
Austin over NOLA: May 3
AUSTIN’S GERMISHUYS AND WANNENBURG PREACH DEFENSE AS KEY TO WIN
After a discouraging performance last week, the defense was the main emphasis for the Austin Elite against the NOLA Gold in its home opener in Round Rock, Texas. The Elite played a contentious first half and held a one-point lead at the break. NOLA took the advantage following a yellow card, but two tries and a superb defensive effort in the final 20 minutes of play earned Austin a 30-17 win and its first MLR victory.
“The gameplan was don’t let off the gas, get the lead, and keep pushing,” Austin Flanker and two–try scorer Hanco Germishuys said. “Our main focus was the defense because last week was a little embarrassing for getting so many points being put up against us. Our goal was defense, everybody stood up and stood their ground.”
Coach Pedrie Wannenburg backed up that statement. “We knew the whole game that we had to work on our defense. Last week’s performance was not up to our standards and we worked on it all week. Our defense helped us to get the turnovers at the end to close out the game.”
“The defense was our Man of the Match,” Wannenburg continued. “Our boys did really well from 1 to 23. Everyone went out and did the best for the team and that showed in the win.”
Discussing those final 20 minutes, Germishuys said, “Everybody brought heart. We played to the gameplan and didn’t let off the gas with our defense. The defense won the game for us where everybody came together and said, ‘This is where we are going to win it boys.’ Everybody stepped up and made their positive tackles.”
After an exhilarating opening season win followed by an early bye week, NOLA’s effort was disenchanting, except for a dominant scrum. “We were our own worst enemy today with loads of handling errors and mindless penalties,” said flanker Matt Hughston. “[We need to] just focus on us and the little details. We have the firepower and all the tools, we are not our best when battling with our mistakes throughout the game.”
“Honestly they wanted it more than us,” Gold head coach Nathan Osborne said. “We didn’t start the way we wanted. We found ourselves digging out of a hole… It was a disappointing game for us, but I think we know who we are as a team and that wasn’t how we want to play. We have a great squad. We will get in next week and work hard on fixing something so that we can get back to our winning ways.”
NOLA’s next opportunity for a notch in the win column will be next Saturday at home against Seattle. With the home crowd behind them, Osborne indicated that the Gold will need to bring the energy and enthusiasm to the contest and stick to the gameplan.
“Against the Seawolves, we will have a big forward pack challenge which we love,” Hughston said. “The bigger challenge is to focus on ourselves and execute our game. We are hard to deal with when that happens.”
Getting Austin’s first MLR victory in front of the home fans was massive and incredible. “For the supporters to come out on a Thursday night and get them a ‘W’ was unbelievable,” Wannenburg exclaimed. “If you play in a structure, defend well, and play as a team, you can go a long way. We showed that today and that’s definitely a big step for us.”
Germishuys said that the victory has given the squad confidence and a belief it can compete in the league. The next step to get above 0.500 is at Utah next Friday. “[The Warriors] are a big team. They came out stronger and we are just going to have come out stronger, play them wide, make them tired, and play our hearts out.”
Rugby Today: Evan Lappen | Norma Salinas Photo
Recent Posts
HIGHLIGHTS | NOLA VS DC
NOLA Gold hosts Old Glory DC in this Eastern Conference clash in
Limited-Edition Retro Jerseys Now Available!
Gold fans now have a chance to bid on a collection of
King Creole Cup: Nola Gold Youth Rugby Tournament
Play youth rugby matches in the stadium on the Nola Gold home
FIRST XV | WK14
LOOSEHEAD PROP, JACK ISCARO – OLD GLORY DC 68 Meters Run 15
HIGHLIGHTS | NEW ENGLAND VS NOLA
Eight tries from the New England Free Jacks as they host NOLA
News Tags
Archives
- June 2023 (1)
- May 2023 (13)
- April 2023 (14)
- March 2023 (16)
- February 2023 (10)
- January 2023 (6)
- December 2022 (2)
- November 2022 (3)
- October 2022 (3)
- September 2022 (8)
- August 2022 (4)
- July 2022 (1)
- June 2022 (9)
- May 2022 (17)
- April 2022 (19)
- March 2022 (18)
- February 2022 (8)
- January 2022 (4)
- December 2021 (2)
- November 2021 (4)
- October 2021 (4)
- September 2021 (1)
- August 2021 (3)
- July 2021 (2)
- June 2021 (3)
- May 2021 (1)
- April 2021 (9)
- March 2021 (1)
- February 2021 (5)
- December 2020 (3)
- November 2020 (2)
- October 2020 (4)
- September 2020 (5)
- May 2020 (1)
- March 2020 (9)
- February 2020 (9)
- January 2020 (6)
- December 2019 (5)
- November 2019 (4)
- October 2019 (6)
- September 2019 (3)
- August 2019 (4)
- June 2019 (11)
- May 2019 (25)
- April 2019 (21)
- March 2019 (17)
- February 2019 (11)
- January 2019 (4)
- November 2018 (3)
- June 2018 (2)
- May 2018 (15)
- April 2018 (6)
- February 2018 (6)
- January 2018 (5)
- December 2017 (1)
- November 2017 (10)
- October 2017 (4)
- September 2017 (5)