It was a packed house at the Shrine on Airline for NOLA Gold Rugby’s final regular-season home game, and the Gold delivered in front of the home crowd
The Gold faced the New England Free Jacks, the reigning Major League Rugby champions, and a fast start led to a 27-17 victory for the Gold in which it led for the entirety of the match.
The Free Jacks won the first match between the teams back in March, but the Gold earned redemption in the rematch to improve to 10-5 on the season and clinch a home playoff game.
“It was really important that we fronted and we challenged,” Gold coach Cory Brown said. “It was a short turnaround and really tough conditions out there in the heat up against a really good side. It’s a great confidence for us beating last year’s champions.”
The Gold held a 19-3 lead at the half in which it scored a trio of tries, one of which was good for seven points.
“We came into this game motivated,” Gold captain Moni Tonga’uiha said. “All the boys were up for it, and you could see it in that first half. We knew (the Free Jacks) were going to answer that second half, so kudos to our defense for keeping them out.”
The Free Jacks started off the second half strong, but the Gold defense prevented a comeback from materializing.
“The Free Jacks, they’re a really good team,” Gold vice captain Luke Campbell said. “They play for 80 minutes, so to get ahead on the scoreboard put us in a good spot. Getting up early was really helpful, but we had to stick it out through the whole 80.”
The Gold faced some adversity when Tom Florence was dealt a red card, but a long penalty kick from Rodney Iona put the Gold up by 10.
“We can take that forward knowing that we can defend, especially for a while there with one less man after the red card,” Campbell said. “That was huge, boys dug deep. It’s hot out here, so you’ve got to keep working hard for each other, and we did that.”
The large crowd was buzzing with excitement surrounding the team with a home playoff spot now clinched, the first in team history.
“The support has been amazing all year,” Brown said. “We have such loyal supporters, such awesome people. They support us through thick and thin, so I’m really proud that we could do this for them.”
Next week the Gold will have its final regular-season match against Old Glory DC on the road, then will have two weeks to rest before the playoffs.
“I’ve been here since the beginning,” Tonga’uiha said. “To see everything come to fruition and us enter playoffs for the first time in franchise history and potentially taking that No. 1 seed in the East, it’s everything I’ve dreamed about. It’s not an easy process. We’ve got to look forward and stay hungry if we want to go on a championship run.”