Six-try Anthem rewrite history with statement win over California Legion

California Legion 26 Anthem Rugby Carolina 39: A rebuilt franchise end their 32-match winless run

Saturday March 28 2026 – Written by Dan Brooks – Photography by Michael Jimenez Media

Thirty-two games. Zero wins. That was the ledger Anthem Rugby Carolina carried to Irvine on a punishing Saturday afternoon, the sort of record that burrows into the psyche of a franchise and makes every new chapter feel like a rewrite of the last. Head Coach Agustin Cavalieri (Cuca), the Argentinian who remade Anthem’s roster in three furious weeks of preseason, had told his players the past was irrelevant. On the scorching California turf, they proved him right.

Anthem ran in six tries to California Legion’s four in a game that, at 39-26, stunned the hosts. The numbers told a remarkable story: Anthem had just 36% of possession and made 97 carries to Legion’s 202, yet won comfortably. The difference was a staggering 222 tackles — more than double Legion’s 100 — and a ruthless efficiency in attack that saw them convert almost every visit to the Legion 22 into points. Legion beat 47 defenders and made 749 meters with ball in hand. It wouldn’t matter in the end.

Conner Mooneyham, the experienced wing who celebrated his birthday on match day, scored twice in a devastating first-half spell, finished as the game’s top points-scorer with ten and was named man of the match. “I had one wish for my birthday,” Mooneyham said afterwards. “Getting the win was exactly it.”

The significance was not lost on the travelling contingent. Johan Momsen, the South African flanker captaining the side for the first time, was emotional afterwards. “The sky is the limit,” he said. “We are an awesome group of guys with great backing from the community and can’t wait to show what we have going forward.” For a franchise that has endured every flavor of defeat in its brief history, this was more than a result. It was a declaration.

Cuca’s recruitment over the winter told its own story of ambition. Momsen arrived to captain the pack and set the physical tone. James Scott, lured from Chicago, was immaculate at the lineout — Anthem won 14 of their 16 throws — and irrepressible around the park. Jordan Trainor, one of last season’s league MVPs, brought a steadying presence at fullback. And then there was Will Sherman, the number one pick in the 2025 MLR draft, a UCLA All-American from Salt Lake City making his professional debut in the second row. Sherman played with the composure and physicality of a far more seasoned operator, and Cuca was unequivocal in his assessment. “He’s playing because he deserves to play for this team,” the head coach said. “He’s not playing just because he’s the first round pick. I’m sure he has a great future.”

Legion drew first blood through Cole Semu inside the opening ten minutes, but Anthem’s response was emphatic. Luke Carty opened the account from the tee before Julian Roberts made a searing break out of defence, finding Mooneyham, who regathered his own kick ahead for a 60-meter score. Campbell Robb drove over from a lineout maul — after Carty had found superb touch from 40 yards — and Mooneyham’s second, a sharp step inside his defender to finish, had Anthem 18-5 up and purring. Carty’s conversion of the third try took the lead to 20-5 before the game turned fractious.

Tom Pittman was yellow-carded for a breakdown penalty, and although Anthem absorbed five minutes of sustained Legion pressure on their own line without conceding — a spell that will have delighted the coaching staff as much as any try — the match became ragged late in the half. A flare-up in the final minutes saw Carty and Legion’s Joey Mano both carded, and when Sherman followed them to the sin bin moments later, Anthem were briefly reduced to 12 men. Ryan James exploited the numerical overlap to score out wide for Legion, Coby Miln converted, and at 20-12 at the interval the hosts had a lifeline.

It would prove a false one. Anthem came out after the break with two players still in the bin and immediately took the game to Legion, their kicking game — 26 kicks in play to Legion’s 12, for 748 meters — providing territorial control that possession alone could not. When the TMO upheld a held-up ruling over the tryline after a concerted Legion drive early in the second half, Anthem had survived the most dangerous period of the match without conceding. Sherman’s return was announced with a thunderous tackle that stopped a Legion runner in his tracks, and once both sides were back to full complement, Anthem reasserted their grip.

Erich Storti’s try on 56 minutes was the pick of the afternoon. Carty shaped to go wide, checked back inside and found his outside center, who still had defenders to beat. Storti jinked one way then the other and touched down in front of the posts, Carty converting to stretch the lead to 27-12. When Baden Godfrey, the young Australian forward off the bench, drove over from a scrum right in front of the sticks after relentless forward pressure, Anthem were ahead 34-12 with a quarter of the match remaining. The game, as a contest, was over.

Legion, to their credit, did not capitulate. Ben Sugars crossed on 69 minutes before Ben Houston added a fourth try with three minutes remaining, and their captain Jason Damm played with distinction throughout. But they were outmuscled, outmanoeuvred and, most tellingly, outdefended by a team that simply refused to be beaten. Ramiro Gurovich, the replacement hooker, added Anthem’s sixth try from a lineout drive on 74 minutes, a textbook forwards score that had Cuca’s fingerprints all over it.

The stat that best captured the afternoon was Pittman’s: 106 metres carried, third-highest on the field behind Legion’s James and Houston, but in a team that had the ball for barely a third of the match. Every carry counted. Every tackle — and there were 222 of them — was made with intent. Where in previous seasons Anthem might have folded after the sin-bin chaos of the first half, this group found another gear. Scrum-half Zion Going, born in New Zealand with an All Black grandfather, was a dynamo throughout, his distribution sharp and his box-kicking astuteness. Momsen was ferocious in the tackle and led from the front. Roberts popped up everywhere in both attack and defense. Anthem won 12 turnovers to Legion’s five, and their scrum was rock-solid, winning all seven of their feeds.

Brendan O’Meara, Anthem’s assistant coach, picked out resilience as the defining trait. “Weathered the storm of being man down against an all-out attack type team,” he said. “Shows great grit from the group.” Cuca kept it simpler: “What impressed me most was the commitment to get up and defend for 80 minutes. Fight for each other and work our game plan.”

There is a long way to go. Chicago, one of the league’s powerhouses, lies ahead next week for Anthem’s home opener, and a ten-game regular season leaves no room for sentiment. But for a franchise that has known nothing but defeat, this was a day to savor.

California Legion 26: Tries Semu (7), James (40+2), Sugars (69), Houston (77). Cons Miln 3.

Anthem Rugby Carolina 39: Tries Mooneyham (12, 28), Robb (17), Storti (56), Godfrey (63), Gurovich (74). Cons Carty 3. Pen Carty (3).

Yellow cards: Mano (Legion, 39). Pittman (Anthem, 30), Carty (Anthem, 39), Sherman (Anthem, 39).

California Legion S Crimp; J Mano (C Jones 64), C Semu (J Tavai 64), N Chan, R James; C Miln, G Bertranou; M Muti (F Apulu 28), J Taufete’e (B Sugars 44), T Kofe (M Scott 28), K Nasoqeqe (J Tavai 64), J Damm (capt), L Williams (B Sugars 44), C Poidevin, B Houston.

Anthem Rugby Carolina J Trainor; C Mooneyham (Fuala’au 67), E Storti, T Pittman, J Roberts; L Carty, Z Going (Leonard 66); P Telea-Ilalio (R Gurovich 50), C Robb (R Gurovich 50), A Maughan (A Hernandez 50), W Sherman (Keane 65), J Scott, J Momsen (capt), M Tonga’uiha (S Golla 50), M Alikhan (B Godfrey 50). Replacements: A Heaney.