> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Seawolves Score Nine Tries in 60-19 Carolina Barbecue - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seawolves-score-nine-tries-in-60-19-carolina-barbecue/ - Published: 2025-04-24T20:13:38.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:20:37.000Z - Author: Callaghan Bluechel - Tags: Seawolves, Rodney Iona, Ina Futi, Riekert Hattingh, Malacchi Esdale, JP Smith, Jeremiah Sio, Brock Gallagher, Dan Kriel, Kerron van Vuuren, Duncan Matthews \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2048"\] ![ Seattle Seawolves lock Rhyno Herbst is lifted up to catch a lineout on during a 60-19 win against Anthem Rugby Carolina April 23, 2025. Credit: Major League Rugby ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/img_9260-jpeg-format-original.jpg) Seattle Seawolves lock Rhyno Herbst is lifted up to catch a lineout on during a 60-19 win against Anthem Rugby Carolina April 23, 2025\. Credit: Major League Rugby \[/caption\] MATTHEWS, N. C. – The Seattle Seawolves dropped MLR’s first sixty-bomb of 2025 on Wednesday, dotting down nine tries on the road against Anthem Rugby Carolina on their way to a 60-19 blowout victory. While both teams were on short rest, Seattle opted not to rotate the squad very much – and while the squad’s resulting tiredness showed on defense, this also meant that the Seawolves greatly outmatched Anthem on the field. The Seawolves carved through Carolina’s defense with an ease that the team has seldom seen in 2025\. Coach Allen Clarke continued the revamped offensive strategy of using the backs for big gains along the wings, but the visitors dominated the middle of the field on offense as well. The Seawall showed the signs of short rest on defense, with Anthem often able to power through the line, but the home crew’s turnovers combined with Seattle’s attacking firepower made that wholly moot. On the home side, there were scant bright spots for Anthem, who fell to 0-10-0 after their 0-16-0 inaugural 2024 season. Former Seawolf and capped USA Eagle Conner Mooneyham, who played much of the game at right wing after subbing on early in the match, got himself a brace. Multiple Anthem players – including Mooneyham, but also left wing Jason Tidwell and fullback Jerad Latu – showed an ability to break the line and threaten the posts. But Carolina was dogged by ball handling issues and a lack of coordination in the forwards that overrode the best efforts of their backs. ### Seattle Finally Finds Breathing Room in First Half Through the first twenty minutes, the game was somewhat close – Anthem put together a decent stretch of play deep in Seattle’s half after the visitors’ first try – but as the 20th rolled around, the Seawolves fired off try after try, gaining the four-try bonus point before the onset of the 30th minute. Though the home side had some strong individual performances by Jason Tidwell and former Seawolf Conner Mooneyham, as well as a good ability to break away, they broke down completely in team cohesion, losing the ball far too often. Seattle opened the game with an early try in the first ten minutes. After some Anthem kicks and Seawolves lineouts, Seattle prop Cam Orr broke free of the line around midfield and barreled down to within ten meters. As he was tackled, he tried a risky dump-off to scrumhalf JP Smith, but the ball came loose. Luckily for Seattle, right wing Ina Futi recovered the ball and dotted it down under the posts for the try and automatic conversion. The home side then took the ball into Seattle territory for the next few minutes, with both sides trading kicks in the Seawolf half before Anthem knocked it on, giving Seattle a scrum before more kicks and a couple of lineouts. In the 14th, Anthem got the ball and phased it down to Conner Mooneyham on the wing, who nearly broke free with an open field in front of him – but Seawolf wing Malacchi Esdale tackled him to prevent the try. Three minutes later, Mooneyham almost broke free once more, but he was tackled again, this time by OJ Noa. Following a few tactical kicks by each side, Seattle took a lineout around midfield in the 19th minute. The visitors sent it to the openside, with Esdale and Noa combining for several meters in a ruck before fullback Duncan Matthews broke free along the touchline and was downed mere meters from the try line. The team went through rucks at the line, with first Rhyno Herbst and then Dan Kriel crashing forward. Finally, the eightman Riekert Hattingh picked and ran into the zone for his fifth try of the season. Flyhalf Rodney Iona missed the kick, so the score was 12-0 Seattle. After the water break, the Seawolves immediately doubled down off the kickoff, with Hattingh breaking the line and bolting into Anthem territory. He gave it to Smith, who started the phases down the line to the openside. Outside center Divan Rossouw charged downfield, then gave it to Matthews who gave it to Esdale. The Seawolf wing flew into the try zone in the 22nd to bring the score to 17-0\. Iona missed the conversion, so the score stayed that way into the kickoff. Anthem punched back rapidly, with fullback Jerad Latu breezing past Noa and Matthews and making it past the 22 meter line before he passed to scrumhalf Carlo de Nysschen. The Anthem number nine had almost a clear field ahead of him, but a desperation tackle by Esdale kept him behind the line. Latu took the ball out of the goal line scrum and sent it to hooker Ethan Howard, who landed the try in the 25th. Anthem flyhalf Cameron Gerlach made the conversion to bring the score to 17-7. Seattle continued the shootout after a couple of kicks, as the visitors took a 27th-minute lineout across to the openside, where Matthews and Futi connected to break the line before the latter sent a short kick ahead that Esdale caught up to. Esdale passed back to Matthews, who passed to Smith, who dotted it down in the try zone in the 28th. Iona made the conversion to put Seattle up 24-7. After some brief field play and tactical kicks by both sides – and an early sub by Clarke of Jeremiah Sio for Ina Futi – Cam Orr started another scoring drive with a line break in the 31st minute. He tried another risky dump-off as he came down – this time to Noa – but his recipient caught the ball and went down into the ruck. Anthem suffered an offsides penalty, and so Seattle kicked for corner and then took the lineout into maul in the 33rd. The home side stopped the maul, so the visitors took it down the line to Iona, who sent off a beautiful kick to the openside for a wide-open Sio. The Seawolf wing easily notched his first try of the year and Iona subsequently went through the posts, increasing the advantage to 31-7. Carolina clawed back seven points as the half started to wind down, as the Seawolves took a lineout in front of their own posts in the 36th – and while the visitors won the lineout, the ball came loose in the subsequent phases and the home side recovered. Anthem center Watson Filikitonga tried to cross the line and lost the ball in the tackle, but wing Jason Tidwell snatched the ball and jumped into the zone for the try. Gerlach converted to bring the game to 31-14. The Seawolves nearly landed another one before the end of the half were it not for an unlucky break at the touchline. In the 38th, Seattle worked down the field with a lineout and then a penalty to the corner. They then took the lineout into a series of rucks at the goal line before Iona sent a pass to Sio along the touchline, once again wide open. But Sio lost his footing as he caught the ball and stumbled into touch to end the chance and the half. ### Second Half Sees Seawolves Solidify Shellacking The second half was similar to the first. The Seawolves completely outplayed Anthem, piling on try after try on the way to their blowout win. Other than all the scoring, the most notable part about the second half was that Brock Gallagher came on for JP Smith and played extremely well, proving Seattle’s depth at the scrumhalf position. The home crew had a brief spell of strong play to begin the second half. Filikitonga and Tidwell brought it up the side and Anthem went through passing phases in front of the posts before winning a penalty and kicking for corner. But the drive ended early as Anthem lost the ball immediately after the lineout and Seattle brought it back towards midfield. Possession battle followed for a couple of minutes afterward, but Seattle took a scrum in Anthem territory in the 47th and won a scrum penalty, taking the kick to corner for a lineout. The team went through two rucks at the try line before Hattingh jumped into the zone. However, Anthem inside center EJ Freeman and lock Javon Camp-Villalovos kept him from touching the ball down, giving Anthem a goal line kick. Seattle got the ball back around the 22 meter line and went through passing phases around that line before Howard was sent off with a yellow for a late tackle on Rodney Iona in the 50th. Iona opted to go for posts on the ensuing penalty kick, making the shot in the 51st to bring Seattle’s lead to 20. The visitors continued piling on soon after. Late in the 53rd minute, Seattle won a scrum and took the ball across to the openside, where Esdale and Matthews broke free and brought the ball down the field. Ten meters out, Matthews passed to Gallagher, who landed the ball in the try zone for another five. Iona knocked the conversion between the posts, and the score was now 41-14. After a brief battle of kicks, Seawolves began another drive on goal, with Gallagher taking the ball out of a 58th minute midfield scrum and running to the 22, where he passed to flanker Devin Short – but Short tried to offload it during the tackle and knocked it on. Seattle got the ball right back by winning a scrum penalty from the home side and kicking for corner. They then – with some difficulty – won the 60th minute lineout and brought it back and forth across the pitch. In the late 61st, flanker Charles Elton broke forward a few meters and passed to Gallagher, who made it almost to the line and then passed back to Kriel. The Seawolf center weaved his way into the try zone in the 62nd and Iona once again converted to extend the lead to 48-14. Following the water break, Seattle won a scrum – after Anthem lock Shawn Clark knocked on the kickoff return – and then a scrum penalty, but Anthem flanker Graeme Pegedana took advantage of an errant pass from Short and booted it along the ground towards Seattle’s try zone. Rossouw caught up to Clark and smothered the ball to prevent the try. Though Anthem won the following scrum and took it down the line, Seattle got the ball back on a counter-ruck. But as Seattle advanced around midfield, Mooneyham struck, intercepting a pass from Eddie Fouché in the 69th and thundering all the way to the try zone. Gerlach’s conversion kick bounced off the right post, so the score was now 48-19\. Though the game had been effectively over for quite some time, Anthem was still fighting for a four try bonus point. The sides each traded scrums over the next few minutes – as Seattle was beginning to suffer knock-ons and Anthem had difficulty defending their own rucks – before the Seawolves won a scrum penalty and took a corner lineout maul into the try zone in the 76th. Kerron van Vuuren – in for Dewald Kotze at hooker – landed the ball for his second try of the year. Iona took the conversion through the posts to increase Seattle’s lead to 36\. Hattingh took the following kickoff and immediately broke the would-be Anthem tacklers, making it past midfield before being taken down. Isaia Lotawa – in for Noa at lock – barreled through for yet more meters. Seattle then won a penalty off an Anthem offsides and Rossouw kicked to the corner. Mooneyham was sent to the naughty chair for an offsides – a persistent infringements call – and Seattle took an immediate restart. The visitors barreled forward in pick-and-go play for some time before moving it along to the openside for Rossouw, who passed it back to Matthews, who jumped into the try zone a few seconds past the 80-minute mark. Iona missed the conversion to end the game with a score of 60-19. ### Revamped Attack Continues Success Just like the previous match against the Hounds, Seattle used an offensive strategy focused on speed in the outside backs giving lightning runs down the pitch. This worked extremely well, with each outside back except Rossouw notching a try. All the outside backs – Esdale, Rossouw, Futi, and Matthews, as well as Sio from the bench – showed excellent connection with each other and fit well into the strategy. But Seattle, unlike five days prior against the stout Chicago forwards, was also a threat up the middle. Orr and Hattingh both made a habit of breezing past Anthem and several other Seawolf forwards, such as Lotawa, also ripped through Carolina’s tacklers from time to time. Here, however, it must be said that Anthem’s pack left a lot to be desired, mostly in cohesion and reaction. Theoretically, Anthem RC’s 2003-pound starting pack should have had the upper hand against Seattle’s 1,952-pound forwards, but the home side lacked the coordination and technique to utilize their bigger guys, who instead were perpetually one step behind Seattle in open play and at the visitors’ mercy in the scrum. But just like last Friday against the Hounds, the Seawolves took their chances when they got them, whether it was an opening on the side, a gap in the middle, or a disciplinary error from their opponent. ### Brock Gallagher Excels at Scrumhalf With Seawolves stalwart and newly-minted centurion JP Smith as the team’s go-to scrumhalf, Brock Gallagher – a Canadian brought over in the Dallas Jackals’ dispersal draft after the 2024 season – has seen limited minutes on the pitch, often showing up only in the last ten minutes or so of previous games. Although Gallagher did not get the start on Wednesday either, he subbed on for Smith for the entire second half rather than only for the final minutes. He showed his chops on the pitch, not only displaying the reliable passing ability necessary for any scrumhalf, but also incredible speed and reaction time – notching himself a try and a try assist. It seems, however, that Gallagher did not have the volume of kicking duties that Smith usually performs, with Rossouw and Matthews doing the majority of Seattle’s kicks in the final forty. Regardless, the match showed that Gallagher is a viable option for Seattle in the number 9 role. This allows Clarke more options for a team that is facing its second straight quick turnaround. ### How Will Seattle Rotate for Sunday? Seattle has its third game in ten days coming up on Sunday, April 27\. It will be against the NOLA Gold, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 3-6-0 record and 22 points in the table. The Gold have been on the business end of two close losses – 17-15 to the Houston SaberCats on April 19 and 20-18 to the Chicago Hounds on March 29 – and stunned the New England Free Jacks 51-29 on April 12. Clarke’s decision not to heavily rotate the squad for Wednesday’s match carries a lot of risk for the upcoming match against New Orleans. Rather than rest starters against the winless Anthem so that they could be refreshed against the more dangerous Gold, Clarke will instead have to consider resting them against the Gold – either that, or take on a heavy risk of injury to one or more key starters. But the Seawolves also need to claw back space in the Western Conference, so the players on the pitch will have to be trusted to take on NOLA – while a rotation against Anthem could have seen a rest day for Hattingh, for instance, that might be less in the cards on Sunday. Still, there are several strong players who have seen limited minutes. Gallagher balled out on Wednesday and is a prime pick for the Sunday start, while lock CC Mahoni – who recently got added to the USA Eagles squad – has not played since April 5. Regardless of the results and strategy of the next match, Wednesday’s win was a strong showing for Seattle. The team came into the game needing five points and more than achieved that goal. After Wednesday’s matches, the Seawolves are still in last place in the West at 4-5-0 and 24 points, but they are now only a point behind fourth-place RFC Los Angeles, who sits at 4-5-0 with 25 points.