By Canadian Press

Arrows down Old Glory DC for first Major League Rugby win in Toronto since June 2019

Apr 9, 2022 | 2:10 PM

TORONTO — The depleted Toronto Arrows ran in four tries and held off a late rally to down winless Old Glory DC 32-27 in Major League Rugby play Saturday.

Toronto, which was missing 14 players through injury, improved to 5-4-0 while Old Glory fell to 0-9-0.

Things got interesting as the clock wound down with Old Glory scoring tries in the 69th minute via Peni Lasaqa and the 73rd minute by Cory Daniel for his second of the game. 

Toronto finished with 13 men after John Sheridan, for a shoulder charge in the 73rd minute, and captain Mike Sheppard, in the 79th minute for repeated Arrows infringements, were sent to the sin-bin. 

The Arrows stuffed an Old Glory driving maul just metres from the Toronto goal-line in the final minute to secure the win.

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It marked Toronto’s first victory at home since June 2, 2019. 

The 2020 season was called after just five games — all on the road for the Arrows — due to COVID-19. And the lone Canadian MLR team relocated to suburban Atlanta for the 2021 campaign due to pandemic-related travel restrictions.

The Arrows lost 20-14 to Rugby ATL last week in their first MLR game in Toronto in 1,035 days.

Conor McCann, Jack McRogers, Cole Keith and Mitch Voralek scored tries for Toronto, which led 22-10 at the half at York Lions Stadium. 

Sam Malcolm added two conversions and two penalties. The Arrows also got an automatic conversion for a try under the posts.

Stan South and Dom Bailey also scored tries for Old Glory, which rallied from a 29-10 deficit early in the second half. Rohan Saifoloi added a conversion.

The game was the first for interim Old Glory coach Nate Osborne, who succeeded Andrew Douglas on April 1. 

Osborne. a former NOLA Gold coach, watched from the stands last weekend when Old Glory lost 35-31 at Rugby New York.

The Arrows are now 4-0-0 against Old Glory. Toronto won 29-5 when the two teams met Feb. 26 in Leesburg, Va.

Toronto started brightly after receiving the opening kickoff, moving up the field helped by two Old Glory offside penalties. That allowed Malcolm to kick for goal and a 3-0 lead in the fourth minute.

The Arrows extended their lead to 10-0 with a converted try in the seventh minute with a free-flowing try started by Mitch Richardson’s line break. He fed Voralek and the winger found McCann with an offload at the goal-line.

South, a former England under-20 international, cut the lead to 10-5 in the 17th minute from the back of an Old Glory driving maul, after several penalties penned Toronto in its own end.

A 50-22 kick gave Old Glory good field position and an ensuing lineout penalty led to another try by the visitors as Bailey went over at the back of another maul to tie it at 10-10.

After Old Glory prop Jack Iscaro was penalized for a chop tackle on Sheppard, Toronto kicked for the corner and McRogers went over from the ensuing lineout for a 15-10 lead in the 30th minute.

An Old Glory ruck infraction triggered another lineout deep in the visitors’ end and Keith bulled his way over in the 34th minute. Malcolm’s conversion upped the lead to 22-10.

Toronto extended the lead to 29-10 in the 43rd minute when Voralek collected Malcolm’s deft grubber kick and scored under the posts.

Three minutes later, Daniel touched down in the corner to cut the Toronto lead to 29-15. Malcom’s 60th-minute penalty made it 32-15.

Toronto’s injury woes continued with four scrum halves — Chris Bell, Cole Brown, Ross Braude and Andrew Ferguson — among those unavailable.

Also missing Saturday were forwards Mason Flesch, Tomas de la Vega, Adrian Wadden and Marcelo Wainright and backs Brandan Ferguson, Matt Hood, Kobe Faust, Gaston Mieres, Dennon Robinson-Bartlett and Ueta Tufuga.

Still the Arrows’ matchday 23 featured 12 Canadian internationals including back Spencer Jones, who started on the bench after his activation from injured reserve.

The Arrows signed Canadians Riley Di Nardo and Gordon McRorie on Thursday to fill the void at scrum half with Di Nardo starting Saturday. McRorie, who has won 45 caps for Canada, came in off the bench.

An original Arrow, the 26-year-old Di Nardo made 13 appearances for the team in 2019 and 2020.

Luke Campbell started for Old Glory with fellow Canadian forward Jake Ilnicki coming in off the bench. Canadian back Doug Fraser did not make the trip due to an orbital bone injury. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2022

The Canadian Press