Bowen Arrows
The Toronto Arrows received a warm welcome from their home fans as they made their first appearance at York Lions Stadium this season. The beer was flowing, the food was delicious, there were plenty of Top Gun references, and most importantly, an extremely entertaining game of rugby. Unfortuantely, the New York Ironworkers spoiled the party as they defeated the Arrows by a narrow margin of 29-27. Despite the loss, the Arrows will have plenty of positives to take away from this match. Most notably, the 2 bonus points earned and the emergence of a local star.
It is no secret that the Arrows have been dealing with a nightmare of an injury situation this season (and it got worse last Saturday). However, the Arrows have done an admirable job of bringing players up from their academy and making some new signings to try to manage that situation. One of those players is D’Shawn Bowen.
In his first MLR start (2nd appearance), Bowen put in an absolutely legendary performance. Bowen became just the 2nd Arrow to ever record a hat trick joining Manuel Montero. All three were absolutely highlight reel as Bowen showed off his superhuman speed. Following a brilliant Mike Sheppard tackle that caused a knock on, Lolani Faleiva scooped it up and the Arrows countered from the shadows of their own posts. Faleiva moved the ball to Noel Reid, then on to Ross Braude, who found Bowen at full pace. Quinn Ngawati and Nick Feakes could only watch as Bowen flew by to score in the corner. This try won MLR try of the week. In part because of Bowen, but that Sheppard tackle that started it was perfect.
After a great lineout, Bowen snuck down the short side and Braude gave him a pass. Bowen proceeded to run through the entire New York backline as he scored under the posts. The third try came following an Arrows scrum. The Arrows actually lost the scrum, but James O’Neill made a brilliant play to get the ball back. Shane O’Leary then put a grubber kick through for Bowen to run onto for the hat trick try. Bowen’s celebration was a brilliant display of emotion in front of his home town crowd. Ultimately, Bowen earned MLR try of the week and player of the week for efforts. How rare is it that a player on the losing side will win player of the week? That is how good Bowen was in this match.
Lucas Rumball would pick up the club’s 4th try of the match in the 52nd minute, marking the first time the Arrows have earned a try bonus point in 2023. Rumball’s try was a brilliant team effort that came when Fa’asiu Fuatai was in the bin for a high tackle. The Arrows scrum set a good platform and the ball went through the hands of Braude, O’Leary, Bowen, Sam Malcolm, then Dawson Fatoric had a big break down the wing. When he was brought down, New York was penalized, but Braude took a quick tap to keep the pace up. Braude and O’Leary kept linking up with forwards before Faleiva offloaded to Fabian Goodall who passed to Rumball for the try. Ultimately, after the initial scrum, I don’t think there was a single Arrow who didn’t touch the ball, run a dummy line, or be support in the breakdown during the build up to the try. Truly, the ultimate team try.
One negative from the match is that New York completely controlled the territory and possesion. The Arrows defense was up to the task on many occasions, but they didn’t have the ball in hand too often. Of course, the big positive from this game is that when they did get the ball, the attack looked the best it has all year. The return of Shane O’Leary and the move of Sam Malcolm to fullback certainly seemed to open up more possibility for the Arrows. The two frequently linked up throughout the match and gave the Arrows more dynamic looks. The Arrows also used the width of the pitch a lot more. Obviously, winger Bowen had three tries. Additionally, Mitch Richardson had some nice runs down the wing in the first half. Fatoric had the big break in the build up to Rumball’s try. That play started on the opposite wing and Rumball finished it back on the wing it began. More dynamic options in attack, a willingness to keep the ball in hand, and desire to play expansive rugby resulted in the Arrows’ best attacking output of the season.
Beyond Bowen, other performances that deserve recognition are Mike Sheppard, James O’Neill, Lolani Faleiva, and Fabian Goodall. Their names have been mentioned already due to their involvement in the tries, but they were all outstanding throughout the match in all areas of the game. On the other side of the ball, Canadians Quinn Ngawati and Andrew Coe both played well. Ngawati set up Teihorangi Walden’s try and Coe picked up a try to celebrate his birthday in his hometown.
Unfortuantely, the Arrows injury list looks to have gotten longer. Sam Malcolm was involved in a scary collision with Andrew Coe as the two of them collided while contesting for a kick. Malcolm was down for a significant length of time, but was able to be helped off the pitch where he waved to the crowd. We will await the Arrows’ official injury update (and I have nothing to report), but Malcolm will likely be out of lineup against New England this week. Noel Reid also left the game early and Mike Sheppard looked to be favouring his hand after the match as he received recognition for reaching 50 caps.
As the Arrows return home, the Blackbox is proud to present the return of post-match interviews. I was fortunate to be joined by Quinn Ngawati, Shane O’Leary, D’Shawn Bowen, Lucas Rumball, and Tim Matthews following the match. You can check out all the reaction at the video below.