Marcello Wainwright and his Toronto Arrows teammates defeated the Glendale Raptors 40-12, scoring six Try’s en route to the club’s sixth consecutive league victory.
Two Try’s from fullback Gaston Mieres helped guide the Arrows to the crucial bonus-point win, moving the team to third place in the Major League Rugby standings and back into a playoff position.
Toronto’s pack was dominant throughout the entire afternoon, allowing the home side to be rewarded for its high work rate both early and often.
The dividends began paying off almost immediately as the Arrows opened the scoring five minutes into the match through Morgan Mitchell; the hard-nosed prop drove through three would-be tacklers before scoring his second try in as many matches.
Glendale responded shortly afterwards through a try from Carlo de Nysschen, and temporarily pulled ahead following Will Magie’s conversion.
The Raptors’ lead would be short-lived. Four minutes later, Mieres scored his first try of the afternoon after finding a gap in Glendale’s defensive line and racing into the corner for a superb solo try. Sam Malcolm’s attempt at extra points from just inside the touch line was deftly struck, marking the first of five conversions he’d kick on the day.
With the Arrows on the front foot for the remainder of the half, Luke Campbell barged over in the 27th minute, picking and driving to finish off some strong work from his fellow forwards while scoring his first try for the club.
Mieres added his second try of the half six minutes prior to the interval, and it came via another highlight-reel run; the Uruguayan sped through the Raptors’ defensive line and ghosted through the cover for the all-important bonus-point try, as well as his fifth tally of the season.
The visitors started the second half brightly, scoring six minutes after the restart through a darting run from Mika Kruse, though it would be as close as Glendale would come to mounting a comeback.
Regaining control of possession and marching back into Raptors territory, Andrew Ferguson responded by dodging a tackle and sneaking through the line to open Toronto’s second-half account.
With the Arrows’ defensive ranks snuffing out any and all glimmers of an attacking spark from the visitors, Tom Van Horne added a late insurance marker in the 66th minute when he muscled across for his first try of the season.
Toronto continued to rebuke Glendale’s probes throughout the latter stages of the match, completing the 28-point win and ensuring maximum points were banked.
The victory improves Toronto’s record to 10-5-0, and puts the expansion club back into a playoff position with one match remaining in its 2019 campaign. Since the Arrows began their home stand on April 7th, the club has taken 31 of a possible 35 points.
|
