The Ontario Arrows played spoilers in the first ever game for the New England Free Jacks, the Toronto-based team taking a 40-14 result over their Boston counterparts. Both are soon to be Major League Rugby expansion franchises with the Arrows readying for their first season coming up in January and the Free Jacks delaying their entry to the 2020 season.

It was all Arrows in the first half. Playing on a damp pitch with the wind at their backs at Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, Ontario controlled possession and field position with the scrum completely dominant. Quick hands down the line put Andrew Coe into space and the dual international sped away for the opening score inside ten minutes.

Coe would find the line again for the second try. This time it was fullback Cooper Coats who chipped in behind the Free Jacks defense, with Coe putting his boot to the ball before winning the race for the touchdown. Coats converted his second from the difficult angle.

The driving maul was also effective for the Arrows, and with the scrum winning penalties there were plenty of opportunities. Moe Abdelmonem and Tom van Horne would each crash over from short range after the maul did damage. A fifth try of the half would come from Coats himself, the Halifax native sliding over in the corner much to the delight of the home crowd.

Christian Adams looked to have scored a cracking try for the Free Jacks just as the half was drawing to a close. A well-weighted kick from Ben Cima hung up for Adams and the winger snatched it out of the air, diving in for what looked like an historic effort but the referee waved it off with Adams instead adjudged to be ahead of Cima and therefore offside.

With the wind behind them the Free Jacks finally saw some territory in the second half though they continued to struggle with unforced errors. After working their way into position the inevitable score finally came through Anthony Parry. The prop was helped over by captain Matt Hughston after Diego Maquieira had made good ground from a quick tap.

A second score would come to New England and again Parry was the hero. In similar fashion he picked from the breakdown. Schlotman was stopped just short but his arm was long enough to reach the line. Cima added his second routine conversion.

The final say went to the Arrows. New England were caught short on the blindside and No8 Matt Mullins showed his athleticism, flying through the gap and beating the cover defense with ease to record a fine individual score. One more attack came in injury time after Ian Luciano was binned for slowing the ball down but Kieron Martin’s chip ahead rolled through the in-goal.

Ontario will pack up their gear for a few weeks before preseason training starts in earnest, their next match not likely to come until the new year. Both teams will enjoy the maritime hospitality with New England celebrating the start of a new chapter in North American professional rugby.

SCORING

ARROWS 40

Tries – A. Coe 2, T. van Horne, M. Abdelmonem, C. Coats, M. Mullins

Cons – C. Coats 5/6

FREE JACKS 14

Tries – A. Parry 2

Cons – B. Cima 2

Yellow cards – I. Luciano

TEAMS

ONTARIO ARROWS

1 Rob Brouwer, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Tom Dolezel, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Tom van Horne, 6 Moe Abdelmonem, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Matt Mullins, 9 Riley DiNardo, 10 Shawn Windsor, 11 Lucas Hammond, 12 Mitch Richardson, 13 Andrew Coe, 14 Josiah Morra, 15 Cooper Coats

Replacements: 16 Jack McRogers, 17 Alex Forrest, 18 Mike Smith, 19 Liam Carter, 20 Grant Crowell, 21 Owen Schimpl, 22 Lee Keegel, 23 Kieron Martin

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS

1 Anthony Parry, 2 Diego Maquieira, 3 Luke Schlotman, 4 Ronan McCusker, 5 Jackson Thiebes, 6 Owen Hundt, 7 Matt Hughston (capt.), 8 Chris Frazier, 9 Erik Thompson, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Christian Adams, 12 Tadhg Leader, 13 Peter Lupton, 14 Stephen Dazzo, 15 Danny Collins

Replacements: 16 Steven Hinshaw, 17 Dave McKenna, 18 Sean Moran, 19 Myles McQuone, 20 Thor LaFromboise, 21 Jon Kokinda, 22 Ian Luciano, 23 Jihad Khabir, 24 Connor Robinson, 25 Devin Ibanez, 26 Spike Armstrong

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Moe Chaudhry (RC)

Assistants: Ryan Alguire (RC) & Mike Dickie (DC)