FREE JACKS NOTCH ANOTHER WIN IN THE RIVALRY AGAINST NEW YORK 33-18

1st Victory of 2 Chowder Cup matches in 2023 – a classic rivalry replay of the 2022 MLR Eastern Conference Final

Man of the Match, Jayson Potroz – Free Jacks Starting Fly-half

Mount Vernon, NY – The New England Free Jacks traveled to play rivals New York Ironworkers for round 5 of the 2023 Major League Rugby season and the first of two matches in the creatively named Chowder Cup. This was the teams’ first meeting since New York defeated a record breaking New England team in the 2022 Eastern Conference Final. Subsequently, the Ironworkers went on to win the MLR Championship for the first time. 

Heading into today’s contest, The Free Jacks and Ironworkers entered tied for first place in the East. Safe to say, both teams were eager to play with pace and land some fierce hits. 

Key Moment

New England’s forward pack began to dominate in the early parts of the second half, winning a scrum penalty in the 56th minute. Free Jacks flyhalf Jason Potroz kicked the ball down the field for a New England lineout, which resulted in a cheeky try from flier Wayne Van Der Bank and a successful conversion from the veteran 10 Potroz. The Free Jacks retook the lead 18-24 and never relinquished it. 

Player of the Match presented by Quincy College

Flyhalf Jason Potroz notching 13 points through 3 penalty kicks and 2 conversions, while aptly controlling territory and attack tempo throughout the match. 

Alloy Therapeutics Play of the Game

Inches away from New York’s tryzone in the 28th minute of the first half, Wian Conradie takes the ball out of the ruck for a pop pass to Andrew Quattrin. The hooker quickly touch-passes the ball to scrumhalf Poland who dishes the ball out cleanly to the left wing, Paula Balekana for the second try of the match.

Box Score Gems

Free Jacks controlled 57% of possession on the night, going 100% in scrums and 16 of 19 in Lineouts. As telling to the final outcome of the match were New York’s 15 penalties to New England’s 11. Indicative of the night, the Free Jacks crossed over the tryline 7 times scoring on four of them and being helf up on 3 separate occasions.

Quote of the Night

“Buoyed by a boisterous Free Jacks traveling supporter base, the players put together a solid performance infused with collision dominance, and outstanding work rate, areas of the game we really pride ourselves on,” noted General Manager, Tom Kindley. “It’s great to see new faces stepping up, really good performances from the likes of Andrew Quattrin, Conor Keys, Semisi Paea, Ben LeSage, Jayson Potroz and Reece MacDonald. Combined with the outstanding efforts of regulars in Cam Davidowicz, Wian Conradie, Wayne van der Bank, we are building cohesion and improving as a unit every week”. 

Big Picture

In windy conditions with both storied teams coming into the contest tied for first place in the East, it was the away team Free Jacks that handled the conditions better to garner a bonus point win and deny the home team Ironworkers any bonuses, putting New England clear at the top of the Eastern Conference. 

Up Next

The Free Jacks host the Dallas Jackals for the first time in history on Saturday, March 25th, 2023, at 430PM ET. Prior to the match the stadium will be filled with some of the best men’s collegiate players in the country as 16 university teams vie for the automatic bid to the National Collegiate Rugby 7s Championships. Gates open at 7AMET and the day’s festivities include a Chili and Craft Beer tasting and live music from Booty Vortex.

Lock, Semisi Paea (ball in hand) going into contact followed by flanker, Joe Johnston (right)

Full Match Report

The New England Free Jacks traveled to play rivals New York Ironworkers for round 5 of the 2023 Major League Rugby season and the first of two matches in the aptly named Chowder Cup. This was the teams’ first meeting since New York defeated a record breaking New England team in the 2022 Eastern Conference Final. Subsequently, the Ironworkers went on to win the MLR Championship for the first time. 

Heading into today’s contest, The Free Jacks and Ironworkers entered tied for first place in the East. Safe to say, both teams were eager to play with pace and land some fierce hits. 

“We are happy with what was a Free Jack-ian performance yesterday in Mount Vernon, New York,” said General Manager, Tom Kindley. 

New York kicked off deep right to start the contest and New England quickly relieved pressure by kicking to touch. The opening minutes revealed the Free Jacks playing with lightning quick ball, really trusting their forwards to carry hard into contact and test the New York defense. The Ironworkers proved to be up to the challenge early on as they calmly denied the opposition phase after phase. 

The Free Jacks had the opportunity to strike first in the 8th minute after a messy maul, followed by a pick-and-go, which resulted in being held up in the try zone. Again, New York showed their cool heads under immense pressure as the first 10 minutes was a barrage of Free Jack’s attack. 

Ironworker’s flanker Kara Prior was sent off in the 12th minute with a yellow card for a high tackle. Yet again, New York flexed their defensive muscles as they held up The Free Jacks from touching down for the second time in the first half.

The Ironworkers broke the stalemate with a penalty kick from #10 Sam Windsor in the 18th minute. Despite having the majority of possession, and a man up due to a New York yellow-card, the Free Jacks found themselves down 3-0. 

The men from Quincy answered back in a hurry in the 20th minute with hometown hero Cam Davidowicz finishing off a battery of forward punches and diving into the try-zone. Potroz’s kick attempt went wide left but the Free Jacks had stamped their mark on the match taking the lead 3-5. 

Not 10 minutes later did the Free Jacks march their way down the pitch and score a real team try; using both forwards and backs to find New York leaving defensive holes. New England’s Balekana received a skip pass out wide and was able to touch down without an Ironworker in sight. Potroz slotted an impressive kick from the 5 meter line to extend their lead to 3 to 12 with nine minutes left in the half. 

New York’s #10 Windsor found himself with an opportunity to chip away at their deficit, scoring another penalty kick adding 3 points for a 6-12 scoreline. Just before half-time New York put together an impressive full-team maul, allowing them to find space wide for reserve Quinn Ngawati, who had replaced the injured NY fullback Andrew Coe earlier, to touch down out wide. That last minute score and missed conversion put the score at 11-12 to New England moving into the second half.

Wing, Paula Balekana (ball in hand) looking to make a break against the New York defense

The Free Jacks burst into the second half with another try for Balekana in the 2nd minute. Their relenting pressure, combined with the quick vision of John Poland and Potroz, led to another 5 points in the corner. Conversion missed by Potroz and the score stood at 11-17. 

New York remained cool, giving themselves a great opportunity with a lineout on their attacking 5-meter line, which resulted in a strong maul and then a try for the men in blue. Conversion successful and New York battled back to take the lead, 18-17 eight minutes into the half. 

The entertainment continued with both teams delivering hard-hitting blows on attack and defense. In the 51st minute New England found themselves back in scoring territory, trusting their forwards to do the hard graft. For the 3rd time this match New York denied the visitors by holding them up in the try zone.

New England’s forward pack continued to dominate, winning a scrum penalty in the 56th minute. Potroz kicked the ball down the field for a New England lineout, which resulted in a cheeky try from flier Van Der Bank and a successful conversion from the veteran 10. The Free Jacks retook the lead 18-24. 

At the 60th minute and New England made the tactical choice to kick for points after a New York penalty. Potroz calmly slots the 40 meter kick and takes his team up to 18-27. 

Again in the 65th minute, the Free Jack’s forward’s unrelenting scrum forced a penalty, and then a kick to touch for a New England Lineout in New York territory. The Ironworkers have proven their strength on defense, but New England ultimately wins a penalty in front of the sticks and opts for the penalty. Potroz converts and lifts the Free Jacks 18-30. 

Deja vu all over again, in the 72nd minute Potroz squares up from the 40 meter line for a penalty kick, but to New York’s delight, his efforts pushed the ball wide. With 5 minutes left in the match, New York needed a spark to give them a chance. Their defense had been remarkably solid against a blistering New England attack, but they had yet to produce on attack in the second half. 

To put the final nail in the coffin, New England’s forward pack yet again demoralized the New York scrum, drove them back and earned an easy penalty kick right in front of the posts. Player of the Match, Potroz, slotted it through as the final whistle sounded. New England Free Jacks defeat New York Ironworkers 18-33. 

“Buoyed by a boisterous Free Jacks traveling supporter base, the players put together a solid performance infused with collision dominance, and outstanding work rate, areas of the game we really pride ourselves on,” Kindley. 

“It’s great to see new faces stepping up, really good performances from the likes of Andrew Quattrin, Conor Keys, Semisi Paea, Ben LeSage, Jayson Potroz and Reece MacDonald. Combined with the outstanding efforts of regulars in Cam Davidowicz, Wian Conradie, Wayne van der Bank, we are building cohesion and improving as a unit every week. Thank you to our hosts and fierce competitors, New York, we will see you in Round 11 at Fort Quincy in the second match of the 2023 Chowdah Cup.” 

The Free Jacks next match is March 25th, at their home, Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, MA, hosting for the first time the Dallas Jackals. Kickoff at 4:30PM ET. 

Roster & Replacements

Date: Sunday, March 19

Venue: Memorial Field, Mount Vernon

Kickoff: 3PM ET

Referee: Jack Gohl (USA); Assistants: Lex Weiner (USA) & Marty Steffens (USA); TMO: Miles McIvor (USA)

Broadcast on: NBC Sports Boston, The Rugby Network

New England Free Jacks

1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Foster DeWitt 48′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Mills Sanerivi 48′), 3 Cole Keith (18 Joel Hintz 48′), 4 Semisi Paea (19 Sam Fischli 67′), 5 Conor Keys, 6 Cam Davidowicz (20 Mitch Jacobson 53′), 7 Joe Johnston, 8 Wian Conradie, 9 John Poland (21 Holden Yungert 62′), 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Wayne van der Bank (22 Spencer Jones 79′), 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Mitch Wilson (capt.), 15 Reece MacDonald (23 Taniela Filimone 77′)

New York Ironworkers

1 Chance Wenglewski (17 Tevita Langi 63′), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (16 Kaleb Geiger 63′), 3 Nic Mayhew (18 Sam Davies 56′), 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.) (19 Hamish Dalzell 67′), 5 Charlie Hewitt, 6 Benjamín Bonasso, 7 Kara Pryor, 8 Pago Haini (20 Joe Basser 60′), 9 Connor Buckley (21 Eamonn Matthews 67′), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Teihorangi Walden (22 Jason Emery 60′), 13 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 14 Andrew Coe (23 Quinn Ngawati 1′), 15 Nick Feakes

Scoring

New England 33

Tries (4) – C. Davidowicz (22′), P. Balekana 2 (28′, 42′), W. van der Bank (57′)

Cons (2) – J. Potroz 2/4 (29′, 58′)

Pens (3) – J. Potroz 3/4 (61′, 66′, 80′)

New York 18

Tries (2) – Q. Ngawati (40’+2′), K. Pryor (46′)

Cons (1) – S. Windsor 1/2 (47′)

Pens (2) – S. Windsor 2/2 (17′, 38′)

YC (1) – K. Pryor (12′)