It was utter dominance never seen before in American rugby’s biggest rivalry.
The San Diego Legion’s 40-26 victory started with a 28-0 halftime lead that became the first shutout of any half played between San Diego and the Seattle Seawolves.
“That was a big thing for us after last year. There was a lot of games that the team didn’t start well,” head coach John Manenti said. “I thought we got out of the blocks well and we asked some questions of them and we finished well.”
The Legion got off to a fast start with a pair of tries in the game’s first 10 minutes.
“That’s as good a start as you can ever ask for,” James said.
James scored the game’s second try and later scored in the 28th minute that clinched the four-try bonus point.
The Legion’s dominance was only seen in the first 50 minutes but they put Seattle in a hole that the Seawolves couldn’t get out of.
San Diego committed three yellow card infringements in the game’s final 30 minutes that at one point put the Legion down two men.
Seattle scored their first two tries during that time frame and later added two more, including one in the final seconds that prevented them from leaving San Diego empty-handed.
“I thought we did an incredible job to fight and stay in the contest in that part of the game because the wheels could’ve fallen off there,” Manenti said.
The Seawolves spent more than six minutes before they finally scored that to bonus point-securing try while the Legion defense stopped them inches from the tryzone on multiple occasions.
Flanker Christian Poidevin and second row Jed Holloway scored a try each alongside James’ two in the first half.
Outside center Tomas Aoake and Connor Tupai each scored in the second half.
Tupai and center Marcel Brache were subbed in during the final 30 minutes and made an impact. San Diego made all eight substitutions between the 51st and 71st minutes.
Up next: The Legion face a short week as they prepare to travel to Charlotte, N.C. for a contest with Anthem Rugby Carolina on Friday, Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m. PT (7:30 p.m. ET) at the American Legion Memorial Stadium.