Late try gives Legion victory over Jackals

A late try from Djustice Sears-Duru gave the Legion a 30-24 victory over the Jackals in a back-and-forth clash at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday. Dallas outscored their hosts four tries to three to earn two bonus points in defeat, but San Diego’s kickers combined for a six-from-six effort off the tee.

It looked an evenly-matched contest from the start, with a scrum penalty won by Dallas leading to the opening score. The Jackals made the most of the resulting field position as they went through the phases until Lucas Bur went through a half-gap, with a powerful burst from Jerónimo Gómez Vara putting the captain over for the first try. Martín Elías tacked on the extras to make it a full seven.

Lincoln McClutchie responded with a penalty goal to get the Legion on the board, and at the same time Dallas watched back row Ben Fry leave the pitch with his right arm in a sling. Penalties conceded field position and soft hands down the line freed Tupou Afungia to nudge the Legion ahead.

The two sides then exchanged tries in quick succession. A short pass from Vaughen Isaacs put Makeen Alikhan through a gap, and the flanker offload to Isaacs in support for the finish. Shortly after the restart Ryan James circled around the back of a lineout and bumped off his opposite to restore San Diego’s lead.

Dallas squandered two golden opportunities on long breakouts. Daemon Torres broke a tackle and connected with a rampaging Gómez Vara, but the Legion held out. Torres then snatched a loose pass and nearly went the distance himself only for his offload attempt to be lost forward.

McClutchie had a shot to stretch San Diego’s lead just before halftime, but opted to turn down the uprights in favor of the corner. The gamble didn’t work out as the ball was knocked on in the lineout and the score stood 17-12 in favor of the home side at the intermission.

Early in the second half Dallas knocked on another scoring opportunity. At last they found success with their scrum setting the platform. Gómez Vara, now packing down at the No8 position, broke from the back and bounced off three would-be tacklers to score a fine individual effort.

The lead would be short-lived as Afungia punched through the line to set up a second penalty goal for McClutchie. That would be his final act as Matt Giteau entered the fray to make his San Diego debut. A Legion throw-in was skewed but Dallas bizarrely opted for a lineout instead of a scrum in their own end and proceeded to give possession straight back to their hosts. Shortly after Giteau took three points to make it 23-19 with 15 minutes to play.

In the blink of an eye the Jackals wrestled back the lead. Another bruising run from Gómez Vara broke the line and Tomas Malanos did the finishing in the corner for the bonus point. Soon after, however, team infringements resulted in a yellow card for Bur. Giteau aimed for the corner but missed touch and Dallas cleared their lines.

A TMO intervention with three minutes to play sent Joaquín Horcada to the bin for cynical play at the breakdown just as Bur was returning to the pitch. The tiring Jackals defense could only watch as Mikey Te’o sliced through the middle with Sears-Duru in support for a swan dive finish to secure the victory.

It’s a short turnaround for Dallas as they head home to face RFC Los Angeles on Friday night. San Diego will rest and recover during their bye week before returning to host the New England Free Jacks in a rematch of the 2023 Championship Final on Sunday, May 19.

SCORING

SAN DIEGO 30
Tries (3) – T. Afungia (17′), R. James (23′), D. Sears-Duru (78′)
Cons (3) – L. McClutchie 2/2 (18′, 24′), M. Giteau 1/1 (79′)
Pens (3) – L. McClutchie 2/2 (13′, 57′), M. Giteau 1/1 (64′)

DALLAS 24
Tries (4) – J. Gómez Vara 2 (7′, 54′), V. Isaacs (21′), T. Malanos (66′)
Cons (2) – M. Elías 2/4 (8′, 55′)
YC (2) – L. Bur (68′), J. Horcada (77′)

LINEUPS

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Payton Telea-Ilalio (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 73′), 2 Cyrille Cama, 3 Luke Green (18 Darcy Breen 55′), 4 Jay Tuivaiti (19 Charlie Hewitt 47′ {20 Aminae Amiatu-Tanoi 64′}), 5 Greg Peterson, 6 Vili Helu, 7 Tupou Afungia, 8 Tevita Tameilau (16 Chris Mickelson 55′), 9 Connor Tupai (21 Nick Boyer 75′), 10 Lincoln McClutchie (22 Matt Giteau 59′), 11 Ryan James, 12 Ma’a Nonu (23 Mikey Te’o 59′), 13 Marcel Brache (capt.), 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Alex Horan

DALLAS JACKALS
1 Joaquín Horcada, 2 Dewald Kotze, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Kyle Steeves 58′), 4 Daemon Torres, 5 Lucas Bur, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara (capt.), 7 Makeen Alikhan, 8 Ben Fry (22 Marques Fuala’au 13′), 9 Pedro Imhoff (21 Brock Gallagher 64′), 10 Martín Elías, 11 Jason Tidwell (23 Nic Benn 57′), 12 Tomás Cubilla, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Tomás Malanos, 15 Vaughen Isaacs

Not used: 16 Connor Grindal, 17 Jonah Auva’a, 19 Ronnie McElligott, 20 Cameron Nelson

MATCH INFO

Date: Sunday, May 5
Venue: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 15:00 local
Weather: sunny, 62°F (16°C), wind W 15-23mph (24-37km/h)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USA)
Assistants: Scott Green (USA) & Alexis Alfaro (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)

HIGHLIGHTS