New England Free Jacks score early, often to reach another Major League Rugby conference final in Quincy
The Free Jacks are headed back to the Eastern Conference Finals after defeating the Sharks 32-10 at home as they continue their three-peat quest
📺
— Major League Rugby (@usmlr)
Simon-Peter Toleafoa and Le-Roux Malan added tries in the second half, with Hollinshead adding a drop goal, a penalty goal, and another conversion to finish with 10 points.
Miami (8-9) was making its first MLR playoff appearance in its second season in the league. New England has been the East's regular-season champion for four seasons running, this year topping the Hounds on a point-differential tiebreaker.
Advertisement
The Free Jacks split their two regular-season meetings with Chicago (12-5), each team winning at home. Saturday's winner advances to the championship final on June 28, to be held at Pawtucket's new
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tom Thibodeau's ‘challenge' message to Knicks after tough Pacers ECF loss
The post Tom Thibodeau's 'challenge' message to Knicks after tough Pacers ECF loss appeared first on ClutchPoints. Once again, the New York Knicks have fallen in the NBA Playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. Only this time, losing a series to the Pacers stings more since the Knicks were on the doorstep of winning the Eastern Conference Finals and heading to the NBA Finals. Advertisement As the offseason begins earlier than New York had hoped, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is appreciative of his team for not giving up and fighting until the very end. However, Thibodeau is already looking ahead and challenging his team for not reaching their ultimate goals this season. 'There's disappointment because you fall short of what your goal is,' Thibodeau stated in his immediate postgame remarks on Saturday night, via SNY. 'In the end, there's only going to be one team that achieves the goal. And so I think the challenge for us is to look at it for what it is. We finished in the top three, but we're falling short of the ultimate goal. 'So for us, it's to use that for motivation and determination to work all summer to prepare ourselves to make the final step and keep improving so we can achieve our goal.' This is a tough series for the Knicks to lose, given all the roster changes they made last summer. Advertisement Aside from trading a handful of first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, Leon Rose and his front office also leveraged Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to acquire All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. In this championship series against Indiana, Towns averaged 24.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. The future is unknown in New York. Other than Jalen Brunson, any player could be on the move in yet another offseason move to try and pursue a championship. There are also some early questions being asked about Thibodeau's long-term outlook with the Knicks after falling short of their ultimate goals yet again. Thibodeau recognizes that changes are needed, which is why he is heading into the offseason ready to come up with an answer as to what his team needs. Advertisement 'You look at your team, and I think you analyze what the strengths and weaknesses of the team are, and then you're always thinking about improvement,' Thibodeau continued. 'How do we improve what we have? And I think you always start with the internal improvement. You have the order of the draft, free agency, and, of course, all the trade possibilities. Leon and his staff — there's always a lot of talk that goes on. 'They (will) analyze whether something makes sense and can improve our team. We aren't going to do something just to do something.' A lot of uncertainty faces the Eastern Conference entering the offseason due to Jayson Tatum's injury with the Boston Celtics and Giannis Antetokounmpo's future being unknown with the Milwaukee Bucks. There is still an opportunity for the Knicks to compete for a championship, but key decisions in the summer will dictate their future. As for now, the Knicks will head back home to New York City thinking that they squandered a key chance to make the NBA Finals.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Brisbane storm home to bite Sharks, with Walsh on fire
Brisbane have stormed home from a 16-point deficit to beat a wasteful Cronulla 34-28, with fullback Reece Walsh igniting the comeback. When Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey darted over from dummy half to secure a 28-12 lead in the 56th minute, the Broncos appeared cooked in front of 39,042 fans at Suncorp Stadium. Instead the Broncos scored four tries in 18 minutes, with Walsh setting up two, to usurp the Sharks in fifth position. Sharks forward Teig Wilton went to hospital in the first half after suffering blurred vision from an eye injury, before winger Sione Katoa had a brain explosion on the cusp of halftime. He was sin-binned for a ridiculous touch on Ezra Mam when he was laying in the ruck. The Broncos were too daft to make the most of it. Instead Brailey darted over from close range and the result appeared secured, but the Sharks then fell apart. Winger Ronaldo Mulitalo was ruled to have knocked on and Walsh made the Sharks pay with a bullet pass to centre Gehamat Shibasaki. Sharks five-eighth Braydon Trindall kicked out on the full and Broncos winger Josiah Karapani stormed in despite Sharks half Nicho Hynes falling over and claiming an obstruction. Skipper Adam Reynolds then darted and weaved in traffic and threw a basketball-style pass for Karapani to score his second try double in as many weeks. Reynolds landed it from the sideline for a 30-28 lead. When Walsh carved through Hynes to set up Shibasaki for his second, it was all over. The first half was a bizarre affair, with the Sharks leading 22-12 at the break. Brisbane's kicking game and line speed were poor, with fullback Walsh giving up two seven-tackle sets. The Sharks attacked with freedom, halves Trindall and Hynes both playing leading roles. Trindall laid on the pass for centre Siosifa Talakai to score. He was at it again to put Wilton through a gaping hole, and fullback William Kennedy finished it off for a 10-0 lead. The Sharks opened the scoring through Talakai after Broncos winger Jesse Arthars spilt a bomb. Kennedy scored his second with a classic after Hynes sent second-rower Briton Nikora on his merry way. Trindall did the same for Hynes to stroll through for a 22-6 lead after Broncos hooker Cory Paix darted over from dummy half for the softest try you will ever see. Mam scored on the cusp of halftime to keep the home side in it.
Indianapolis Star
17 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
He wanted to live long enough to see Pacers win NBA title. He died day before Game 7 at 48
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Indiana Pacers photographer Matt Dial, whose friends rallied around him as he battled Stage 4 colon cancer to get him one last night inside his beloved Gainbridge Fieldhouse, wanted to live long enough to see his team win its first NBA Finals. Dial died early Saturday morning at Life Journey Hospice, just one day short of the Pacers' Game 7 at Oklahoma City on Sunday night. He is survived by his wife, Shelley, and two sons Noah and Aaron. "At 2:54 am, Matty passed on from this life. I was humbled by the bravery of Aaron, who was there until the end. Pat and Gary (Dial's parents) were champions and provided so much support through all of their own pain," Shelley posted to Dial's Caring Bridge page. "I appreciate them so much. The end was so hard for us." Shelley called Dial the best husband, father, son, partner and friend. "He is missed by all who knew him," she wrote, "especially me." It was February 2023 when doctors finally discovered the reason Dial had been losing so much weight without trying, why he wasn't hungry. He had a cecal mass that had spread to his abdominal lymph nodes and his liver. When Dial was first diagnosed, he started planning trips with his family to make memories. Not fancy trips. Better than that. Trips to Tennessee to see the mountains and one to Branson, Missouri, known as "the live entertainment capital of the world," because of all those shows and theaters. But, in the past year, the pain from the cancer and everything that treatments had done to his body became, at times, unbearable. In late May, Dial's friends and an army of people came together to give Dial a chance to make one last, beautiful Pacers memory with his family at Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Dial felt well enough to make the trip from his Zionsville home to Gainbridge for that historic, electric Game 6. "He's not able to travel as much, and that's why this game was so important," said Noah. "Because I never thought I'd get that chance to go with him again." Those who knew Dial called him a kind, wickedly smart, self-proclaimed technology nerd, lover of the Pacers and even moreso lover of his family and friends. They were all fiercely hoping that Dial lived long enough to see his Pacers win an NBA title. "I was going to cry anyway (if they won it), but I would cry even more because, you know, he's been waiting for this. And he might not see another run," Dial's son Noah, 25, told IndyStar earlier this month. "When we get through this and we win the championship, it's going be a memory I'll always cherish." There will be no funeral for Dial, at his request, Shelley wrote. Just a party to celebrate him. "Thank you to all our friends and family who have stepped up so much in the last difficult weeks," Shelley wrote. "I love you."
