North American Rugby Database

Report

Rugby ATL hosted the Eastern Eliminator at Silverbacks Park, facing Rugby New York for a spot in the Eastern Conference Final against the New England Free Jacks.

Rugby ATL flanker Connor Cook was handed a yellow card in just the 2nd minute, for a deliberate knock-on following an early break by Waisake Naholo. This put the RATLers on the back foot almost immediately, and they soon conceded a penalty that was converted by Jason Emery. The first half saw no tries, with Kurt Coleman and Jason Emery having a kick-off, with the visitors taking a 6-9 lead into the sheds.

Rugby New York brought on 2 USA Eagles at half-time in the form of Nate Brakeley and Nick Civetta that immediately bore fruit. A rolling maul from an attacking lineout was brought down illegally by ATL and while they escaped without a yellow card, the ref awarded NY with a penalty try to take the score to 6-16. The hosts seemed to stabilise following this, and started applying the pressure. Nick Civetta was handed a yellow card for NY repeat infringement but still the RATLers couldn’t find pay dirt, and settled for the 3pts which was followed up by another penalty a few minutes later to take the score to 12-16 heading into the final 10 minutes.

The guests struck back with their patented driving maul from an attacking lineout, finished by Dylan Fawsitt and converted by Emery to take the score to 12-23 with just over 5 minutes remaining. The deadly accurate Emery added another penalty kick with a minute to go, before Coleman scored and converted a consolation try to make the final score 19-26 to the guests.

The 2021 Runners-up finish their season here, while Rugby New York moves on to face the Free Jacks in the Eastern Conference Final, held at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.