Big Win in the Big Apple
Published on April 27, 2021 under Major League Rugby (MLR)
Toronto Arrows News Release
The Toronto Arrows departed the Empire State with a thrilling 53-12 victory over Rugby United New York on Sunday afternoon, marking the Canadian outfit's second straight seven-try performance to yield a winning margin of 40+ points.
RUNY were first on the scoresheet with an early try from Luke Hume, but the hosts' lone lead of the match would be short-lived.
The Arrows' response came 12 minutes later, with Joaquin Tuculet receiving a pass from MLR's Week 6 Player of the Week Pat Parfrey before slicing through New York's defensive line and diving under the posts.
Toronto's second try came through a heads-up play conducted by Tayler Adams: after the Arrows earned a penalty deep in New York territory, the fly-half spotted Manuel Montero in space on the far side of the pitch, and promptly delivered a perfectly-weighted cross-field kick to the Argentinian winger. Montero shook off Hume and walked into the try zone to score his first of three tries on the day.
La Pantera struck again late in the first half, swooping in off his wing to cut through the defence for his second tally of the afternoon. Adams' conversion put the visitors ahead 19-5, a scoreline that would hold heading into the interval.
Toronto claimed a fourth try just minutes into the second half, with Mike Sheppard charging down a clearance attempt deep in New York territory and falling on the ball for the bonus-point marker.
RUNY's Andy Ellis responded with try to trim Toronto's lead to 14 points, but that would be as close as the hosts would come to staging a comeback.
Minutes later, following a patented Manuel Diana barrelling run, a long, arced pass from Ben LeSage sprung Gaston Mieres for a try in the corner.
A brace of late penalty goals from Adams put the Arrows ahead 39-12, but a pair of Toronto tries were still to come.
Montero earned his hat trick after a slick offload from fellow Argentine Tomas de la Vega. Just moments after the restart, LeSage found a gap and scampered to within a metre of the whitewash; Jason Higgins was first to follow up, plucking the ball up and diving across to score the Arrows' seventh try of the match.
Toronto enters Week Seven of the 2021 season with an away clash against NOLA Gold (2-2-1; 15 points) on Sunday, May 2.
Toronto Arrows Stat Leaders
Ball Carries: T. de la Vega - 16
Carry Metres: M. Diana - 131
Tackles Made: T. de la Vega - 12
Offloads: Five Players - 2
Rugby United New York Stat Leaders
Ball Carries: Q. Ngawati - 11
Carry Metres: Q. Ngawati - 104
Tackles Made: Q. Ngawati - 13
Offloads: B. Foden, Q. Ngawati - 3
Toronto Arrows Score Report
Tries: J. Tuculet (15*), M. Montero 3 (21, 37, 75), M. Sheppard (45), G. Mieres (54), J. Higgins (77)
Conversions: T. Adams 5 (38, 46, 55, 76, 78)
Penalty Goals: T. Adams 2 (67, 72)
* = seven-point try
Rugby United New York Score Report
Tries: L. Hume (3), A. Ellis (50)
Conversions: D. Hollinshead (51)
Toronto Arrows Lineup vs. Rugby United New York
Cole Keith
Jack McRogers
Tyler Rowland
Mike Sheppard
Paul Ciulini
Tomas de la Vega
Lucas Rumball (C)
Manuel Diana
Ross Braude
Tayler Adams
Manuel Montero
Pat Parfrey
Ben LeSage (C)
Gaston Mieres
Joaquin Tuculet
Andrew Quattrin
Pat Lynott
Gaston Cortes
Mason Flesch
Marcello Wainwright
Jason Higgins
Leandro Leivas
Spencer Jones
Major League Rugby Stories from April 27, 2021
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