Anthem Drop Road Match to New England 38-26

Anthem heads into the bye week with work to do

Sunday, April 26 2026 – Quincy, MA – Written by Dan Brooks

Coach Cuca had warned them. In the days before the trip to Quincy, he’d joked that the Free Jacks were a sleeping beast, three-time defending champions who hadn’t won a game all season, a side with a 70% roster turnover still searching for its identity. “I hope they don’t wake up this week,” he said. New England, as it turned out, had other plans.

The Free Jacks came out with an intensity that Anthem simply couldn’t match. Wayne van der Bank, captaining the side on his 50th MLR appearance, carried multiple defenders over the line inside the opening minute. Joel Hodgson, outstanding all afternoon at flyhalf, added a second by the eighth minute with a well-worked finish after slick hands through the backs. A penalty goal from Hodgson stretched the lead to 17-0 after 21 minutes, and Anthem, wearing their black kit for the first time, had barely touched the ball. The penalty count was mounting, possession was scarce, and New England’s defensive line speed was closing down every channel before the backline could get the ball moving.

“They made some very good reads out of the line,” co-captain Sam Golla said afterwards. “Dominant tackles, and especially they put a lot of pressure on our offensive rucks. Made the ball messy, made our attacks slow. Especially in the first half, it put us under a lot of stress. Credit to them for getting the lead that they earned.”

But even inside that first-half deficit, there were encouraging signs. The scrum was dominant from the opening exchanges, winning multiple penalties against a Free Jacks pack that had been among the league’s strongest in recent seasons. Anthem would finish the match with a perfect 100% scrum success rate, winning all eight of their own feeds, a weapon that is becoming one of the most reliable in the league. Luke Carty, back in the starting lineup after missing the Old Glory defeat with a groin injury, showed composure under pressure and his kicking from hand was a factor throughout. And when Anthem did manage to string phases together, Baden Godfrey spinning out of contact, Dominic Akina bringing his trademark physicality to the inside channel, Malacchi Esdale breaking tackles in the wide channels, the Free Jacks defense looked far less comfortable.

The breakthrough came on 36 minutes. Anthem drove through phase after phase inside the New England 22, Momsen, Godfrey, Gurovich all carrying hard, until loosehead prop Payton Telea-Ilalio powered his way over from close range. It was exactly the kind of direct, confrontational rugby that this Anthem pack does best. Carty’s conversion slid wide, but 17-5 at the break was something to build on.

Whatever was said at halftime worked. Anthem came out transformed, and Zion Going crossed just seconds after the restart to close the gap to 17-12, Carty converting to make it a five-point game. Julian Roberts, playing at fullback, produced a scintillating run that beat five defenders and set the tone for an Anthem side suddenly playing with tempo and belief. For a spell, the crowd at Veterans Memorial Stadium went quiet.

New England steadied. Sione Tupou finished a well-worked short-side try on 43 minutes to make it 24-12, and when Oscar Lennon pounced from close range five minutes later, the lead was back to 31-12. A further try from winger Nathan Salmon, who had been outstanding on kick-chase duty all afternoon, extended it to 38-12 on 67 minutes, and the result looked settled.

Except Anthem doesn’t settle. “Under the posts after New England scored their last try, we made it very clear, we need a bonus point,” Golla said. “We know we don’t have a lot of time left, but we still had to have some type of mission. We did not stop believing in the chance to win, and I think that helped us close that gap and earn that bonus point. We’re walking away here with something. It’s not a win, but we’re still happy to get that.”

The mission produced two of the afternoon’s best tries. First, Dominic Akina, who had grown into the game with every carry, spotted space behind the Free Jacks defensive line and produced a perfectly weighted chip through, gathering his own kick to touch down. Carty converted, and at 38-19 with eight minutes to play, the four-try bonus point was within reach.

What followed was all heart. Roberts, who had been Anthem’s most dangerous attacker all afternoon, 159 meters in carry distance, more than any player on either side, went off with a head knock on 77 minutes, reducing the side to 14. Johan Momsen had already been shown a yellow card. But the forwards kept driving, the bench kept carrying, and in the 79th minute Campbell Robb, tucked into the back of a powerful maul, drove over for Anthem’s fourth try. Carty’s conversion made it 38-26 and sealed the bonus point.

“We’ve been hot and cold recently,” Golla said. “We want to be more consistent. We want to be top of the leaderboard. We don’t just want to get a couple of wins and then stay stagnant.” The bye week ahead offers a chance to address the slow starts that have now cost them in back-to-back matches, and to harness the qualities that keep showing up when it counts. The numbers from Quincy tell the story of a team that created more than enough to win: 59% possession, 20 clean line breaks to New England’s 12, 37 defenders beaten to 22, and over 1,000 meters in carry distance. Esdale covered 122 meters with ball in hand on the wing. Tom Pittman led the match in offloads. The set piece was rock-solid across the board, with 15 of 17 lineouts won alongside that perfect scrum record. What let Anthem down was execution in the key moments, 23 turnovers conceded to New England’s 13, too many promising attacks ending with a spilled pass just as the try line beckoned.

The result leaves Anthem at 2-3 heading into the bye week. “It’s important for us to address the mistakes,” Golla said. “It’s not something you just brush over, but it’s something you have to move on from quickly. I’m happy that we’ve turned a corner as an organization, as a team — but we want more.” The belief, as ever, remains. The consistency is what comes next.

New England Free Jacks 38 – Anthem RC 26 | HT: 17-5

Tries: NE — van der Bank (1′), Hodgson (8′), Tupou (43′), Lennon (48′), Salmon (67′). ARC — Telea-Ilalio (36′), Going (40′), Akina (72′), Robb (79′). Conversions: NE — Hodgson 5/5. ARC — Carty 3/4. Penalties: NE — Hodgson (21′). ARC — none. Yellow cards: ARC — Momsen.

Scoring Summary

Anthem RC: 1 Telea-Ilalio, 2 Gurovich, 3 Maughan, 4 Momsen (c), 5 Golla (c), 6 Tonga’uiha, 7 Alikhan, 8 Godfrey, 9 Going, 10 Carty, 11 Storti, 12 Pittman, 13 Akina, 14 Esdale, 15 Roberts. Replacements: 16 Robb, 17 Heaney, 18 Kane, 19 Martinez Tapia, 20 Fuala’au, 21 Keane, 22 Freeman, 23 Sherman.