Rugby ATL will play for the Major League Rugby championship after it defeated Rugby United New York, 10-9, to become Eastern Conference champions Saturday at Marietta’s Lupo Family Field.
In just their second season, the first of which cut short by COVID-19, Kurt Coleman’s conversion of Alex Maughan’s try resulted in the narrow victory over a team that had beaten them twice in the regular season. The winning points came with less than five minutes left to play for the come-from-behind victory.
Rugby ATL will play LA Giltinis, which won the Western Conference final with a 17-13 win over the Utah Warriors Sunday. The MLR championship will be next Sunday at 4 p.m., hosted by LA Giltinis, the overall top seed. It will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
Rugby ATL took an early lead thanks to a Bautista Ezcurra penalty (three points). New York led, 6-3, at the half as Harry Bennett kicked two penalties. He added another that extended the lead to six points, 9-3, in the final period.
“That was as exciting as it gets in terms of a playoff game,” Rugby ATL’s general manager Scott Lawrence said. “It was wonderful to see the excitement in the crowd, along with the laughter and the tears.
“I thought the team played with tremendous heart tonight and there are plenty of lessons to be learnt from this game. On how to play championship rugby, how to convert key opportunities.”
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