Seawolves Season Hangs by Thread After Friday’s 26-26 Draw vs. Los Angeles
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Seawolves eightman Riekert Hattingh and prop Cam Orr team up to tackle Rugby FC Los Angeles eightman Ben Houston during a 26-26 tie on May 2, 2025. Credit: Punkus Arnett/Seattle Seawolves. [/caption]
TUKWILA, Wash. The Seattle Seawolves left everything out on the pitch Friday night, but mistakes – both those that the team is accustomed to and those that it is not – snatched two points away from Seattle at a critical juncture in the 2025 season. Now the team’s playoff hopes are narrow, with the next game on the road against the Utah Warriors being followed by two home games against San Diego and Houston before a road game against the New England Free Jacks.
Worse still for Seattle, both scrumhalves received knocks, with JP Smith coming out of the game in the 35th for Brock Gallagher and Gallagher coming off the field early in the second half. Eddie Fouché, who had been intended as a substitute flyhalf, spent the rest of the match serving as Seattle’s scrumhalf.
Seawolves Start First Half Strong, Sputter as Game Continues
Seattle opened the first half with two tries and dominant play against Los Angeles, but old habits reappeared in force after the water break and the half ended with a tied game at 14 apiece.
RFCLA started the game off on very weak footing, allowing Seattle to strike early. In the fourth minute, lock Rhyno Herbst stole L. A. hooker Ben Sugars’ lineout throw from the visitors and whirled it down to the openside, where outside center Divan Rossouw barreled forward before sending a squib kick to fullback Duncan Matthews, who rushed into the try zone for the first five points of the game. Seawolf flyhalf Rodney Iona sent the conversion kick through the posts for a 7-0 Seattle lead.
The visitors quickly brought the ball back to other side with a corner lineout and threatened to tie the game, but the Seawall looked better than it had all season – making strong tackle after strong tackle – during Los Angeles’ three minutes spent just meters in front of Seattle’s posts. Eventually, in the ninth, the Seawolves forced a knock-on from RFCLA and ended the threat.
Then Seattle’s mistakes began to accumulate, although they did not come back to bite the home side just yet. The Seawolves made it to around midfield in the 11th but an errant throw by Iona sent the play back behind Seattle’s 22 meter line. The team recovered and kicked away. L. A. then phased through in Seattle territory before L. A. scrumhalf Gonzalo Bertranou sent a 13th minute squib kick into the try zone intended for right wing Rory van Vugt, but Matthews rushed back and dove onto the ball to prevent the try.
The Seawolves struck once more before the water break. The home side won a scrum penalty deep inside RFCLA territory after the visitors collapsed the scrum, and Iona took the penalty into the corner for a lineout, which the Seawolves took into a 20th minute maul that crashed through the L. A. pack and brought hooker Dewald Kotze into the try zone for five. Iona made the conversion, and so it was now a 14-0 lead for Seattle.
As Seattle’s mistakes grew and Los Angeles’ had yet to wane, the run of play immediately following the hydration break did not favor either side. Seattle was dinged for not releasing and the visitors got a penalty kick into lineout, but once again threw the lineout right into Seattle’s hands. RFCLA soon got another lineout but Sugars’ throw was not straight. Although Bertranou nearly sniped the ball out of the scrum, Seattle maintained possession and brought it down to the openside, where Matthews charged fifteen meters forward before offloading to center Dan Kriel – who lost it forward under tackling pressure.
Finally, Los Angeles began to make the adjustments that would define the rest of the match. The key adjustment they made was on the attack, where they crashed forward with far more vigor than before and took advantage of a Seawall that seemed to be tiring out after many games with minimal rotation.
Winning a 26th minute scrum despite pressure, the visitors crashed forward in Seattle’s territory before flyhalf Christian Leali’ifano sent a long kick past Seattle’s 22 that bounced into touch – a 50-22 that kept the ball in Los Angeles hands. RFCLA kept control of the ball out of the lineout and barreled through Seattle over the next few minutes, the Seawall buckling under the pressure and the visitors getting closer and closer to the try zone. Finally, in the 29th, Bertranou flipped it to the openside for Leali’ifano, who found inside center Billy Meakes on the touchline, who rushed into the zone. Leali’ifano made the conversion to bring the score to 14-7.
Soon after, RFCLA doubled down for the tie. After a knock-on by Seawolf left wing Toni Pulu, Los Angeles won a 32nd minute scrum around midfield. Ben Sugars pushed past Seattle’s 22 meter line soon after. After another L. A. scrum following a near-try, the visitors phased through the line until flanker Tim Anstee crashed through the line and dotted it down in the 35th. Leali’ifano once again sunk it to tie the game at 14.
Seattle nearly pulled back ahead as the half came to a close, with an L. A. penalty at midfield giving Iona the option to kick for post. Although the Seawolf flyhalf chose to go for the points, his kick flew wide to the left. The half ended with a tied score.
Seawolves Kept in Game by Esdale, Rossouw Try Runs, Missed Kicks on Both Ends Result in Tie
The home side’s struggles grew in the second half, as maintaining possession became even more of a challenge in the face of errant passes, knock-ons, and other penalties. The team’s tackling began to seriously falter as the game wore on, every spell of L. A. possession resulting in the visitors crashing forward to the posts. Luckily for Seattle, RFCLA was also not on their best game penalty and card-wise, and all-the-way line breaks by Rossouw and substitute wing Malacchi Esdale gave Seattle enough points to potentially come away with a win – but fate fell split on the knife’s edge and both sides walked away with a tie.
The Seawolves started the half with a decent spell of possession, aided by RFCLA outside center Nick Chan going to the sin bin for a high tackle. The home side worked down the field with a penalty to touch for a lineout and a following 50-22 kick, but the promising opening was soon followed by a knock-on into L. A. possession and a Seattle lineout lost at midfield due to Kotze’s throw not being straight.
Los Angeles gained all the momentum following this, with a scrum and then a lineout to maul that saw the visiting pack dominate and push forward ten meters before openside flanker Ed Timpson picked the ball out of the ruck and ran forward almost to the try zone, being taken down by a desperation tackle from Pulu. Seawolf substitute scrumhalf Brock Gallagher, who had come on for an injured JP Smith late in the first half, came off with a slight limp.
Sugars was sent to the sin-bin for head contact, so Seattle was playing 15-on-13. Despite this, Los Angeles regained possession and crashed forward through Seattle’s line, each ruck gaining meters against a team struggling both against their own tiredness and against Bertranou’s quick turnarounds.
But then, the momentum shifted just long enough for Seattle to land one and regain the lead. Rossouw took the ball away on a ruck in the 48th and Pulu darted forward to midfield. The ball phased down to the openside for Esdale, who had come in for starting right wing Ina Futi. Esdale evaded both RFCLA flankers and then broke through a hole in the line, thundering all the way to the try zone. Iona made the kick and Seattle was up 21-14.
Seattle threatened to double down soon after with a set of phases around the visiting 22, but a Matthews pass intended for Seattle eightman Riekert Hattingh flew into touch. Los Angeles, despite being underwater on the scoreboard, still maintained something of an upper hand in the pace of play, threatening the try zone after a series of kicks and lineouts. Bertranou went to the touchline for substitute center Seth Purdey, who went to a Sugars that was barreling into the try zone. Kotze miraculously pushed Sugars into touch at the last moment to prevent the try.
After the water break, however, LA tied it once more. Bertranou quickly brought it out of the scrum and sent it to Leali’ifano, who crashed within five meters of the goal. Bertranou sent it to backup prop Justus Tavai, who easily shoved past Rossouw and flanker Devin Short for a try under the posts in the 63rd. 21-21.
The game fell out of control of even the ref squad, as the sides began pushing and shoving each other during a Seattle ruck in the 67th. Seattle prop Juan Pablo Zeiss and L. A. prop Semi Kunatani got into a scrap while Bertranou shoved Fouché into a wall before trying to quickly restart play. Lead referee Luke Rogan regained control of the match and play continued, but no cards went out to any side.
Following a kick from Los Angeles, Matthews sent a 70th minute box kick that wafted towards a crowd of RFCLA players a few meters in visiting territory – but it took a good bounce and Matthews was able to get to it and bat it towards Rossouw on the openside. Rossouw easily took it all the way into the try zone. Iona sent in the conversion kick, but it doinked off the left post – 26-21.
As the minutes wore on, Seattle maintained possession, looking for one final dagger to seal the victory – but it never came. Seattle won a scrum feed after Meakes knocked on a box kick from Rossouw in the 77th, but the Seawolves’ scrum collapsed under pressure and the visitors won a scrum penalty.
Bertranou’s kick made it past the 22 meter line and L. A. took the lineout into maul, gaining a few meters before winning another penalty and another lineout, again into a maul that crashed forward through the Seattle pack for some meters before the phases began. Sugars crashed through Iona’s attempted tackle to get the ball to the line before Kunatani tried to dot it down, just barely denied – but then the visitors crashed the ball forward once more for the tying try.
As time expired, Bertranou took the kick for the win. It flew a meter outside the left post, and the game ended with a 26-26 tie, the first tie in MLR in 2025.
Nail in Coffin?
Friday’s game was very much not the result the Seattle Seawolves needed. Seattle did not take advantage of the chance to slip back into fourth place and a playoff spot, and so the team is still two points behind Los Angeles for fourth in the West.
Worse, Seattle has a brutal set of matches ahead, with a road game against the Utah Warriors on Monday, May 12 before coming back home to face the Legion that Saturday on May 17. After that is a home game against the Houston SaberCats on May 23, and then Seattle goes on the road to play the New England Free Jacks on June 1. The final game of the season, a home match on June 8 against the Miami Sharks, will be a slight reprieve, but there is a very strong chance the team will be eliminated by then – and the Sharks are in playoff contention themselves.
Los Angeles’ schedule is a little less daunting, with games against Anthem Rugby Carolina, the Chicago Hounds, the Miami Sharks, Old Glory DC, and the Utah Warriors.
But the big questions for Seattle come from Friday’s injuries and the team’s lack of rest. Both Smith and Gallagher came off the field early, potentially leaving Seattle without a scrumhalf for some time. Fouché played well enough in the position, so it is likely that Coach Clarke will go to him for at least some of the scrumhalf play if Smith and Gallagher’s knocks are serious, but that does leave the halfback bench awfully thin.
The team’s lack of rest showed on Friday, with most of L. A.’s possessions following the first water break involving the visiting players pushing the Seawall around much more than we are used to seeing. Now, it must be said that Bertranou’s quick play at scrumhalf for RFCLA kept Seattle one step behind whenever the home side was on defense, but the visitors’ ability to regularly get five meters or more on a ruck and knock away tacklers was something that came more from exhaustion.
Compounding this, the team still suffered from lack of precision on the ball – losing meters and possessions to missed passes – as well as committing penalties and knock-ons. This has been an issue for the team for most of the season, and with how many close games Seattle has played, the errors have cost the team dearly. Kerron van Vuuren, who came in the game in the second half as a hooker, attributed this to a lack of confidence and awareness.
“I think it’s just being more aware of game situation and actually being confident in the game plan and executing the game plan under pressure,” van Vuuren said. “It’s tough to do, but we’ve got to start doing it.”
With time running out, it may take a miracle against some of the best sides in MLR – or a collapse from RFCLA – to sneak into that fourth spot in the Western Conference. But there are still five matches left to play, providing enough time to potentially still make a run.
