After a long but enthralling campaign and a short break following the conclusion of the regular games, Major League Rugby returns this weekend with the play-off rounds getting underway, and all eight teams still in contention will be competing hard to have a chance of lifting the league trophy at Snapdragon Stadium on 4 August.
There promises to be some intense rugby being played over the coming weeks, and this brief tactical analysis will list three players who could be vital to their teams’ tactics as they seek to make it through to the semi-finals, indicating the roles that they could play and why their opponents will have to be wary of their presence.
Jayson Potroz
One of the teams that many feel have the best chances of making it into the Championship match are New England Free Jacks, with the Quincy-based side having a season in which they have not looked as convincing as some might have expected, but in which they once again topped the Eastern Conference standings and have therefore given themselves a really good platform from which they can defend their title.
There have been a number of standout performances on an individual level from the Free Jacks, but the glue that has continually kept them together has come from the middle, with Jayson Potroz orchestrating so much of their play and ensuring that they always have a chance of breaking their opponents down.
Without him on the field, New England would be a team filled with talented operators but who would perhaps not play in the same unified manner that they have been doing, and he will certainly be one that Old Glory DC will need to shut down at every opportunity if they are to have a chance of containing New England and of removing them from the run-in.
Tommaso Boni
Rugby is not just a game of artistry and skill though, and there is a need to marry that with dominant ball-carrying and brute strength when driving up the field. One player who has really epitomised that of late has been Old Glory centre Tommaso Boni, who always looks difficult to stop once he gets into his full flow.
He has translated his ability to break defensive lines down onto the international stage in the last couple of weeks, with him starting at inside centre during the USA’s defeats to Romania and to Scotland and generally giving them a tough time of things. What really caught the other teams out was his ability to make angled runs towards the try line, with that leading to him being tougher to stop and colliding with opponents where they perhaps weren’t expecting him to, and his try against the latter side came as a result of Scotland being unable to hold him back as a result of that.
As mentioned earlier in the scout report, Old Glory have a really tough task ahead if they are to keep their title hopes alive, but having Boni in the team will give them confidence that they can cause what many would consider to be a shock and can make it into the last four.
Lucas Rumball
The last player to be included in this analysis is Lucas Rumball, who is another to have been featuring on the international stage of late as he started Canada’s defeat to Scotland and their subsequent victory against Romania, both of which took place in Ottawa.
Like Boni, the back rower is a really ferocious ball-carrier who always looks to exploit holes in opposing defensive lines, but he doesn’t just drive straight and is instead capable of changing direction on the spot and of therefore altering the focus of his side’s play, ensuring that they are as unpredictable as possible when looking to gain ground.
The fact that he scored a try in the game against Scotland shows that he can pair that strength and awareness with an end product too, and he really leads by example and is someone that many around will always look to follow. With his domestic side Chicago Hounds having a solid 2024 until now, they will face off against NOLA Gold with high hopes of being in the last four. However, the New Orleans club have also been in strong form and are never a team to underestimate, making this a really interesting match-up.