McManus to Jason Emery break was finished after Troy Lockyear drew in two defenders and offloaded to Andrew Coe for a try in the right corner with Emery missing the difficult kick, 0-5.

New York tacked on another try from close range by Kalolo Tuiloma with Emery slotting the conversion, 0-12.

The ensuing restart had Will Tucker hit while in the air by a NOLA Gold player, however, the chippiness from New York flipped the penalty in NOLA’s favor and they attacked from a lineout 5-meters from in-goal. Nate Brakeley was pinged for collapsing a maul, which resulted in a penalty try for NOLA Gold and for him being sent to the bin, 7-12.

NOLA Gold attacked after a New York penalty for not releasing at the breakdown and went through phases before a Cam Dolan break and grub, was knocked on by Pat O’Toole 5-meters before in-goal. The ensuing New York scrum was picked up by Kara Pryor, but soon after the ball crossed the dead-ball line, giving NOLA Gold an attacking 5-meter scrum.

First Juan Cappiello was held up, but a penalty advantage resulted in another Gold scrum. After three phases Devin Short was held up in-goal, resulting in a New York dropkick from in-goal.

After a Robbie Coleman deep clearance kick, Troy Lockyear’s clearance attempt was charged down by NOLA Gold, but retained by New York. A break by Brendon O’Connor was finished by Jason Emery, who then converted the. extras, 7-19.

Tempers flared after JP Eloff was tackled high, but the penalty by New York was reversed by the referee due to Juan Cappiello escalating the situation. New York’s lineout was stolen by Cam Dolan and after four phases of going backward 25 meters, a NOLA Gold penalty had Jason Emery slotting a penalty goal in the. 40th minute to increase the lead, 7-22.

Second Half

New York increased their lead after a penalty by Brian Nault for pulling a man without the ball from the breakdown with Emery tacking on another penalty goal, 7-25.

Rugby New York would add a bonus point try by Will Tucker from close range, with Sam Windsor’s conversion wide, 7-30.

NOLA Gold would add two tries, the first by Nick Feakes in the left corner after an offload by Carl Meyer, 12-30. The second, had Robbie Coleman chipping ahead, with Feakes offloading to Cam Dolan and to Devin Short for a try and a Carl Meyer conversion, 19-30.

Neither team would score again, and Rugby New York would leave New Orleans in first-place pending the Sunday outcome of Rugby ATL visiting Old Glory DC.

Man of the Match honors went to Ed Fidow, who featured in many New York attacks.

Rugby New York had two players reach milestones of playing in their 50th MLR match in Sam Windsor and Dylan Fawsitt, who entered the match during the second half.

Rugby New York, 5-1 with 24 points, hosts the Toronto Arrows on Sunday, March 27 at JFK Stadium in Hoboken, N.J., while fifth place NOLA Gold, 2-4 with 11 points, travels to face Old Glory DC on March 26.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference got tighter with the Toronto Arrows holding off a Utah Warriors come back to win 27-24 on the road. With the win, the Arrows improve their record to 3-3 and have 15 points in the standings. This kept them in the hunt, but after New England beat Austin Gilgronis on the road 25-17, the Free Jacks’ record improved to 5-1 with 23 points.

Rugby ATL may be in third place for the moment with a 4-1 record with 20 points, but they could retake first place with a bonus point road win over Old Glory which will be streamed tonight on The Rugby Network at 7 pm ET.

Squads with Player Article Links & Match Preview

NOLA GOLD: 1 Matt Harmon 2 Pat O’Toole 3 Brian Nault 4 Malcolm May 5 Ignacio Dotti 6 Moni Tonga’uiha 7 Devin Short 8 Cam Dolan (C) 9 Devereaux Ferris 10 Robbie Coleman 11Ross Depperschmidt 12 Carl Meyer 13 Juan Cappiello 14 JP du Plessis 15 JP Eloff 16 George Sharpe 17 Kevin Sullivan 18 Dino Waldren 19 William Waguespack 20 Maciu Koroi 21 Damian Stevens 22 Nick Feakes 23 Harley Wheeler

Rugby New York: 1 Chance Wenglewski 2 Kaleb Geiger 3 Kalolo Tuiloma 4 Nate Brakeley (C) 5 Will Tucker 6 Ben Bonasso 7 Brendon O’Connor 8 Kara Pryor 9 Conor McManus 10 Andy Ellis 11 Ed Fidow 12 Jason Emery 13 Faasiu Fuatai 14 Andrew Coe 15 Troy Lockyear 16 Dylan Fawsitt 17 Nic Mayhew 18 Wilton Rebolo 19 Charlie Hewitt 20 Joe Basser 21 Connor Buckley 22 Sam Windsor 23 Quinn Ngawati

2022 Records

Rugby New York: Record 5-1

Houston SaberCats 7-10 Rugby New York, Match Preview
Rugby ATL 31-36 Rugby New York, Match Preview
Dallas Jackals 5-41 Rugby New York, Match Preview
Rugby New York 29-38 New England Free Jacks, Match Preview
Rugby New York 26-23 San Diego Legion, Match Preview
NOLA Gold 19-30 Rugby New York Match Preview
Rugby New York vs Toronto Arrows (March 27)
Rugby New York vs Old Glory DC (April 3)
LA Giltinis vs Rugby New York (April 10)
Rugby New York vs New England Free Jacks (April 24)
Rugby New York vs NOLA Gold (May 1)
Toronto Arrows vs Rugby New York (May 8)
Rugby New York vs Seattle Seawolves (May 15)
Rugby New York vs Rugby ATL (May 22)
Old Glory vs Rugby New York (May 29)
New England Free Jacks vs Rugby New York (June 3)

NOLA Gold: Record 2-4

NOLA Gold 13-24 New England Free Jacks
NOLA Gold 9-14 Rugby ATL
NOLA Gold 23-24 Toronto Arrows
Seattle Seawolves 24-25 NOLA Gold
Dallas Jackals 26-32 NOLA Gold
NOLA Gold 19-30 Rugby New York
Old Glory vs NOLA Gold (March 26)

DJCoil Rugby Interviews

Dylan Fawsitt and Sam Windsor were on the matchday squad against NOLA Gold. Both entered the match and achieved a milestone, playing in their 50th MLR match. Dylan and Sam were interviewed on March 13 after the match against San Diego Legion.