Carolina chases the game after Starfire storm

Anthem level early through Robb but Seattle’s first-half surge proves decisive; Mooneyham and Roberts the bright spots in a more competitive second period

Sunday May 17 2026, 4.00pm ET, Starfire Stadium, Tukwila – Written by Dan Brooks

Two minutes was all it took for Starfire Stadium to find its voice. André Warner, the Seattle scrum half whose half-back partnership has been among the most influential in the league this season, spotted a seam in the Anthem Rugby Carolina line and was through it before the Charlotte side had properly settled. Davy Coetzer’s conversion made it 7-0, and the rematch of April’s famous Anthem win was already running to Seattle’s rhythm.

To Anthem’s credit, the response was immediate. Inside five minutes Campbell Robb, the rookie hooker who has made a habit of finding the whitewash, forced his way over from close range for his sixth try of a remarkable debut season. Luke Carty’s conversion levelled it at 7-7, and for a moment the visitors looked every inch the team that had handed the Seawolves their only home-state defeat five weeks earlier.

What followed was a reminder of why Starfire is one of the most unforgiving venues in American rugby. Seattle scored seven tries before half time to lead 42-14, Warner adding a second, hooker Dewald Kotze, Marno Redelinghuys, Nolan Tuamoheloa and Divan Rossouw all crossing as the Seawolves found space. By the interval Seattle had matched the second-highest first-half points total in their franchise history. The final margin, 57-21, told the story of an afternoon Anthem will be glad to file away.

Yet there is a version of this match, most of it contained in the last fifty minutes, that Cuca Cavalieri’s side will take real lessons from.

The early going was unforgiving in more ways than one. Marques Fuala’au, making his first start of the season at openside, was shown an eighth-minute yellow card for holding on, a harsh call on a flanker who had been isolated and turned by smart Seattle phase play. Anthem were chasing the game from the very first exchanges, and the deficit that opened up across the opening quarter was the one they ultimately could not close.

But Anthem’s response, when it came, carried the hallmarks of the rugby that has defined their better days this season. In the 35th minute, a clean attacking platform released Jordan Trainor, back from a two-week absence and one of the visitors’ most influential players throughout, who linked with Dom Akina. The midfielder, only a month into his Anthem career, broke a tackle and timed his pass for Julian Roberts to finish in the corner. Carty’s touchline conversion made it 42-14 at the break, and gave Anthem something to build on.

The second half belonged, in large part, to the away side. Within two minutes of the restart, Anthem produced the move of their afternoon: Trainor again the link, Makeen Alikhan and Sam Golla combining through the middle, and Conner Mooneyham, back in the side after recovering from a broken nose, stutter-stepping his marker and finishing in the corner. Carty, who had a flawless afternoon off the tee, converted from the touchline against a wall of home-crowd noise. 42-21, and the contest had a pulse.

From there Anthem defended with markedly more cohesion than they had in the opening quarter. The side competed harder at the breakdown, forced Seattle into errors, and when the Seawolves’ LaRome White was sin-binned just after the restart of the second half, briefly held a numerical advantage. Seattle’s depth and persistence eventually told on the scoreboard, with Duncan Matthews, Paddy Ryan and Callum Botchar adding second-half tries, but the territorial and possession exchanges through the middle third were far more even than the final scoreline suggests. Anthem’s tackle success rate of 80 per cent across the match, against one of the most fluent attacking sides in MLR, told its own story of a defensive effort that improved sharply as the game wore on.

There were genuine positives to carry back to Charlotte. Carty’s three-from-three off the tee continued his improved kicking form. The reunited back three of Trainor, Mooneyham and Roberts, together from the start for the first time in 2026, looked, in flashes, like the attacking unit the squad envisaged when it was assembled; Trainor, in particular, a clear gain on his return, finishing with a game-high five offloads and the second-most carry meters of any player on the field. Akina continued to bed into the midfield. And the second-half defensive shape — the area Cuca had identified as the week’s priority, was a clear step on from the opening exchanges.

There is no disguising that the first half was a chastening forty minutes, played on a short turnaround after the long trip back from Chicago and straight out to the Pacific Northwest. But Anthem have been here before this season and responded, and the manner in which they steadied, found their structure, and outscored a rampant Seattle side over portions of the second period is the thread Cuca will pull on in the week ahead.

Anthem (2-5) now return home, where the side recorded its first-ever franchise home win this season, to host the New England Free Jacks at American Legion Memorial Stadium next Saturday. The road trip is over.

Scoring

Seattle Seawolves: Tries — Warner 2 (2′, 21′), Kotze (8′), Redelinghuys (14′), Tuamoheloa (19′), Rossouw (24′), Matthews (51′), Ryan (65′), Botchar (79′). Conversions — Coetzer 6. Anthem RC: Tries — Robb (5′), Roberts (35′), Mooneyham (41′). Conversions — Carty 3 (5′, 36′, 42′).

Anthem RC P Telea-Ilalio (E Garza 63′), C Robb (S Smith 52′), A Maughan (O Kane 52′), J Momsen (co-capt), W Sherman (A Martinez Tapia 63′), S Golla (co-capt), M Fuala’au (M Tonga’uiha 50′), M Alikhan (B Godfrey 47′), Z Going (I Safodien 69′); L Carty, T Pittman, D Akina (E Storti 52′), J Roberts, C Mooneyham; J Trainor.

Referee Robin Kaluzniak (Canada).

Match in numbers

• Half-time: Seattle 42, Anthem 14
• Anthem tries: 3 (Robb, Roberts, Mooneyham); Carty 3 conversions from 3
• Anthem tackle success: 80% (Seattle 76%)
• Anthem offloads: 10 (Seattle 4) — Trainor a game-high 5
• Trainor: 129 carry meters, second-most of any player
• Yellow cards: Anthem 3 (Fuala’au 8′, Telea-Ilalio 63′, Safodien 77′), Seattle 1 (White 53′)