PHILADELPHIA, PA – Ohio played another strong match and defeated Sacramento 31-11. The second half was a sloppy affair, but the first half of Sacramento v Ohio was the most intense 40 minutes PRO Rugby has seen thus far. The Denver v Ohio match went into extra time and was gripping, but did not feature the same, consistent level of physicality.
Sacramento’s inconsistencies at set pieces in the second half made a come back all-but impossible.
It was clear from the start that Sacramento’s defense was several notches above San Francisco’s – from last weekend – which gave Ohio’s attack some early struggles.
Sacramento won several penalties early on when Ohio’s defense was judged offside. Mirco Bergamasco made his first two penalty goal attempts to put Sacramento up 6-0 after 10 minutes.
Ohio scored the first try, though, after earning a scrum 10 meters out. Roland Suniula ended up being the dummy runner as Mason Baum crashed through. Shaun Davies converted to make it 7-6, Ohio.
Filippo Ferrarini, who had a strong performance in attack, broke the line from a line out move and passed to Matt Hughston who carried on the momentum. Ohio was building pressure when Langilangi Haupeakui laid a big – late – hit on Peter Malcolm. Haupeakui was shown yellow. Ohio did not score directly from the resulting lineout, but they did win a 5 meter scrum. From that position, a simple move from the base of the scrum created lots of room for Spike Davis to score.
After 35 minutes, 12-6 to Ohio.
A few minutes later, it was Ohio’s turn for a yellow. Sacramento had a good maul driving toward the Ohio try line when Jamie Mackintosh pulled it down and was sent off for 10 minutes. Sacramento chose to scrum, and Chris Saint darted over as Ohio’s pack was moving backward.
At halftime, it was Ohio 12, Sacramento 11.
In the second half, Ohio continued to look strong, while Sacramento looked a bit frazzled. Saint did his best to spark the Sacramento attack, but someone kept turning the sprinklers on.
From a 22 meter lineout, Ohio kept the ball tight for several phases, then moved it wide. Sacramento could not keep up with the Ohio movement, and it didn’t take long for a gaping hole to open up for Ferrarini. His try made it 19-11 after 53 minutes.
Another good run from Ferrarini put the ball deep in Sacramento territory, and Sacramento struggled to get out. Eventually, Ohio won a free kick from a 5 meter scrum and Sebastian Kalm, as he did last week, took the tap and was barely touched as he went over. 24-11 to Ohio after 68 minutes.
Sacramento had a few more chances, but could not take advantage of any of them. Baum ended the try-scoring, going over for his second after a great pass from Dylan Fawsitt. JP Eloff converted to make it 31-11.
The match ended with Sacramento getting held up over the try line.
With Davies, Robbie Shaw, Eloff, and Suniula all on the field at the same time, Ohio have lots of skilled play makers to complement their strong, direct runners, like Baum, Davis, and Kalm.
Rosters
Sacramento: 1) Val Lee-Lo 2) Ray Barkwill 3) Olive Kilifi 4) Robert Meeson 5) Sione Sina 6) Kyle Sumsion 7) John Quill 8) Langilangi Haupeakui 9) Chris Saint 10) Garrett Brewer 11) Joeli Tikoisuva 12) Mirco Bergamasco 13) Nemia Qoro 14) Ryan Koewler 15) Ryan Thompson 16) Matt Doubek 17) Toke Kefu 18) Kali Tavake 19) Sione Latu 20) Estaphan Tuimasanga 21) Jope Motokana 22) Fatai Vailala 23) Alipate Takiveikata
Ohio: 1) Angus MacLellan 2) Peter Malcolm 3) Jamie Mackintosh 4) Pierce Dargan 5) Kyle Baillie 6) Filippo Ferrarini 7) Matt Hughston 8) Sebastian Kalm 9) Shaun Davies 10) J.P. Eloff 11) Mason Baum 12) Roland Suniula 13) Ahmad Harajly 14) Spike Davis 15) Chris Kunkel 16) Dylan Fawsitt 17) Demecus Beach 18) Dom Pezzutti 19) Chad Joseph 20) Allan Hanson 21) Robbie Shaw 22) Alex Elkins 23) Ryan McTiernan
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