The 16th week of the Major League Rugby regular season was a big one for Marcello Wainwright and his Toronto Arrows teammates.
After their crucial victory over the San Diego Legion last weekend, the Arrows had to play another match, this was a make-up fixture, originally scheduled for April 14th, against Austin Elite on Thursday evening at York Alumni Field.
It was played in damp weather but the rain forecast mostly held off for the duration of the game itself.
Austin were winless heading into the game but jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a couple penalty kicks from Uruguayan centre Andrés Vilaseca. They came against the run of play as Toronto controlled the vast majority of territory and possession throughout the game but couldn’t quite make the final pass stick on several occasions.
They finally broke through when Andrew Ferguson found enough space on the corner to make the line. That seemed to spark the team and before long they were in again. This time Shawn Windsor’s offload found Leandro Leivas, and Toronto’s own Uruguay star stepped on the gas. After beating two defenders for pace he bowled over the fullback and sprinted clear for a superb 65-metre try.
A bit of fortune gave them a third try as Ferguson’s chip kick was deflected into the welcoming arms of Rob Brouwer early in the second half. The bonus point came when Kainoa Lloyd muscled over on the short side from a scrum. Austin grabbed a consolation try at the death but the final score read Toronto 24, Austin 13.
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