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A stiff Texan breeze made for two contrasting halves at AVEVA Stadium on Sunday evening. It was Rugby United New York who adjusted best, riding a dominant first half to a 31-23 win over the feisty but ultimately second-best SaberCats.
The opening arm wrestle went in favor of New York. They got the edge on in the scrum, and the put their vaunted lineout drive to good use with Dylan Fawsitt collecting the plaudits. Cathal Marsh knocked over the extras and it was 7-nil to the visitors.
RUNY continued to have the upper hand in the exchanges. Houston defended well for time, winning a turnover in their end, but couldn’t relieve the pressure with the wind in their face.
Mathieu Bastareaud thundered through a half-gap and drew in three players before offloading to Dylan Fawsitt, who in turn found Chris Mattina running a straight line under the posts. Marsh was on target again and the SaberCats were two converted tries behind heading into the hydration break.
Sam Windsor finally got Houston on the board in the 25th minute with a penalty goal but New York came roaring back. From an attacking scrum deep in SaberCats territory Bastareaud made it over the gainline. A couple more hit-ups from the forwards and Paddy Ryan crashed over for the try. The conversion left the SaberCats with a 21-3 deficit heading into halftime.
The two kickers exchanged penalties to start the second half. With Houston now enjoying the wind advantage they took another from Windsor’s boot and then it was the flyhalf himself who want over after sustained pressure. He converted his own to close the gap to eight points.
A moment of individual brilliance soon brought the crowd to their feet. Luke Beauchamp’s charge down inspired a turnover, and Windsor picked out Taylor Howden with a skip pass. The veteran midfielder sold a dummy and stepped back inside across the defense to run home from 40 meters. Windsor added the extra two and suddenly it was a one point game.
There would be no comeback celebration. Mike Brown picked off a loose pass in Houston territory to snaffle away possession. At the next ruck Marcus Walsh scampered in off the post with a show-and-go, diving over for the bonus point try, with Marsh’s kick stealing the losing bonus point from the SaberCats.
It’s an old fashioned Texas derby next Saturday as the SaberCats host the Gilgronis at AVEVA Stadium. Rugby United New York will take their show on the road to the far reaches of San Diego with a date against the Legion set for Sunday.
SCORING
HOUSTON 23
Tries – S. Windsor (57’), T. Howden (70’)
Cons – S. Windsor 2/2 (58’, 71’)
Pens – S. Windsor 3/3 (25’, 42’, 51’)
NEW YORK 31
Tries – D. Fawsitt (8’), C. Mattina (18’), P. Ryan (29’), M. Walsh (79’)
Cons – C. Marsh 4/4 (9’, 19’, 30’, 80’)
Pens – C. Marsh 1/1 (45’)
TEAMS
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo (17 Nicolás Solveyra 58’), 2 Diego Fortuny (16 Tim Cadwallader 64’), 3 Charlie Connolly (18 Boyd Wiggins HT), 4 Kyle Breytenbach (20 Van Stewart 69’), 5 Victor Comptat (19 Robert Meeson 52’), 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 De Wet Roos (capt.), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Zach Pangelinan, 12 Taylor Howden, 13 Thomas Morani (22 Tim Stanfill 30’), 14 Kieran Farmer (22 Tim Stanfill 4’-15’) (23 Malacchi Esdale 72’), 15 Matías Freyre
Not used: 21 Zachary Short
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 James Rochford (17 Anthony Parry 52’), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (capt.), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Kirk Hamilton 52’), 4 Nate Brakeley, 5 Charlie Hewitt (19 Matt Wirken 67’), 6 Hanco Germishuys, 7 James Denise (20 Rob Irimescu 67’), 8 Mathieu Bastareaud (16 Mike Brown 60’), 9 Mike Petri (21 Marcus Walsh 72’), 10 Cathal Marsh, 11 Connor Wallace-Sims, 12 Chris Mattina, 13 Will Leonard, 14 Quentin Pradère (22 Harry Bennett 63’), 15 Ben Foden
Not used: 23 JP Aguirre
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Henrique Platais (Brazil)
Assistants: Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand) & Greg Varnell (USA)
