The MLR Rising week finished off Friday with a game between Red and Black, and a visit to the USA vs Scotland test match where they were introduced at halftime.
But there was some real concern on Thursday night that the game might not be played, or perhaps shortened. The weather forecast on Thursday showed a 90% likelihood of thunderstorms during the game-time window. The coaches and organizers met as a group to figure out what to do in case lightning delayed the game. The conclusion? Play as much rugby as possible. If that mean rushing to the bus to make the Eagles game, so be it. If that meant being late to the Eagles game, so be it.
If that meant playing just a 40-minute game, so be it.
Fortunately, Friday dawned gray and cloudy but not thundery, and the forecast was much changed, with the likelihood of thunder and lightning dropping by the hour. In the end, there was no lightning at all, and while the day was wet and a bit muddy, it was also, mercifully, cooler, and the players embraced it.
Black struck first, chasing a kick down in the corner and forcing a loose ball for the score. Red answered with a nicely-worked attack to equalize in the corner. The scrums remained a battle all day and with changes made back and forth (to ensure safety and for every player to get time, this was an open subs game.
Red continued to have scoring chances but could not convert on them and their side of the scoreboard remained stuck at 5. Black had a few more chances, and did superbly to finish them off, taking the lead and extending it to 26-5.
Red began to come back a bit in the second half, trading tries with Black to make it 31-14. That second red try came off a quick tap from scrumhalf Georgoe O'Brien, however, O'Brien's later attempts to tap quickly were held up twice because Black was getting a yellow card. Up 15 players to 13 Red exploited the overlap to score thanks to a brilliant draw-and-pass from Lleyton Delzell to make it 31-19. With time winding down, Black responded with a converted try to win it 38-19.
