Riekert Hattingh scored three tries to lead the Seawolves to a blowout 61-19 win over the Jackals at Starfire Stadium on Friday night. Seattle blitzed their guests with six tries in the first half and nine all told as Dallas struggled with discipline and accuracy throughout.
An early scoring opportunity for the home side went for naught as the ball was knocked forward. It was only a minor delay, however, as Dan Kriel went clean through a disconnected defensive line to race 40 meters for the opening try. Despite the sun beaming directly into his eyes, Jordan Chait’s radar was accurate and the conversion bisected the uprights.
The Jackals won possession after the restart and Conrado Roura made a half-break. A switch play with Martín Elías put Marcos Moroni close and the fullback was just long enough to reach out and ground the ball for five points. Elías made it seven with the extras and it was all square.
Seattle struck back with interest. Lauina Futi slipped through a tackle and then a penalty set up an attacking throw-in. Hattingh was the target and when the defense misread the play all Hattingh needed was to dive ahead to score.
A few minutes later another lineout yielded points. This time the drive came on, with Peter Malcolm angling into the corner for the try. Chait landed the earlier kick but couldn’t quite get the second and the score read 19-7 to the Seawolves at the hydration break.
Miscues from Dallas on attack gave the ball back to Seattle. From a lineout the drive was stalled, but all it took was a few short phases to break down the Jackals defense. Hattingh was the man to cross again, taking a flat pass from JP Smith in for a double.
It was a hat trick for the skipper before the halftime break. On first phase from a scrum Adriaan Carelse took an inside ball from Chait on the line and stepped past three of his former teammates. Hattingh was hot in support cutting an outside angle to pull clear of the cover.
Dallas coughed up the ball again after the restart, and the scrum set the platform. Alatimu fired a wide ball to Futi, who chipped ahead into space. Tomas Malanos was there to clean up but an off-the-ball hit gave the Seawolves a penalty on the 5-meter line. Smith went quick and popped it up for Kriel to crash in for his brace. The kick was good to bring up 40 points as the teams headed to the sheds.
Jake Turnbull found himself in trouble for a high hit on Moroni under a minute into the second half. The yellow card didn’t seem to bother the Seawolves at all. Kriel again found room from his own end and as he swerved away from the cover, Carelse was there in support to take the ball in for Seattle’s seventh try of the day. Chait’s kick was again on target with the kick.
With the Seawolves back at full strength the Jackals were soon shorthanded. First it was Lucas Bur sent to the bin for collapsing a maul, and then the same infraction saw Jerónimo Gómez Vara pulling up a seat just two minutes later. A score was inevitable and Ben Landry was the man to muscle over from short range to bring up the half-century.
Despite their numerical disadvantage the Jackals conjured a cracking team score. Danny Christensen took an offload from Juan Pablo Zeiss and stepped to within a couple meters of the line. The ball was recycled quickly and slick hands from Sam Golla and Lui Sitama put Adriaan Booysen into the corner. Elías curled the kick over from near the sideline.
Andrew Durutalo bashed over from in close with Chait’s 8th conversion of the day wrapping up the scoring the Seawolves. To their credit, Dallas would have the final say. An intercept turned the ball over and after several phases Sitama picked out Tomas Malanos on the right side for the finish.
It’s a well-earned bye week for the Seawolves, who return to action with a road match against the Houston SaberCats on Saturday, May 13. The Jackals are straight back on the pitch as they host Old Glory DC next Saturday.
SCORING
SEATTLE 61
Tries (9) – D. Kriel 2 (6′, 40′), R. Hattingh 3 (11′, 32′, 37′), P. Malcolm (18′), A. Carelse (47′), B. Landry (59′), A. Durutalo (67′)
Cons (8) – J. Chait 8/9 (7′, 12′, 33′, 38′, 40’+1′, 48′, 60′, 68′)
YC (1) – J. Turnbull (41′)
DALLAS 19
Tries (3) – M. Moroni (8′), A. Booysen (61′), T. Malanos (78′)
Cons (2) – M. Elías 2/3 (9′, 62′)
YC (2) – L. Bur (55′), J. Gómez Vara (57′)
TEAMS
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Jake Turnbull (17 Mzamo Majola 51′), 2 Peter Malcolm (16 James Malcolm 55′), 3 Sam Matenga (18 Mason Pedersen), 4 Ben Landry (19 Isaia Lotawa 66′), 5 Taylor Krumrei (17 Mzamo Majola 42′-51′) (21 Nakai Penny), 6 Charles Elton, 7 Ronan Foley, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.) (20 Andrew Durutalo 48′), 9 JP Smith (22 Karl Keane 60′), 10 Jordan Chait, 11 Martin Iosefo, 12 AJ Alatimu, 13 Dan Kriel (23 Tavite Lopeti), 14 Lauina Futi, 15 Adriaan Carelse
DALLAS JACKALS
1 Nicolás Revol (16 Liam Murray 48′), 2 Dewald Kotze (17 Connor Robinson 68′), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Kyle Steeves 68′), 4 Sam Golla, 5 Lucas Bur, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara (capt.) (20 Carson Shoemaker), 7 Conrado Roura (19 Maikeli Naromaitoga 48′), 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 Pedro Imhoff (21 Danny Christensen 60′), 10 Martín Elías, 11 Campbell Johnstone, 12 Lui Sitama, 13 Tomás Malanos, 14 James Vaifale (22 Patrick Medina 48′-68′), 15 Marcos Moroni (23 Juan Pablo Aguirre 55′)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Cisco Lopez (USA)
Assistants: Brad Schwalger (Canada) & Saro Turner (Canada)
TMO: Mike Lash (New Zealand)
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