QUINCY — Defending Major League Rugby champions. One-seed in the Eastern Conference. Five wins in the last six matches.
The New England Free Jacks are rolling, and have been all season long.
The Free Jacks added to that resume on Saturday with a gritty 33-29 victory over Old Glory DC at Veteran's Memorial Stadium to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third consecutive season. The goal of a defending the franchise's first championship lives on.
But, even moments removed from sealing a tense, game-clinching defensive stand with a boot into the near-capacity crowd, fly-half Jayson Potroz stays in the present.
All that matters now is hosting the winner of New Orleans and Chicago in the next round on July 27 at 1 p.m. at Veteran's Memorial Stadium. The match will air on FS1.
“There’s a lot of chatter about repeating, but we don’t look that far ahead. It’s a new year, new season, new group, new experience for all of us. It's just awesome to see the growth in our squad,” said Potroz, who hails from Australia. “We’ll regroup and celebrate this, make sure we recover well and we’ll get excited to (come back) on Monday and spend quality time with the group, our families and supporters.”
Saturday marked the Free Jacks (12-5) settling the season series against Old Glory DC. The first two matchups were each separated by one point -- 31-30 Free Jacks win on June 8; 35-34 DC win on March 9.
This postseason scrum was another close one, however the Free Jacks' front line of defense clamped down to allow one try in the second half despite the midseason subtractions of halfback John Poland and back row Wian Conradie, who both suffered season-ending injuries earlier in the campaign.
The team allowed a league-best 45 tries on the season coming into play.
“There’s always pressure when you come onto the rugby field," Potroz said of the defensive effort after allowing three tries, and 21 points, in the first half. "We probably weren’t going to get our spacings right, and we weren’t listening. It’s pretty crucial to listen to the boys when they’re calling out (alignments). We got it right in the second half – little bit of line speed, good rapport.”
“We’ve got a deeply connected group of players," head coach Scott Mathie said. "We know that if we keep it tight, we’re going to fight harder than the opposition. That does a lot for our team. We’ve had a lot of players in this year who have had to step up. It takes a bit of time for them to get familiar with one another, but we’re beginning to see it now.”
Reece MacDonald, Jed Melvin and Oscar Lennon scored tries for the Free Jacks in the win and Potroz put successful conversions through the uprights on each. Potroz also nailed a pair of long-range penalty kicks from approximately 45 yards out.
“It’s a credit to the boys," Potroz said. "We’ve had two weeks to work on our game (since the end of the regular season) and I think it showed today that we got a bit of confidence back.”
The Free Jacks now await their next opponent -- No. 2 New Orleans (10-6) or No. 3 Chicago (8-7-1), who square off on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on FS2.
Both teams won matches against New England earlier in the season, most recently a 27-17 home win for New Orleans on June 22.
“Two very different teams in their makeup," said Mathie. "But, either way, we know it’s going to be a hard shelling.”
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