SFGG Wins, PRP Down To The Wire

SFGG Wins, PRP Down To The Wire

With a bonus-point win, SFGG makes it a three-team race to the final in the Pacific Rugby Premiership.

Apr 24, 2018 by Alex Goff
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SFGG vaulted back into contention for first place in the Pacific Rugby Premiership with a 26-15 win over visiting Life West on Saturday in the only league game played this past weekend.

Watch PRP Finals Day LIVE on FloRugby

When: Saturday, May 5 (All Day) | Venue: The Little Q, San Diego, CA

The San Francisco club improved to 6-2-1 with its four-try performance. Akuila Uaisele and Matangi Tonga both scored a pair of tries, with scrumhalf Colby Stevens converting three. The bonus-point victory put SFGG in a virtual tie with Belmont Shore (6-2-1) and OMBAC (7-2-0) at 34 points each in the standings.

"I'd define it as winning ugly," SFGG head coach Neil Foote said. "We got what we wanted, but we just made it difficult for ourselves with players becoming too individual."

Foote said he felt this week's performance was a significant step down from last week when SFGG beat OMBAC, but he praised the work of the forwards, especially in the set piece and in getting the attack to go forward.

"But our backs often went on their own and got isolated or made poor decisions at the offload," he added.

Center Eakalafi Okusi was not one of those and was named the player of the game for keeping things together and returning the team to its structure.

"It was a valuable lesson for our guys in how not to get carried away with their own press, and that the structures in place actually enhance the skill set," Foote said.

With this result, OMBAC is at 7-2 with 34 points and a plus-137 in points difference. SFGG and Belmont Shore are both 6-2-1 with 34 points. SFGG has a plus-78 points difference and Belmont Shore is at plus-75. However, Shore holds the head-to-head series over SFGG this season.

The teams have one more weekend to decide the Finals Day matchup. This Saturday, SFGG is at Olympic Club, Belmont Shore is at Life West, and OMBAC is at Santa Monica.

Anything less than a bonus-point victory for any of these teams could mean being bumped to the third-place game against Life West.

Santa Monica and Olympic Club are already confirmed for the fifth-place match. Those two games, plus the final, take place May 5 at the Little Q in San Diego and are streaming LIVE on FloRugby.

"It's great that we have an opportunity to be level with the other front-runners," Foote said. "It's everything to play for this weekend, which is exactly what you want in a competition."