First off, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Sunday was a beautiful day in Toronto and there were many mothers and families in attendance at York Lions Stadium for the Major League Rugby clash between Rugby New York and the Toronto Arrows. Secondly, congratulations to the Toronto Arrows on reaching 50 games as a franchise in the MLR. It has been a winding road, including a cancelled season (2020) and a full season spent on the road (2021), but Canada's Team have reached this milestone. The weather turned on conditions conducive for a celebration as Toronto locked horns with their New York opposition.
"(For the fans) we're going to have a lot fun rugby here, we have three home games (left) to play and the weather's beautiful and is getting better. So if people just come out, they'll have a great time with their families, it's a good family environment. We do things like support the young kids rugby here as well... and the players get engaged, just a good time for the kids to have some fun (after the game).
Mike Sheppard, Toronto Arrows Lock and Team Captain
On the field though, the niceties were at a premium, with both sides entering the game neck and neck in the standings. As such, point scoring would be the order of the day. There was a signal of intent early on when Arrows flyhalf, Sam Malcolm, elected to kick for touch, instead of taking an attainable aim at three points off the first penalty of the game. Unfortunately for the Arrows, this effort yielded zero points and in the 8th minute, New York marched down the field to open the scoring with a try from Kalolo Tuiloma, off the back of significant forward pack pressure as well as consistent distribution from Rugby World Cup winning scrumhalf, Andy Ellis. 5-0 for the visitors.
New York would continue to drive up through the Toronto midfield, using choreographed plays to unsettle both blue centres. In the 11th minute, Samoan International, Ed Fidow, enjoyed freedom out wide from an overlap to touch down in the corner for the visitors. To be fair, this was not a reflection on the Arrows' press game as Toronto had spent a significant portion of time inside New York's 22m area, but they couldn't penetrate the last lines of defense. Nevertheless, it was was 12-0 where it mattered the most, on the scoreboard.
Jack Heighton didn't have the most accurate day from the boot, but with New York chasing bonus points, it didn't matter. Tries were the priority and Heighton would score one of his own in the 19th minute to make 17-0. Toronto's Cole Robert Brown was the next man up, given the litany of injuries at scrum half this season, and the Arrows debutant delivered with a try in the 20th minute (17-7), busting through a gap, as the heat started to impact players.
Unfortunately, the Cole-powered momentum was nullified almost immediately as New York's Fidow crashed over at the other end in the 23rd minute (24-7). It was clear that RUNY was taking advantage of the larger field size, something they don't get enjoy at their home ground. The two teams would go into the sheds at halftime seeking shade and some recalibration for the second stanza. During the interval, the good folk at the Arrows were bringing flowers to the mothers in the stands and Archie the mascot was giving out hugs liberally. Perhaps the only time when Torontonians would feel comfortable hugging a large raccoon.
"We feel like we haven't been able to use our wings the way we could so we really wanted to do that... It's all about fine tuning week after week, we knew the field was going to be bigger and we knew it was going to be a nice day, so we made a game plan to accommodate that."
Andrew Coe - New York Winger and Canadian International
There would be no hugs for New York when the second half resumed, as Toronto came out with a sense of purpose and a reminder of the playoff picture. As was the case before, the men in blue advanced to the NY gain line but would be thwarted by a resilient defensive unit - bend but don't break if you will. Then, as was the theme of the day on the field, Rugby New York forced a turnover, marched up the field and went into the end zone - this through Jason Emery. However, on this occasion they were thwarted by the Television Match Official. Perhaps a late gift to Toronto from the officiating department, given the refereeing controversy from the week before in Houston.
From here, the Arrows took the initiative and then hit paydirt when Lolani Falevia finished off a nice forward-based try in the 46th minute. Everyone loves a big boy try to make it 24-14. Game on in the 6ix! Alas, in the same way that the flowers were melting hearts, the heat was wearing down the players.
In the 59th minute, Toronto's comeback effort was snuffed out when Rugby NY barrelled over for their fourth try of the day through Dylan Fawsitt, securing a key bonus point in the process (29-17). Soon after, the Oranges would later deploy their successful play from the 1st half, targeting the Arrows as they defended their right side. Kiwi Brendon O'Conner was the final link in a fluid team play that threw the ball around and mesmerized tacklers to make it 34-17 and securing victory for the visitors.
Capping off their first ever game in the 6ix, the visitors would finish with a sixth try and the final score of the game in the 78th minute from Fa'asui Fuatai, as Toronto succumbed to the heat, further injuries at scrumhalf and their hungry opponents. After previously losing to the Arrows in Hoboken, Rugby New York exacted revenge and then some in this reverse fixture. They would return home with a maximum set of points while Toronto are now in the unenviable position of needing to secure maximum points from the remaining games plus hoping for favours from other teams. Such is life in Major League Rugby.
Final score: Rugby NY 41, Toronto Arrows 17
Points Earned: New York 5, Toronto 0
"It's been a been bit of rollercoaster season, we've put in some good performances and some poor ones but since the bye we've been getting more confidence and we knew we were coming here up against a team that was also pretty desperate to win and we put on a performance, so we really proud of this team and we really respect the Toronto side."
Andy Ellis - New York Scrum Half and New Zealand All Black
The Arrows host the Dallas Jackals next on May 14 at York Lions Stadium with the game kicking off at 7pm. As part of this, the will be wearing special "City Edition" kits that will be available for auction after the game here. The game will be on TV in Canada on TSN and on The Rugby Network and FS2 in the US.
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