Braude Scores Double in Tight Seattle Defeat
April 24, 2023 - Major League Rugby (MLR)
Toronto Arrows News Release
An injury-depleted Arrows side went blow for blow with Seattle for the first hour of their cross-conference clash on Saturday afternoon, but the visitors found an extra gear the final quarter to leave York Lions Stadium with a 37-26 win.
Ross Braude demonstrated strong athleticism to notch a memorable first-half double and the Toronto forwards earned a well-worked penalty try on the final play of the match, while Shane O'Leary scored eight points off the boot in the back-and-forth affair.
The Seawolves were first out of the gate on the overcast afternoon, with Martin Iosefo putting the road team on the board after finishing off a two-on-one started by a break from Dan Kriel.
The Arrows responded through an O'Leary penalty - his first MLR points - to trim the deficit to 7-3. The fly-half slotted the goal off the heels of strong work at the breakdown by Gene Syminton to win a penalty in Seattle territory.
With momentum now on the hosts' side, Braude chipped ahead and Mitch Richardson raced forward to gather. The centre's offload back to Braude sent the scrum-half in deep, who popped off the deck to a slicing D'Shawn Bowen. The winger crossed the whitewash and was centimetres from grounding, but a last-gasp tackle from James Malcolm did just enough to displace the ball out of Bowen's outstretch hand.
Toronto kept up the pressure, however, and eventually settled for a second O'Leary penalty ahead of the hydration break.
Minutes later the Arrows went ahead, with Braude, who was in the mix all afternoon, going from provider to scorer. The Canadian international broke free along the touchline and sent up a chip kick before a tackle arrived; smart running and a kind bounce ensured Braude was first to the ball, with the scrum-half collecting just ahead of the goal line for a diving score.
Seattle responded with a Malcolm converted try off a diving maul just ahead of the half-hour mark, but the final volley of the first half would go to the hosts. With the clock in the red, Mitch Eadie burst from a ruck just inside Seawolves territory to feed the in-form Braude, who raced in unscathed to put Toronto up 20-14 at the interval.
Seattle began the second frame on the front foot, and were rewarded two minutes in when the team's leading try-scorer Riekert Hattingh dashed in along the right side.
Conner Mooneyham looked poised to score shortly thereafter, but a well-timed tackle from Dawson Fatoric sent the Seawolves winger into touch to end the threat.
The Arrows held Seattle at bay while down a man after Kobe Faust was sent to the sin bin for a tackle infringement, but the visitors found the lead after Toronto returned to full strength, going ahead 22-20 with an AJ Alatimu penalty in the 62nd minute.
Two late Seattle tries - a second from Hattingh, followed by a score from substitute Ronan Foley - pushed the Western Conference side up by 12.
Trailing but not lacking determination, the hosts ended the match with the final say, earning a penalty try on the stroke of full time after their driving maul was collapsed en route to the in-goal area.
Braude's brace gives him eight tries over his three season with the Arrows, moving the scrum-half into a tie for fourth on the franchise's try-scoring leaderboard.
Recent signee Tyler Wong came on in the second half to make his MLR debut.
Fourteen Arrows were unavailable for the game due to injury.
Toronto (1-8; 8 points) enters Week 11 of the 2023 season with an away clash against New Orleans (4-5; 21 points) on Sunday, April 30.
The Arrows did the double over the Gold in 2022, earning a 24-23 win on the road and a 53-26 victory at home over their Eastern Conference rivals.
The fixture at the Gold Mine will kick off at 3 p.m. ET.
Toronto Arrows Stat Leaders:
Ball Carries: Mitch Eadie - 13
Carry Metres: D'Shawn Bowen - 119
Defenders Beaten: D'Shawn Bowen - 4
Tackles Made: Mitch Richardson - 17
Offloads: Fabian Goodall, Mitch Richardson - 3
Attacking Breakdown Arrivals: Isaac Salmon - 16
Defending Breakdown Arrivals: Shay Kerry - 6
Seattle Seawolves Score report:
Ball Carries: Riekert Hattingh - 12
Carry Metres: Riekert Hattingh- 122
Defenders Beaten: Lauina Futi, Riekert Hattingh - 4
Tackles Made: Nakai Penny - 18
Offloads: AJ Alatimu, Charles Elton - 2
Attacking Breakdown Arrivals: Nakai Penny - 23
Defending Breakdown Arrivals: Martin Iosefo - 7
Toronto Arrows Score Report:
Tries: Ross Braude 2 (22 ¬Â², 40'*), Penalty Try (80'*)
Conversions: Shane O'Leary (23 ¬Â²)
Penalty Goals: Shane O'Leary 2 (14 ¬Â², 20 ¬Â²)
* = seven-point try
Seattle Seawolves Score Report:
Tries: Martin Iosefo (4 ¬Â²), James Malcolm (26 ¬Â²), Riekert Hattingh 2 (42 ¬Â², 69 ¬Â²), Ronan Foley (73 ¬Â²)
Conversions: AJ Alatimu 4 (5 ¬Â², 27 ¬Â², 70 ¬Â², 74 ¬Â²)
Penalty Goals: AJ Alatimu (62 ¬Â²)
Toronto Arrows Lineup vs. Seattle Seawolves:
Lolani Faleiva
Gene Syminton
Isaac Salmon
Adrian Wadden
Shay Kerry
Mason Flesch
Lucas Rumball (C)
Mitch Eadie
Ross Braude
Shane O'Leary
Dawson Fatoric
Mitch Richardson
Fabian Goodall
D'Shawn Bowen
Kobe Faust
Tyler Wong
Nik Hildebrand
Tyler Rowland
Mike Sheppard (VC)
Owain Ruttan
Will Grant
Cole Brown
James O'Neill
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