The Seattle Seawolves kicked off their 2019 Major League Rugby preparations with a comfortable 48-7 victory over the Vancouver Island Crimson Tide at Westhills Stadium on Saturday. There was plenty of room for improvement but the final tally of eight tries to one was a fair reflection of Seattle’s dominance.

Mat Turner skipped away for two early tries as the pace of the outside backs proving an issue for the Tide. Peter Tiberio popped up in the middle of the pitch to grab a third with Brock Staller’s second conversion making it a 19-0 game.

The home side would manage to get one over the line just before the break. Jared Stephens – the standout player for the Tide – would put his team into position with one of several strong line breaks and after several phases against a resilient Seawolves defense replacement flanker James O’Neill barged over from close range with Cam Hall adding the extras.

Conditions deteriorated in the second half as the rain began to pour down but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the players. Tiberio ripped through for his second and then a highlight of the game as Phil Mack was put in the clear, the Canadian captain having just enough pace to dive over in the corner after a run of nearly 50 meters.

Reserves began to stream into the game and two made their marks for Seattle. Scott Dean showed good pace to support and finish a line break and then Jope Motokana was too strong for the fringe defense, the scrumhalf taking it in himself from the 5 meter line. Vili Toluta’u brought a close to proceedings as he wrestled through the tired defense for the final score.

SCORING

CRIMSON TIDE 7

Tries – J. O’Neill

Cons – C. Hall 1/1

SEAWOLVES 48

Tries – M. Turner 2, P. Tiberio 2, P. Mack, S. Dean, J. Motokana, V. Toluta’u

Cons – B. Staller 3/6, B. Cima 1/2

TEAMS

VANCOUVER ISLAND CRIMSON TIDE

1 John Braddock, 2 Foster DeWitt, 3 Blake van Heyningen, 4 Mike Finnemore, 5 Shea Wakefield, 6 Nathan Stewart, 7 Kelton Dawe, 8 Luke Campbell (capt.), 9 Sam Fowler, 10 Cam Hall, 11 Crosby Stewart, 12 Brandon Schellenberger, 13 Jared Stephens, 14 Nathan Tough, 15 Tom Burton

Replacements: 16 Andrew McPherson, 17 Antonio Corbin, 18 Clayton Thornber, 19 Haydn Evans, 20 James O’Neill, 21 Matt Weir, 22 Zephyr Melnyk, 23 Owen Wood, 24 Nabeel Imtiaz, 25 Isaac Gonevou, 26 Baluci Kegode, 27 Jordan Tait, 28 Mitch Sora, 29 Shane Dagg

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES

1 Kellen Gordon, 2 Mike Shepherd, 3 John Hayden, 4 Taylor Krumrei, 5 Jérémy Lenaerts, 6 Eric Duechle, 7 Vili Toluta’u, 8 Aladdin Schirmer, 9 Phil Mack, 10 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 11 Peter Tiberio, 12 George Barton, 13 William Rasileka, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner

Replacements: 16 Dan Trierweiler, 17 Cam Polson, 18 AN Other, 19 Nakai Penny, 20 Cole van Harn, 21 Scott Dean, 22 Roland Suniula, 23 Ben Cima, 24 Moses Lalasava, 25 Eric Soto, 26 Jope Motokana, 27 Matt Brennan

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Chris Assmus (RC)

Assistants: Kevin Smith (RC) & Latoya Blackwood (RC)