NOLA Gold remains the top team in Major League Rugby following a dominating win over the Houston Sabercats. By the end, New Orleans was on top 49-11, pulling off the highest score in the league this season.
South African back, Tristan Blewett, posted a hat-trick scoring three tries, including a spectacular “Pick 5” (rugby’s version of the Pick-six). Blewett now leads the MLR with six tries this season.
“It was an awesome game. Obviously, we came out here – it was a long drive yesterday. We had to hold it together. We had all our international players back, so it’s a new team again, but it was a lot of fun out there and a good evening of rugby,” Blewett said.
Houston jumped out to an early 6-0 lead scoring two penalty goals, but NOLA responded, scoring 42 unanswered points, with five try-scorers on the day.
NOLA Gold and Rugby United New York (RUNY) are now both 5-1. New Orleans has the edge in the standings through match points, earned through performance in the games.
In Major League Rugby, teams earn bonus points whenever they score 4 tries (the equivalent of a football touchdown) in a match. And they can also get a bonus point if they manage to stay within 7 points in a loss.
NOLA Gold (26 match points) are just ahead of the defending Champions Seattle Seawolves (5-2 record, 25 points) and RUNY (23 points) in the standings and remain in first place.
“I think it just helps us a lot. At the top of the table, it’s very tight. I think any loss can put you right back at the back of the table. I think this win just gives us extra points and helps us on our way,” Blewett said.
NOLA Gold’s next match is Saturday, March 23, at 2 p.m. against the Austin Elite in Gold Stadium.
“I think every game we just start from the beginning and we play it like the next game. As soon as you start treating games separately, you start getting complacent. I think we just came and played our game and it came through for us.”
For tickets to the game against Austin, click here.
Tries:
Tristan Blewett: 19′, 37′, 48′
Eric Howard: 23′
Kyle Baillie: 40′
Josua Vici: 65′
JoJo Tikoisuva: 77′
Jean-Pierre Eloff: 79′
Penalty Goals:
Sam Windsor: 13′, 17′
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