Jackals Courageous Playoff Run Comes To An End

The Seattle Seawolves scored a try in the 78^th minute Sunday and eliminated the Jackals from the Major League Rugby playoffs, 28-25.

It was a close match all the way, which is nothing new for the Jackals. Twelve of their regular season matches were decided by 7 points or less. They have been in every game, highlighted by last week’s 34-22 victory over No. 1 seed Houston in the opening round of the playoffs.

They split their matches with No. 2 seed Seattle in the regular season. The Seawolves won the first meeting, 34-32, at home despite five tries from the Jackals’ Dewald Kotze. The Jackals put together their best defensive effort of the season in the return match for a 14-7 victory.

They were in position to advance to the MLR championship game Sunday in 72^nd minute when Tomas Bekerman scored a try off a maul, one of their most productive phases this season. Juan-Dee Oliver, who had an otherwise outstanding match, missed the conversion kick to give the Jackals a 25-21.

The Seawolves came back in a hurry. The key play was a 35-meter breakaway run by fullback Divan Rossouw, who offloaded to reserve Ryan Rees for the try. Sam Windsor added the conversion.

The Jackals drove into the Seawolves’ end of the field before fumbling the ball away as time expired.

The Jackals jumped to a quick early lead. Oliver converted a penalty kick in the second minute and Nick Benn scored the first of his two tries in the match. Both tries were aided by passes from Jeronimo Gomez Vara on the first one and Tomas Cubilla the second.

Things took an unusual turn for the Jackals late in the first half when Juan Pablo Zeiss and Makeen Alikhan received yellow cards seconds apart. Despite being down two players for 10 minutes, they increased their lead to 20-7.

The Seawolves will play New England, a 23-17 winner over Chicago in the East final, for the MLR championship. Sunday’s kickoff is scheduled for 3 pm CT on Fox.

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The Dallas Jackals are a professional rugby team that plays at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Jackals are members of Major League Rugby. The team has played in Dallas/Fort Worth since 2022. Stay connected with the latest updates by following the Dallas Jackals on social media and visiting the official team website.