Arrows Earn Bonus-Point Away Win over Old Glory
February 27, 2022 - Major League Rugby (MLR)
Toronto Arrows News Release
The Toronto Arrows ran in a season-high four tries against a languid Old Glory DC defence on Saturday afternoon, cruising to a second consecutive victory with a 29-5 win at Segra Field.
Lucas Rumball, Ross Braude, Mike Sheppard and Cole Keith scored tries for the Arrows, while Sam Malcolm added three conversions and a penalty goal to even Toronto's record at 2-2 on the season.
DC, still winless on the year, had their try tallied by Rob Irimescu.
The Arrows were the more invigorated side out of the gates with an early intercept by Ueta Tufuga putting Toronto deep in Old Glory territory, but a penalty at the subsequent breakdown extinguished the early scoring opportunity.
Old Glory enjoyed their most dominant spell of the match over the next 15-minute period, and were rewarded when Irimescu finished a driving maul off a five-metre lineout for the first score of the day.
The Arrows responded immediately, retaining the ball off the restart and marching into Old Glory's end. Gaston Mieres popped in the attack and sprung Matt Hood down the right side, who in turn passed off the ground to Rumball to barge in for the counter-blow try.
Toronto kept its foot on the gas pedal, setting up shop just outside DC's goal line and commencing a series of pick-and-go waves. After several pushes from the forwards, Braude was the eventual try scorer, with the scrum-half spotting an opening and sneaking across to put the Arrows ahead. During the scoring play, DC No. 8 Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz was shown on camera punching the head of Rumball while the Arrows flanker was in a vulnerable and defenceless position, resulting in a black eye which forced the Arrows vice captain out of the match. The ensuing TMO review puzzlingly failed to spot the sucker punch, and the officials let Fa'anana-Schultz off with a warning.
The Arrows added one more try before the interval, scoring on the final play of the first half. Opting for a scrum instead of a shot at goal following a DC infringement, the gamble proved worthwhile; again it was a big shift from the forwards from in close, and this time it was captain Sheppard who stretched across for five points. Malcolm's conversion took the scoreline to 19-5.
Fa'anana-Schultz did eventually find his way to the sin bin, dismissed early in the second half after pushing down Tomas de la Vega off the ball. Down a man, Old Glory's defensive lines opened up, and the quick-thinking Keith spotted a clear gap off a ruck to dash in unscathed for his first Arrows try.
Rookie James O'Neill appeared to have scored a similar try minutes later, but much to the surprise of the Toronto players, the TMO chalked it off, ruling that the flanker was standing in front of the ball and therefore was in an offside position.
The pace of the match slowed considerably in the final stages of the match, though it would come with no complaints from the visitors, happy to see the clock tick away as the hosts remained rooted in their own half. Malcolm's penalty goal at the stroke of full time served as the bonus-point win's exclamation point.
The victory - the first of three meetings between the two sides in 2022 - was Toronto's third over DC in franchise history. The Arrows remain undefeated against Old Glory in MLR play, with Toronto now holding a 3-0 all-time record against their Eastern Conference counterparts.
Toronto will rest up with a bye in Week 5 before returning to face New England in Week 6; the away clash against the Free Jacks (2-0; 9 points*) on Saturday, March 12 will be played at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, MA, and will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET.
* at time of publication
Toronto Arrows Stat Leaders:
Ball Carries: Spencer Jones -20
Carry Metres: Matt Hood - 195
Tackles Made: Sam Malcolm - 16
Offloads: Matt Hood - 3
Old Glory DC Stat Leaders:
Ball Carries: William Talataina - 10
Carry Metres: William Talataina - 114
Tackles Made: Cory Daniel - 29
Offloads: Seven Players - 1
Toronto Arrows Score Report:
Tries: Lucas Rumball (18), Ross Braude (25), Mike Sheppard (40+5), Cole Keith (48)
Conversions: Sam Malcolm 3 (26, 40, 49)
Penalty Goals: Sam Malcolm (80)
Old Glory DC Score Report:
Tries: Rob Irimescu (16)
Toronto Arrows Lineup vs. Old Glory DC:
Cole Keith
Andrew Quattrin
Isaac Salmon
Mike Sheppard (C)
Paul Ciulini
Kyle Baillie
Lucas Rumball
Tomas de la Vega
Ross Braude
Sam Malcolm
Brock Webster
Spencer Jones
Ueta Tufuga
Matt Hood
Gaston Mieres
Jack McRogers
Lolani Faleiva
Marc-Antoine Ouellet
Adrian Wadden
James O'Neill
Chris Bell
Ronan Foley
Mitch Richardson
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